Last week the American Medical Association (AMA) published a report that shows abstinence education works. Tragically, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi had already pandered to dishonest groups like Planned Parenthood, who profit from teen sexual activity, and took the unbelievable action of terminating government funding of these successful abstinence programs.
The results are clear: When adults take the time to tell children what is right and what is wrong, and teach them how to avoid sex, the majority of them actually do. But when a young person is constantly bombarded with sexual images, taught by those in authority that he can freely engage in sex if he wants to, and is presumed to be unable to control himself, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he will most likely become sexually active.
In the AMA’s Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, a study of sixth and seventh graders reveals a stark contrast between kids who are taught Obama’s preferred sex education and those who receive abstinence education. When students are told that abstinence is best at the same time that the educator is telling them how to use a condom, nearly half of the teens end up having sex within two years. But when teachers give a consistent abstinence only message, equip children with practical methods to say “no”, and relay the full expectation that they can control themselves, only about a third of those children become sexually active in the next two years.
While many in the policy and education world are shocked at the revelation that abstinence education works, Robert Rector and Christine Kim of The Heritage Foundation have known this truth for years. In 2008, Heritage analyzed 21 different studies done on abstinence education programs. Researchers “found that in 16 of the 21 reports there were significant positive results in delaying early sexual activity and initiation.”
In addition to eliminating all chances of becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease, Rector also reports that the research reveals that teens who practice abstinence, “will be happier and less depressed than their permissive peers. Abstinent teens also do dramatically better in school. They are half as likely to drop out as their sexually active peers. And teens who abstain until at least age 18 are twice as likely to attend and graduate from college as those who become sexually active while in high school.”
The worst consquence of the president's actions is that for those groups of teens where pregnancy is highest - blacks and hispanics - Obama has pretty much obliterated any chance of these young girls ever receiving the education they need to avoid pregnancy, contracting STD's and all the other complications that go with young girls having sex. Given that the vast majority of black and hispanic teens attend public schools, striking funding for abstinence education programs and instead funding only programs with an inferior record certainly ensures that their teen pregnancy and sexual activity rates will stay the worst. Of coures, that does ensure that they will continue to line up at the abortion mills and thus line the pockets of Planned Parenthood and others who thrive off of keeping them in dire circumstances. It sort of reminds me of the stupidity and racism shown by liberal groups when they work to quash school choice programs in order to keep these kids captive in failing inner city public schools. The puzzling part is that there is still no public outcry at the injustice of sentencing these minority groups to lives of poverty, teen pregnancy and using abortion as a means of birth control. Is the president so tied to special interest groups who profit from government programs that he would doom young minority girls in such a blatant manner for political expediency? He is. So much for hope and change.
When I think about the millions of teens who will be left emotionally scarred by sexual encounters they are not mature enough to handle, or the millions of little girls who will become pregnant because adults shamefully encourage them to be sexually active, or the youngsters who will contract and carry a serious STD for life, it makes me angry that we have a president who is more concerned with satisfying the special interest groups than he is advocating for the safety of all of America's children.
In most states, parents have the right to opt their children out of the sex education classes. But you have to take the action to make that happen. Contact your school counselor and find out what the options are, and then sit down with your children and explain why you are choosing a better way. Make certain that the teachers do not belittle or punish them for not taking the classes. Find other parents in your child’s classroom who dare to take a stand, and support each other.
Secondly, be proactive in teaching abstinence to your children. Check out sites like www.family.org, www.abstinence.net, www.sexrespect.org, www.awareprogram.net and >www.heritage.org for great abstinence education resources. Do your homework, take action and be committed enough to your children to teach them the truth. Since the president abandoned what works and is even funding programs that make your job harder and your children more vulnerable, your sons and daughters are more reliant than ever on you to show them the way.
And, if you happen to be fortunate enough to have resources to fund abstinence-based programs, please do so. You may be the only real hope vulnerable teen girls have.
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