According to a new report from the government, teenage birthrates are rising. I read about this report on Bloomberg.com in an article that points out how this is an increase for the first time in fifteen years. Although the article doesn’t make any sort of reference to sex education, I’m afraid that the information in this report will be used to increase support for the Bush administration’s abstinence only programs, even though studies have shown that these programs are dismal failures (see, for instance, this Fox news article for a “fair and balanced” report).
For a humorous look at this failure, see Susie Bright’s take on it. She ends her commentary with the following:
Clearly, more needs to be done to frighten and guilt-trip kids and confuse them about sex. In the Bible when someone has carnal relations with someone the verb “know” is often used. Adam and Eve did not even have sex until they ate of the Tree of Knowledge. The lesson is obvious. If we really want our kids to stop having sex, we need to give them as little knowledge as possible. Abstinence-only sex education has been a good first step in reaching that goal, but we can do better.
