Conservatives sex-abstinence classes useless study finds...

[Red Ketchup]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6554743.stm




US sex-abstinence classes queried
By Vanessa Heaney
BBC News, Washington

US students attending sexual abstinence classes are no more likely to abstain from sex than those who do not, according to a new study.

Participants in special programmes were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not attend.

In the past few years of Republican Party control of Congress, the spending on no-sex-before-marriage education has risen from $10m to $176m a year.

Critics have repeatedly said the programmes are not working.

They say the money would be better off spent on a comprehensive sex education that would include abstinence.

Conclusions

Social conservatives have long believed that teaching adolescents about sexuality and contraception could encourage them to have sex.

They would rather promote abstinence until marriage.

The students in this study, which was ordered by Congress, came from a range of big cities across the United States, such as Milwaukee and Miami and from rural communities in Virginia and Mississippi.

They were 11 and 12 years old when they entered the abstinence programmes, which lasted one to two years.

The researchers also looked at the behaviour of their peers from the same communities who did not attend the classes.

The findings show that those who attended first had sex at about the same age as their peers - at 14 years and nine months.

The Bush administration has warned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the study.

[Logan13]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6554743.stm




US sex-abstinence classes queried
By Vanessa Heaney
BBC News, Washington

US students attending sexual abstinence classes are no more likely to abstain from sex than those who do not, according to a new study.

Participants in special programmes were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not attend.

In the past few years of Republican Party control of Congress, the spending on no-sex-before-marriage education has risen from $10m to $176m a year.

Critics have repeatedly said the programmes are not working.

They say the money would be better off spent on a comprehensive sex education that would include abstinence.

Conclusions

Social conservatives have long believed that teaching adolescents about sexuality and contraception could encourage them to have sex.

They would rather promote abstinence until marriage.

The students in this study, which was ordered by Congress, came from a range of big cities across the United States, such as Milwaukee and Miami and from rural communities in Virginia and Mississippi.

They were 11 and 12 years old when they entered the abstinence programmes, which lasted one to two years.

The researchers also looked at the behaviour of their peers from the same communities who did not attend the classes.

The findings show that those who attended first had sex at about the same age as their peers - at 14 years and nine months.

The Bush administration has warned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the study.

All that I can say is "duh". Teens are always going to be interested in sex, regardless of what classes they sign up for to make their parents and society happy.
But this is even dumber:

Condoms Kept out of Prisons for Fear of Encouraging Sexual Contact
03/18/07
Rep. Bobby Rush and two co-sponsors introduced a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives in January that would allow groups to hand out condoms to inmates. The Tribune reports that inmates are 5 times more likely to contract HIV than others. A similar bill was struck down by an Illinois State House committee 6-5 on Thursday, leaving the controversial and unpopular issue in the hands of the U.S. Senate. The AIDS foundation of Chicago, however, is looking for middle ground with the Illinois ***artment of Corrections.

The debate is controversial for a few reasons. Most apparent are the reasons that faith based groups have, which is their on message mantra that first ascribes to abstinence only. Handing out condoms, they believe, would also encourage homosexuality. This is to be expected, as this debate has been going on for years. The second issue is that of sexually activity in prisons. Sexual contact is prohibited inside prison walls and legislators along with some at the prison facilities believe handing out condoms would encourage sexual contact.

Sexual activity is going to occur regardless of whether or not it is prohibited, 1 percent of inmates are raped and while a perpetrator may not use a condom it is pretty irresponsible to restrict access to condoms. Rev. Doris Green, director of community affairs for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago is pushing hard for the bill. She explains to the Trib that she is concerned for the African American community, which accounts for half of the nationwide case of HIV/AIDS. As she explains, "It's about more than just the prisoners." As the men are released they may pass along the infection to family or someone else. Certain prisons, in L.A. and Washington, D.C. allow inmates to receive condoms. The county jail in L.A., however, only allows their gay inmates access to condoms. This may or may not be too effective though, as the article points out, sex between inmates and prison workers is also an issue. Only 13 percent of guards at the D.C. prison indicated that more issues have arisen due to the distribution of condoms.