Abstinence Program Rife with Lies

It's one of those good news/bad news kind of weeks, especially when it comes to the sexual health of future generations. A new study released this week disclosed that federally funded abstinence-only programs in schools are rife with lies and misinformation. Among the big bad lies being told to your kids:

touching a person's genitals can result in pregnancy
half of all gay male teens have HIV
abortion leads to depression and suicide
condoms fail to prevent the transmission of HIV 31% of the time among hetero couples

Wow! This is horrifying on many different levels. The first, of course, is that the only schools that get any government money for sex ed are the ones that teach these programs, which means $170 million bucks is being dumped into programs that defy science and scare the bejesus out of kids. Statistics show that most teens will have sex by the time they graduate from high school, and instead of giving them the information and tools to make good decisions, we're actually depriving them of truly life-saving tools like condoms (which are easily accessible, highly effective contraceptives and safer sex barriers). On top of that, we're basically teaching kids that anything that has to do with their sexuality or sexual curiosity will result in Death, Immorality, Insanity, Depravity...the list goes on. How are they ever going to grow into sexually responsible adults (especially when they finally discover what a bunch of crap they were given in school)?

Makes my poor heart break for teens today, but then that brings me to the good news! SIECUS, one of the oldest and most vocal proponents of comprehensive sex education (the kind that treats kids with respect, and delivers information and resources), is hosting a contest for teens, and the prize is a trip to Belgium to participate in a European/American conference about youth advocacy, particularly around topics like sexuality and reproductive freedoms. Get the details!