random babble…

presenting breaking news that any pro-choice person could have told you, but now that it’s on MSNBC it’s all official:

Comprehensive sex ed may cut teen birth rate.

i had a pretty nice personal laughing moment when i read that press stopping headline.  (/snark)

but in all seriousness, this is not something new to anyone in the pro-choice crowd.  pro-choicers have been saying for quite a while now that the best way to prevent teen pregnancy is to inform teenagers about the risks associated w/ sex, and the best ways to protect themselves.

Using data from a 2002 national survey, researchers found that among more than 1,700 unmarried, heterosexual teens between 15 and 19 years old, those who’d received comprehensive sex ed in school were 60 percent less likely to have been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant than teens who’d had no formal sex education.

 

Meanwhile, there was no clear benefit from abstinence-only education in preventing pregnancy or delaying sexual intercourse, the researchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

 

The study found that teens who’d been through abstinence-only programs were less likely than those who’d received no sex ed to have been pregnant. However, the difference was not significant in statistical terms, which means the finding could have been due to chance.

 

In addition, there was no evidence that comprehensive sex education increased the likelihood of teen sex or boosted rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — a concern of people who oppose teaching birth control in schools.

 

well, of course!  if all you are teaching kids in high school is that sex is bad and that you shouldn’t have it until you are married, then when they have sex anyway (b/c statistics are showing us that they are, in fact, still having sex) they are less likely to talk to someone about it, b/c they are ashamed.  so, if they aren’t talking to anyone about it, and they aren’t learning about contraceptives in school, then where are they learning about practicing safe sex?

they’re not!

now, the article says that the study didn’t find any significant data that comprehensive sex ed reduced the risk of STD infection, but neither did abstinence only sex ed.

“The bottom line is that there is strong evidence that comprehensive sex education is more effective than abstinence-only education at preventing teen pregnancies,” said lead researcher Pamela K. Kohler, of the Center for AIDS and STD at the University of Washington in Seattle.

 

She told Reuters Health the study “also solidly debunks the myth that teens who learn about birth control are more likely to have sex.”

 

and that is something that the anti crowd has been tossing around for a while now.  they seem to think that mentioning contraceptives or instructing students on how to properly put on a condom will send them all into a furious humping rage!  so it is better to tell them that sex is bad, and then admonish them and call them sluts when they end up pregnant.

i haven’t bothered to look for the study yet, being that it is almost 0200 here, HST, but if anyone finds it, drop a link in the comments.  i would love to see it.

i also love this line:

There is now a body of evidence showing that the comprehensive approach may cut the odds of teen pregnancy, without increasing the likelihood of teens having sex, according to Kohler.

 

However, she added, “there seems to be a gap between scientific evidence and policy change.”

 

and that would make two “duh”’s for this post.