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Politics, Birth Control, Sex Ed , Bristol Palin and an Out-of-Control Prosecutor

by: KathyinBlacksburg

Thu Apr 08, 2010 at 17:41:11 PM EDT


Bristol Palin's new PSA here admonishes kids to, well, not do what she did.  As the saying goes, "Not that there is anything wrong with that" (trying to help kids).  Well, maybe there is. While it may help for kids to hear hard lessons from other kids, Bristol Palin still didn't practice what she preached.  Bristol is probably a good kid.  She made a mistake, which many kids have.  I wish her well and hope she has a good life.  But the message seems to be pitched only at disadvantaged kids, not those whose mothers made, say, $75,000 a pop for an air-headed speech, more than a million from a poorly ghost-written memoir, and buckets of money spreading FAUX "news." Not everyone can be so (monetarily, at least) lucky.

Listen to the PSA at the link above. That's just a little hypocritical. After all, as the above-linked article shows,


Interestingly, the abstinence driven campaign is very much a reversal for Bristol, who told Fox News that she thought abstinence campaigns were "not realistic at all."
The "abstinence only," message she now preaches outside this PSA is a nice wholesome thought, but it is also wishful thinking.  Research shows specifically that abstinence only programs do not work.  And abstinence-only most certainly did not work for Bristol Palin. She's a poster child, not just for the need for sex education, but also, specifically, for family planning. Given the evidence, you'd think that would be the end of abstinence-only programs.  But that's not in the Republican play book. The GOP has to appease the base.  (Take note, Obama administration, you, who don't appease your base (ever)).  Instead, you throw money by the millions at the other side's base.  And they still  act horribly to you).  There is more and it may shock you...
KathyinBlacksburg :: Politics, Birth Control, Sex Ed , Bristol Palin and an Out-of-Control Prosecutor
These programs waste really, really big bucks.  You may be surprised to learn that there is $250 million ($50 million in each of five years) for such abstinence "ed" plans in the health care bill!!!!!  It's another case of white-collar, radical, "right"-wing Republican welfare.  Think of all the medicine for the sick and cancer treatment for the poor that could have been delivered for that much money!  I haven't even discussed here all the hundreds of millions wasted on such programs overseas.  This is worse than pandering.  It's unethical to spend money on ineffective programs, however potentially benign the message.

But the Republican radicals are never satisfied.  Now, in five Wisconsin school districts, lawfully delivering sex education classes including birth control information, permitted under a new state statute, meets threats of criminal prosecution by an errant prosecutor.  You have to read the details of this story to believe it.  This errant bully is twisting, contorting and taking the law into his own hands.  And he hurts the very programs which reduce teen sexual activity AND reduce teen pregnancies.

So, a worthless program receiving millions at the public trough (an evil --because it is a complete waste of money and therefore theft from the public, at the expense of the sick) is OK with Republicans, and (alas) even the Obama administration.  But those lawfully and effectively teaching classes delivering information teens need are treated as criminals by a Republican that might give Cuccinelli bad ideas. This is what you get from the political party which hoisted Bristol Palin to reluctant fame and fortune via her half-witted, half-governor mother (who winks her way into the Hypocrites Hall of Fame). Do they see any irony here?

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Any comments about this story in the Washington Post? (0.00 / 0)
Yes, Obama is trusting the science to some degree (0.00 / 0)
Not a huge sample size, isolated demographic, only one type of training per option, but science it is -- showing abstinence only instruction to be 40% or so better than safe sex instruction.  

I believe the Obama funding came in the wake of this study.  Probably a wise move on Obama's part to at least acknowledge the possibility the training would work, or else Beck et al. would have a field day.

From the Post article:

The study released Monday involved 662 African American students from four public middle schools in a city in the Northeastern United States. It was conducted between 2001 and 2004.

Students were randomly assigned to go through one of the following: an eight-hour curriculum that encouraged them to delay having sex; an eight-hour program focused on teaching safe sex; an eight- or 12-hour program that did both; or an eight-hour program focused on teaching them other ways to be healthy, such as eating well and exercising. The abstinence-only portion involved a series of sessions in which instructors talked to students in small groups about their views about abstinence and their knowledge of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. They also conducted role-playing exercises and brainstorming sessions designed to correct misconceptions about sex and sexually transmitted diseases, encourage abstinence and offer ways to resist pressure to have sex.

Over the next two years, about 33 percent of the students who went through the abstinence program started having sex, compared with about 52 percent who were taught only safe sex. About 42 percent of the students who went through the comprehensive program started having sex, and about 47 percent of those who learned about other ways to be healthy did.

The abstinence program had no negative effects on condom use, which has been a major criticism of the abstinence approach.




[ Parent ]
Yeh. You don't spend $250 million (4.00 / 1)
following a single study.  The overwhelming extant research shows the opposite. I would hope the President did not respond due to this.  But you never know.

I would go further, though.  No one should change anything based upon a single study of anything.  Sound science, adequate sample-sizes, replication and a body of work is essential.  


There's nothing in the middle of the road except yellow stripes and dead armadillos (Jim Hightower). PS I'm on Twitter here.


[ Parent ]
Post study (0.00 / 0)
What I took from the Post story is that abstinence messages work well enough for preteens and the youngest teenagers. That isn't surprising, given that kids this age see the world in very black and white terms and a coherent message cab be effective. If course, many conservatives are very uncomfortable with ANY talk of sexual education at these ages; I have heard parents say that without these classes their children wouldn't know or think about sex. (the planet they are on is named Denial)

After about age 14, students (especially girls, who mature quicker) start to understand that the world is complicated. Telling students at this age to "just say no" makes adults look naive and stupid. (I talk to a LOT of teenagers, as a writer who has written specifically for this age.). We don't do our older teenagers any favors by trying to make a comex world simplistic, just as we don't do our younger teenagers any favors by pretending they aren't growing up.  


OK, so a decent option for Middle School (0.00 / 0)
My take also.  Tailor the particular conditions of the study, and you get the result you want.  

I don't dispute that abstinence only education does not work.  Nothing works when the best of the studied options has a 33 percent "failure" rate.

Consider though that such funding may be good for children in private schools.  There is a government interest in getting some kind of preventative message to kids in private schools, yet the mission of those schools may not be compatible with a "safe sex" message. In that context, $50 million per year, e.g., for funding of weekend programs for inner city private middle school children--possibly a similar demographic to the subjects of the study in the WashPo--may be a pretty good deal.  If 19% delay having sex, that is a lot of government provided contraception that does not need to be purchased.  

 


[ Parent ]
I agree (0.00 / 0)
W/ Gretchen. I taught family life for 25 plus years. Comprehensive family life is most certainly the way to go in high school. Teens respect this approach.
Rent,buy,download ( whatever) The Education of Shelby Knox from PBS web site ( it was on POV several yeasr ago). It is the BEST evidence for comprehensive family life I have seen!
Beyond pregnancy prevention is the whole STI issue. The # of teens contracting herpes,genital warts etc. because they are having oral sex ( thinking they are safer that way than having intercourse)is astonishing.
Abstinence only family life ed. is a sham and like "open classrooms" and other educational trends it will be proved fruitless with future studies!

I agree that multiple approaches are needed (0.00 / 0)
It's important to also recognize that kids in different areas are going to respond better to different messages and different types of programs. I don't think abstinence only works everywhere, but neither does comprehensive. It's important that schools are tailoring their message to the audience, and that means teachers and parents need to be working together to actually know the audience.

My point in posting the WaPo story is that I think people are too quick to discredit ideas that they view as being partisan when it comes to education.  


[ Parent ]
I really take my advice on sex education from Sarah Palin; (0.00 / 0)
Abstinence certainly worked out well for her family,so well that daughter Bristol, who once proclaimed that abstinence education was silly, is now out promoting abstinence education. Experience is really the best teacher!

[ Parent ]
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