Photo by the wonderful Urbanphotography Chris LeBlanc.
I am NOT happy about this. Rinse, repeat, repeat (iTunes link). Looks like I’ll be talking to paranoid and potentially infected teens on the crisis lines (and via email) for the forseeable future. On CNN:
(CNN) — The health care reform legislation that President Obama signed recently isn’t only about insurance coverage — there’s also a renewal of $50 million per year for five years for abstinence-focused education.
Programs that receive this funding must “teach that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services. To qualify, they must also teach that sex before marriage is “likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.” These are part of the “A-H definition,” requirements for programs to receive abstinence funding under Title V of the Social Security Act.
“Title V is trying to make sure that kids are being given a message that saving sex and childbearing for marriage is the safest, healthiest, best choice,” said Scott Phelps, executive director of Abstinence & Marriage Education Partnership. Public schools hire educators from this organization to teach abstinence, and may use Title V funding for it, he said.
In Phelps’ experience — he started his abstinence education work in Chicago, Illinois, 10 years ago — the abstinence message is embraced by kids, even some who have already become sexually active. “They didn’t realize they could stop,” he said.
Organizations promoting evidence-based sex education say it’s troubling that this $250 million will go to state programs that have not been shown to work.(…read more, cnn.com, thanks Praemedia)
I’ve said it before and this just proves it–there’s no real difference between Obama and Bush. The sooner people accept that, the better off we’ll be, IMO.
Defund it. Making government the provider of any kind of education, especially sex ed, is an obvious mistake. Your open-source model for sex ed is in every way superior and would rule if this bipartisan, stupefying, simplistic government boobery weren’t crowding you out. Free sex ed!
“saving sex and childbearing for marriage is the safest, healthiest, best choice”
I almost felt nauseated when I read that. It may seem such an innocuous message to some due to its commonality, but I find it extremely disturbing. Cramming something as inherent and individual as sexuality into a completely human-invented constraint seems appalling to me. That is not to say anything is wrong with marriage at all—it is the idea that the societal structure of marriage should somehow be the precursor and/or container of sexuality that I find repugnant. It seems similar to me to saying that some collectively decided-upon mealtimes should be the only times people should be taught it’s appropriate to eat.
I’m mad enough about this on its own merits: abstinence only education just doesn’t work, and is dangerous. But coming at a time when the right-wing in this country is so “outraged” at the idea of “excessive government spending”… only to still run with this? Hypocrites, all of them.