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I've heard FIRST GRADERS talking about sex before.

1st of all, abstinence worked for me. I mean, come on, have you seen some of the guys here in Nebraska ?! KIDDING. I think it's easier for such things to work for me b/c I was almost raped at 15. Hey, talk about a deterent.

They taught about such things in 5th grade. A lot of it was actually talking about abstinence. So, they did the good job w/ that here. *shrug*

I just maintain in general that a lot of parents really don't give a shit about their kids. B/c of that, they don't get educated so you end up w/ a lot of stuff like this. So, in most cases, as pho says, the friends get to them before the parents. Some of my friends may sleep around, but they're safe. Condoms are highly, what's the word I'm looking for ... I can't think straight. Basically, everybody carries them. If not, they go get them. However, some ppl tend to think that b/c you have condoms, you're completely safe. They need to tell ppl that they're a good contraceptive, but aren't 100% affective. I think that's part of where the teaching lacks.

I am a virgin. Yes, I'm a 23 year old virgin. Damn proud of it too.

Well stop pointing your crotch at people!

50% of all potential sexual partners have STDs? I hope to god it's my LEFT hand...

rofl!

*falls over laughing* Oh god ...leave it to oob ... Yeah, I'm not going to touch that one.

agreed, i will avoid touching that one

Yeah...I wouldn't touch IT either...

especially with my left hand

It's not disco if the balls don't touch.

See here there is a federal requirement that you take a half year "health course" in high school as well as 2 weeks a year for every year of grade school for sexual education. It boggles the mind how an industrialized country can do abstinance orientated sexual education.

Phoenix I can understand the idea of the devaluation of virginity as a virtue, but lets face it we exist in a world without the capability of killing peer pressure, and you have to deal with the issue in the circumstances in which you face them. So to a great degree I agree with your cynicim on the topic, but abstince only education is part of the problem not the solution.

I think self-control is the solution.  This society is based on instant gratification and fulfillment of wants.  That needs to change.  Writing off abstinance-only education to me sounds like the lazy man's approach.  "It won't work so let's not try it".  To my knowledge there IS no such thing in US public schools.  That is why, as you say, it "does not work."  It can't work if nobody is teaching it. :idiot:

As for dealing with peer pressure, how about teaching kids to not cave in to it?  It takes inner strength to be the one against the many.  Standing up for yourself and being different makes you stronger than those who just go with the herd.  I find it ironic that in a culture that prizes individualism most people just end up copying everyone else.

So you mean there is no sexual education of any kind in some areas?

Even if, abstiance-only is still narrowing the views and knowledge of young people.

Pho: While school-taught abstinance only sex education is definately the better choice in theory, there's no way for it to PRACTICALLY work without altering our entire culture.

Sex is far too prominent in EVERYTHING, from music to TV to literature. Our culture treats sex as a casual thing. It would take a concerted effort by our schools, our media, and our parents to reverse this, and that won't happen.

I was taught that abstinence was best, but when I chose otherwise, protection was pushed just as hard.

Hey!

we dont need theory only , we also need practicum . :D

I had sex-ed when I was about 16. It didn't last long, but rubbers flew all over the place and we watched a videotape of some couple in the baby-making process.

However... wtf is the source on that statistic? Is it really credible? I seriously find that hard to believe.

The reports, released jointly by Advocates for Youth -- a nonprofit group advocating for sex education, and the sexual health-oriented Alan Guttmacher Institute, pull together information from several different publications.

They include a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) report in the latest issue of the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, and a University of North Carolina report based on interviews with teens and young adults.

So the CDC was in on this, is that credible enough?

lol ... 1st of all I was kidding, and 2nd of all, you're taken already, so you're off limits to begin w/. =P

I decided to research this for a little bit and stuck gold on the first swing of the pickaxe:

http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/News/NewsLi...TempOrLive=Live (http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/News/NewsList.asp?strTempOrLive=Live)


So... what this tells me is that half of the new cases of STDs were opened up by people in the 15-24 year old age group, NOT that half of everyone in that age group will get an STD by the time they're 25.

 :biggun:

This story is now smoked. STDs are still a scare, but seriously... if you're going to tell a story, at least get the facts and quotes which make it true "Maggie Fox".

It's still scary.

my take is that it took me a while to just find a gf.. not gonna kill me to wait to have sex.. but if it ever comes to that(life never goes as planned yknow) .. i will def be as protected as possible..

Actually, here are more fun numbers to play with.

http://www.prb.org/AmeristatTemplate.cfm?S...&ContentID=7502 (http://www.prb.org/AmeristatTemplate.cfm?Section=Estimates__Projections&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7502)


So in other words... *opens the calculator* ... 18.9 mil / 281.4 mil  = .06716
Thus, roughly 6.7% of the US population in the year 2000 (since afterall, 2000 is the timeframe of these facts) were infected with STDs. It's not that bad folks. Odds are that the 5 people sitting around you in class or at work or that you're hitting on are clean. Nevertheless there's nothing wrong with playing it safe, because just in case you get with that one special person, there's no going back from my understanding.

Do you even have to ask this with a theocratic administration?

Can you keep your 'everyone is out to get you' attitude out of even ONE thread?

I remember my Jr. High science teacher Mr. Podesto. That guy was so embarrassed to talk about sex ed that he would just write it on the board and point to it when we asked what we were doing. Of course, I didn't help the situation by asking "If one wears multiple condoms, will that decrease chances of conception and/or STDs?"  Heh, the shade of red he turned everytime someone said "sex" or "penis" was unprecidented.

Yes.

Devlar:  You misinterpreted what I wrote.  Nowhere did I say that sex education is not being taught at all.  I said that abstinance was not being taught in the public school system.  I think that abstinance SHOULD be taught as a viable alternative to the "you're going to do it anyway so use a condom and that makes you safe" assumption that's being used as an excuse to not teach it at all.  ALL alternatives and FACTS should be presented, not just "use a condom because we know you'll do it no matter what we say."  Failure rates for condoms should be taught, as well as what a failure means IF the person has a disease.  Do you REALLY want just a thin piece of latex between you and possible death or disfigurement?  I mean, think about it.  That's what people really need to do is think more, and screw less.

Tek:  I find it interesting that the percentage of the population infected with some STD, according to your figures, roughly matches the rate of unemployment.  Still, look at raw numbers, not percentages.  That's a lot of lives screwed up by disease, and that's tragic no matter what.

Con:  I understand that culture would need changing, but remember the culture did not GET this way overnight.  It took years to go from "we don't talk about it" to "we can't avoid it anywhere".  I do not understand why everyone is assuming the process is completely unreversable, or that no happy medium can be established between the two extremes.  I may think that way, but I also have little faith in humanity.  That humans have so little faith in themselves in regards to these things is what bothers me, and why I end up thinking as I do.  I'm still not opposed to people trying though.  Why is everyone else afraid to?

Con:  No, the knowledge of the sum of human history did this to me. In a world where governments and the powerful have in the last 50 years gone out of their way to concentrate influence in their centers, technically, everyone is out to get you

Pho: Actually I was asking if it wasn't taught in some areas, not really a comment but an actual question (ahhh, my continous cyncism makes my questions sound rhetorical and sarcasic, i apologize ^_^). Well up here they teach failure rates here, 2% for Condoms, and they even go as far as to say that its 2% failture if you use it perfectly. We even get those great picture books of people with STDs too. What they don't do is say practice abstinance or you will die a horrible death. There was one case where a woman from a certain organization (rhymes with Mhristian advocacy group) came to the class to try to scare us away from having sex by telling us that if we slept with someone, we've technically slept with every other person they've slept with they've slept with and we're all lustful whores who are going to burn in a firey eternity in hell. The woman was asked to leave and the instuctor apologized to us, but honestly that is the kind of "abstinence only" training that I know exists in some parts of the US education system. That is what I'm against. I have nothing against them saying abstinence is the only method of 100% safety but I do have a problem with them attaching the highest priority to abstinence while neglecting the rest of the sexual education, including that properly using a condom in order to essure a 2% failure rate.

OH NOES  :blink:  :ph34r:  :omfg:

SLAP THAT BULLET PROOF VEST ON ME BOB, AND SHOOT ME!

In NY state, at least, there's a 2 year mandatory Health class requirement (at least when I was there) That encompasses everything from fitness, to yes, a long drawn out sex-ed.

We were taught everything from 'abstinence is best, but if you're gonna have sex..."

Hell the instructor even showed how to put a condom on a banana (was a guy too, we all thought he was a little fruity btw... and he was also the male Wrestling team coach.. go figure)
Also included was Devlar's picture book of STD's.. Hospital Film footage of STD's, a Live birth, etc etc etc etc etc.. Trust me. it was ALL ENCOMPASING..

the ONLY downside to this program... was that you needed a signed permission slip to be in it, and if you didnt get one, you spent like 2 months doing something else (dont remember what, but i remember it sucked, so as people would TRY to get the slip signed instead of blowing it off, and only kids whose parents REALLY didnt want them to go, didnt)

Suprisingly, there were a few kids that did that 'other thing' most, i recall from those 'religous fanatical' famlies... Oh.. I remember what one of the the 'other things' was.. You had to Write a Sex-Ed report.. the teacher said 'if your parents dont want you in my class, then they probably want to teach you themselves, so write me a (5? i dont remember) Page report encompassing everything related to abstinence, Safe sex, & STD's'

I commend this (possibly gay) man for his actions there.. He really wanted to make sure everyone got the full dish.. maybe even a little too full.. he said 'penis' wayyyy to often, like he was talking about his favorite thing..

Obviously it worked since you remember him, ahahah

http://www.iht.com/articles/509550.html (http://www.iht.com/articles/509550.html)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,1227...1166168,00.html (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1166168,00.html)

It would work better if they'd stay true to their word.  Weaklings.

uhm.. technically if they say their going to wait, but then have sex and get an std... doesnt that invalid the statistic? or are they just trying to prove how many people lie about it? .. i r confused.

and I. R. Baboon

the benefit of abstience only sexual education is the point, or rather the lack of benefit

It's called an "agenda", Hed, basically trying to get all of the "religious" types to crawl down a hole somewhere by throwing numbers at us and saying "See?  It doesn't work so lets pass out MORE CONDOMS because THAT SOLVES EVERYTHING!!!"  That's why these kinds of articles show up.  Nevermind the fact that the culture is so overloaded with sexual material that avoiding temptation is nigh impossible unless you live in a monastary.  Well, even those aren't safe anymore lately.  People bitch about STD's and then turn around and whine about decency regulations and not being able to show hardcore porn on prime time broadcast television.  The solutions are simple enough but nobody wants to walk the sensible road.  They want to play the game without paying the price, and it doesn't work that way.

Commitment and dedicated monogamy aren't popular or "cool" in this day, virtue and morality have gone the way of the dinosaur, and people lack even a shred of the self control required to make this work.  I say if you can't keep a commitment and keep your pants on then you deserve to have your pecker rot off.  Maybe heartless on my part, but I'm rather tired of suffering fools who can't control themselves.  If I can keep a commitment to my mate across the ages, and she keep hers to me, then from my perspective there ARE no excuses.  Don't make promises if you can't keep them.

Yet somehow Europe that has been showing "hardcore porn on broadcast television" and handing out more condoms has less of a teen pregnancy and STD problems

...interesting...

Europe has what America doesn't: the desensitization of nudity. Honestly, I think if America adapted the same thing, it'd be a much better place.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Hell yeha!!! Booobies on Broadcast TV & on Billboards!! YAY!! I LOVE EUROPE!