Bush's 600 Million Dollar + Abstinence Only Program a Failure

[Bronco_Beerslug]

And he extended it to 21-29 year olds.........Brilliant!

--------------------------------------------------------------
$1bn 'don't have sex' campaign a flop as research shows teenagers ignore lessons
· Findings undermine Bush 'keep zipped up' stance
· Survey shows 23% given advice chose to ignore it

Ed Pilkington in New York
Monday April 16, 2007
The Guardian

It's been a central plank of George Bush's social policy: to stop teenagers having sex. More than $1bn of federal money has been spent on promoting abstinence since 1998 - posters printed, television adverts broadcast and entire education programmes devised for hundreds of thousands of girls and boys.

The trouble is, new research suggests that it hasn't worked. At all.

A survey of more than 2,000 teenagers carried out by a research company on behalf of Congress found that the half of the sample given abstinence-only education displayed exactly the same predilection for sex as those who had received conventional sex education in which contraception was discussed.


Research shows the US chastity programme, for which teenagers receive silver rings, has no influence on any future decision to have sex. Photograph: Jonathan Dyer/AP

Mathematica Policy Research sampled teenagers with an average age of 16 from a cross-section of communities in Florida, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Virginia. Both control groups had the same breakdown of behaviour: 23% in both sets had had sex in the previous year and always used a condom, 17% had sex only sometimes using a condom; and 4% had sex never using one. About a quarter of each group had had sex with three or more partners.

Since his days as governor of Texas, George Bush has been a firm advocate of abstinence education programmes, which teach that keeping zipped up is the only certain way to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and that to deviate from the norms of human sexual activity is to risk harmful psychological and physical effects. "Abstinence hasn't been given a very good chance, but it's worked when it's tried. That's for certain," he said.

But even in 1990s Texas, where Mr Bush spent $10m a year on abstinence education, the state had the fifth highest teen pregnancy rate in the US. Over the past six years he has stepped up the programme to more than $100m a year. He recently braved ridicule by extending it to adults aged 20-29, an age range in which 90% of people are sexually active.

In the Mathematica survey, which was released by sex education activists after the health department sat on it, the mean age at which the control group, that had been taught about contraception, lost their virginity was 14.9 years. That seems strikingly low, until you look at the mean age of first sexual experience for the abstinence control group - 14.9 years.

In the context of findings like this, health workers and statisticians conclude that it is far better that children have safe sex, with knowledge of and access to contraception, than that they are preached a message of abstinence only to ignore it.
CONT.

[cutthemdown]

The goverment thinking the can regulate young people having sex is pretty funny. When will the government learn that things like this are a waste. Only parents can have any effect on things like this. We simply must realize that our schools can only do so much and that no matter what you do kids will take drugs and have sex. The key is to try an make them aware of the consequences before they do it. Not to try and think you can make them never experience it.

[clarkster]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

The goverment thinking the can regulate young people having sex is pretty funny. When will the government learn that things like this are a waste. Only parents can have any effect on things like this. We simply must realize that our schools can only do so much and that no matter what you do kids will take drugs and have sex. The key is to try an make them aware of the consequences before they do it. Not to try and think you can make them never experience it.

no ****. it all comes back to parenting. again, i remember the good old days when parents blamed the schools for everything wrong with their kids.

[defenseman]

Originally Posted by clarkster

no ****. it all comes back to parenting. again, i remember the good old days when parents blamed the schools for everything wrong with their kids.

Now it will be the "governments" fault from here on out , UNTIL a liberal democrat is in the whitehouse. THEN, the government will never be at fault, mark my words..dman

[clarkster]

sad part is that its true. i dont think parents accept accountability for their childs shortcomings anymore.
ill have to watch myself from here on and see how many times i blame the system for the little julios screw ups

[TailgateNut]

Originally Posted by defenseman

mark my words..dman

[bendog]

Originally Posted by defenseman

Now it will be the "governments" fault from here on out , UNTIL a liberal democrat is in the whitehouse. THEN, the government will never be at fault, mark my words..dman

I was sort of pissed off that WJC gave support to the notion of a bj not being sex. It is, despite what some teenagers say. However, I'm for bjs over the nasty w/o a condom. So, WJC was better than the idiot from crawford on even this issue.

[clarkster]

i told my wife to teach my daughter to give head. she was apalled, and honestly even writing now makes me ill...however, the thought of my little one doing the deed is far easier to deal with than the vision of my little one knocked up at 15...

[Garcia Bronco]

1 billion since 98(when Bush wasn't in office) isn't out of whack nor is the premise of the program. Kids need to stop having sex and teaching children "that keeping zipped up is the only certain way to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and that to deviate from the norms of human sexual activity is to risk harmful psychological and physical effects." isn't a bad thing. IMO it's a justified expense and it's better than doing nothing. Perhaps the program needs some tweaks. One of those being safe sex.

[Crushaholic]

A government program is a failure? Say it isn't so...

It's a nice thought, but young people are going to what they want. The only thing that will stop them is if people they love and trust instill correct values. This is where parents come in.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by Crushaholic

A government program is a failure? Say it isn't so...

It's a nice thought, but young people are going to what they want. The only thing that will stop them is if people they love and trust instill correct values. This is where parents come in.

Exactly..life also has built in consequences for teen sex....

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

1 IMO it's a justified expense and it's better than doing nothing.

Uh, if you read the story it is exactly the same thing as "doing nothing". Only doing nothing is a LOT cheaper.

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Perhaps the program needs some tweaks. One of those being safe sex.

Uh, that's called sex education, something this program is suppose to replace (that's what the religious right wants anyway).

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by defenseman

Now it will be the "governments" fault from here on out , UNTIL a liberal democrat is in the whitehouse. THEN, the government will never be at fault, mark my words..dman

Both parties are guilty of over regulating our lives.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Uh, if you read the story it is exactly the same thing as "doing nothing".





Uh, that's called sex education, something this program is suppose to replace (that's what the religious right wants anyway).

Maybe...maybe not...stats are for liars and damn liars, but it's important to teach kids to keep it in their pants and the money spent thus far over a 9 year period isn't all that much....ultimately it's really up to the parents.

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by clarkster

i told my wife to teach my daughter to give head. she was apalled, and honestly even writing now makes me ill...however, the thought of my little one doing the deed is far easier to deal with than the vision of my little one knocked up at 15...

That's pretty sick. Can a mod please remove this posting it makes me ill. Am I the only one that feels this is a totally outrageous thing to say.

[defenseman]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

Both parties are guilty of over regulating our lives.

You missed my point. If a liberal dem gets in, won't matter what he does, it'll be the "right way", with respect to what we hear and read in most media outlets. Won't matter if it's a disaster or not.....dman

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by defenseman

You missed my point. If a liberal dem gets in, won't matter what he does, it'll be the "right way", with respect to what we hear and read in most media outlets. Won't matter if it's a disaster or not.....dman

So all of a sudden Murdoch is going to fall in line, along with Limbaugh,
and Hannity, and the rest of the right wing media?
Most media outlets report the news, good or bad, about any
president. They don't have a fixed agenda. Are you going to
sit there and lie to us and say ABC, NBC, CBS never reported
anything bad about Clinton, Carter, Johnson?

[alkemical]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

That's pretty sick. Can a mod please remove this posting it makes me ill. Am I the only one that feels this is a totally outrageous thing to say.

Free speech.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by defenseman

You missed my point. If a liberal dem gets in, won't matter what he does, it'll be the "right way", with respect to what we hear and read in most media outlets. Won't matter if it's a disaster or not.....dman

Ignorant post of the year nominee.

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Maybe...maybe not...stats are for liars and damn liars, but it's important to teach kids to keep it in their pants and the money spent thus far over a 9 year period isn't all that much....ultimately it's really up to the parents.

For accomplishing nothing.... 1 billion dollars. Listening to someone trying to defend that as "isn't all that much"....priceless.

[alkemical]

I know i'm getting ****ed out of my paychecks - is it a failure

[Crushaholic]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

That's pretty sick. Can a mod please remove this posting it makes me ill. Am I the only one that feels this is a totally outrageous thing to say.

Clarkster has a point. There is only one way a woman can get pregnant. There are a variety of ways to express yourself sexually.

[BABronco]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

That's pretty sick. Can a mod please remove this posting it makes me ill. Am I the only one that feels this is a totally outrageous thing to say.

I agree with ya.

[defenseman]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Ignorant post of the year nominee.



For accomplishing nothing.... 1 billion dollars. Listening to someone trying to defend that as "isn't all that much"....priceless.

You've already got that one wrapped BB, on numerous occassions I might add..... ..dman

[TailgateNut]

Originally Posted by defenseman

You missed my point. If a liberal dem gets in, won't matter what he does, it'll be the "right way", with respect to what we hear and read in most media outlets. Won't matter if it's a disaster or not.....dman

Do you really believe what you spew?

If you do, I'll send you a noose for your use if a "liberal dem" makes it into the White House.

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Ignorant post of the year nominee.



For accomplishing nothing.... 1 billion dollars. Listening to someone trying to defend that as "isn't all that much"....priceless.

And the irony is when Bush pisses away a few $billion here or a few $billion
there, the Bushbots think it's no big deal.
But when some oddball story pops up about some scientist studying some
seemingly dubious line of research these guys are the first to scream about
taxpayer's money being wasted.
Never mind that the scientist is probably only spending a few thousand
dollars, it may well be privately funded, and it may actually have some
real world applications after all.
Frankly I'd rather subsidize the spinach farmers than this back door
religious nonsense.