Abstinance Only Education And Relation To Teen Pregnancy In Us

[MithLuin]

[quote name='stevil' timestamp='1322767484' post='2343257']
Sex education does not need to be in schools, possibly they could allow parents to opt their children out of those classes.
But the problem is that the Catholic church also wants parents to teach abstinence only.
[/quote]

Wait...you're saying it's a *problem* for parents to teach their kids not to have sex until they are married? Why on earth would that be a problem? If the argument is 'the kids are just going to go out and do it anyway', then...surely there are things parents can do to address that, as well.

Teen pregnancy is a result of teenagers having sex (duh). Prevent one and you prevent the other. The demographics with higher rates of teen pregnancy are typically the poorer ones and the dysfunctional families. If the parents have to work a lot, no one is supervising the kids, and if the family is dysfunctional, the kids are raising themselves.

I'm not saying that 'good' families don't have teen pregnancies. I'm saying that there are fewer in those demographics. Fixing poverty would help to fix the teen pregnancy issue, too, but no one's ever willing to go to *that* much work.

[stevil]

[quote name='MithLuin' timestamp='1322786032' post='2343433']

Wait...you're saying it's a *problem* for parents to teach their kids not to have sex until they are married? Why on earth would that be a problem? If the argument is 'the kids are just going to go out and do it anyway', then...surely there are things parents can do to address that, as well.

Teen pregnancy is a result of teenagers having sex (duh). Prevent one and you prevent the other. The demographics with higher rates of teen pregnancy are typically the poorer ones and the dysfunctional families. If the parents have to work a lot, no one is supervising the kids, and if the family is dysfunctional, the kids are raising themselves.

I'm not saying that 'good' families don't have teen pregnancies. I'm saying that there are fewer in those demographics. Fixing poverty would help to fix the teen pregnancy issue, too, but no one's ever willing to go to *that* much work.
[/quote]
It is fine to promote and recommend abstinence, but that is not the be all end all. Knowledge is a powerful thing, and an informed person makes their own decisions and lives with their own decisions.

An uninformed person is likely to make poor decisions based on assumptions. And unfortunately they then need to live with the outcomes regardless on whether they knew what all the possible outcomes could be at the time of making the decision.
For example,
a person taught abstinence only may falsely think that condoms are 100% safe, they may think having sex for the first time is safe or standing while having sex is safe.
Only with facts and knowledge can a person make informed decisions.

[Norseman82]

[quote name='stevil' timestamp='1322767613' post='2343259']
It is not necessarily about allowing gay people to not feel like being left out. The problem here is that government is infringing on peoples rights unnecessarily.
[/quote]

What rights? I don't see the right to sexually perverse behavior enumerated in the Constitution or Bil of Rights.

I do, however, see the right to freely exercise one's religion specifically enumerated in the first amendment, which is under attack by the radical gay agenda, which is why Catholic Charities had to pull out of foster care in Illinois after civil unions were made legal in Illinois.

[Norseman82]

[quote name='BG45' timestamp='1322708138' post='2343024']
I have a friend, we'll call her A., who has like 5 brothers and a dad. When she brought her fiancee home as a surprise, she was so excited to be engaged that she forgot it was gun cleaning night. I love her fiancee C to death, but he apparently turned white as a sheet at the sight of six future in laws with weapons.
[/quote]


Of course, I also got a good laugh out of this commercial:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwjulde6iOw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwjulde6iOw[/url]

[stevil]

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1322781004' post='2343375']
Of course, I don't see that as a problem. Nor do I see why the Church must change Her teaching to fit what atheists want.
[/quote]
It is not about Atheist wants.
If you understand and agree with the study presented then it is about reducing the risk of teenage pregnancy.

[stevil]

[quote name='Norseman82' timestamp='1322793941' post='2343503']

What rights? I don't see the right to sexually perverse behavior enumerated in the Constitution or Bil of Rights.

I do, however, see the right to freely exercise one's religion specifically enumerated in the first amendment, which is under attack by the radical gay agenda, which is why Catholic Charities had to pull out of foster care in Illinois after civil unions were made legal in Illinois.
[/quote]
The Constitution and Bill of Rights do not apply to most people in the world.
When I consider a person's rights. I consider everything to be a right. This leads to anarchy, where people can kill others for stealling their stuff, for stealling their girlfriend etc.
So governments put rules into society. This is to ensure a functioning society. Each rule infringes a person's rights. Some are necessary infringments, others are unnessesary. Infringing on gay behaviour is unnessesary.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='stevil' timestamp='1322788633' post='2343456']
It is fine to promote and recommend abstinence, but that is not the be all end all. Knowledge is a powerful thing, and an informed person makes their own decisions and lives with their own decisions.

An uninformed person is likely to make poor decisions based on assumptions. And unfortunately they then need to live with the outcomes regardless on whether they knew what all the possible outcomes could be at the time of making the decision.
For example,
a person taught abstinence only may falsely think that condoms are 100% safe, they may think having sex for the first time is safe or standing while having sex is safe.
Only with facts and knowledge can a person make informed decisions.[/quote]
But must abstinence-only education mean the person is left ignorant? Personally, I think the approach should be to teach what contraceptives are and how they work (giving all the info, not glossing over it) and explaining why we're teaching abstinence. Also, abstinence-only programmes are not the only ones that leave the students ignorant. My middle school sex Ed class was not abstinence-only, but also included a lot of ignorance. Was the biology addressed beyond a superficial gloss? Nope. There's a real problem when you evenencountermedical professionals who say it's impossible toknowwhen you ovulate or that ovulation is always on day 14. So I agree with you that we mustn't leave people in ignorance, but this doesn't necessitate teaching that contraception is good.

[Socrates]

[quote name='stevil' timestamp='1322801660' post='2343566']
When I consider a person's rights. I consider everything to be a right.
[/quote]
An idiotic assertion. If everything is a right, then the word is meaningless and lacks any value.


And without a higher moral authority to appeal to, what rules government puts into society are arbitrary.

[stevil]

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1322945126' post='2344147']
An idiotic assertion.
[/quote]

Thanks Socrates, a fine display of your Christian love, I expect no less from you.

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1322945126' post='2344147']
If everything is a right, then the word is meaningless and lacks any value.
And without a higher moral authority to appeal to, what rules government puts into society are arbitrary.
[/quote]
If there was a magical higher power whom sets rights for us mortal humans then you would think we would be informed of what these rights are, however it is left to our imaginations to guess what these could be.

Instead, our governments come up with rules to restrict behavior, to take away our "human" rights. They generally come up with these rules based on what makes a functioning society. Some rules however include historical religious influence of many, many years ago. Thankfully these are slowly eroding as countries become more global with members from many cultural and/or religious backgrounds. A secular society looks to be inclusive off all of these people and the resultant inclusive laws tend to be aligned with tolerance and freedom of choice, allowing individuals to live their lives in a way that best suits them, but imposing on people who behave discriminatory to others.