The Society for Adolescent Medicine Position Statement
We reported the other day on a paper the the Journal of Adolescent Health discussing abstinence-only programs, not in such a positive light. I didn't realize that the Society for Adolescent Medicine actually published a position statement in that same journal, which is available on the web: HERE.
From the Summary:
They raise an interesting point as well regarding GLBTQ youth. Because these federal programs require that you teach that sex should only happen in marriage, and because gays can't legally marry ... you got a problem:
The good news is that Montgomery County is taking the right steps. MCPS has initiated a comprehensive sex education program that addresses many aspects of sex and sexuality, and is moving forward toward develoment of a straight-ahead curriculum to address issues of sexual orientation without the stigma and silliness.
From the Summary:
Abstinence from sexual intercourse represents a healthy choice for teenagers, as teenagers face considerable risk to their reproductive health from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Remaining abstinent, at least through high school, is strongly supported by parents and even by adolescents themselves. However, few Americans remain abstinent until marriage, many do not or cannot marry, and most initiate sexual intercourse and other sexual behaviors as adolescents. Abstinence as a behavioral goal is not the same as abstinence-only education programs. Abstinence from sexual intercourse, while theoretically fully protective, often fails to protect against pregnancy and disease in actual practice because abstinence is not maintained.
Providing “abstinence only” or “abstinence until marriage” messages as a sole option for teenagers is flawed from scientific and medical ethics viewpoints. Efforts to promote abstinence should be based on sound science. Although federal support of abstinence-only programs has grown rapidly since 1996, the evaluations of such programs find little evidence of efficacy in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse. Conversely, efforts to promote abstinence, when offered as part of comprehensive reproductive health promotion programs that provide information about contraceptive options and protection from STIs have successfully delayed initiation of sexual intercourse.
They raise an interesting point as well regarding GLBTQ youth. Because these federal programs require that you teach that sex should only happen in marriage, and because gays can't legally marry ... you got a problem:
... federally funded abstinence-until-marriage programs discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) youth because federal law limits the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples. Approximately 2.5% of high school youth self-identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual and as many as one in 10 teenagers struggle with issues regarding sexual orientation. GLBTQ adolescents often are fearful of rejection or discrimination due to their orientation; they are frequently subjected to harassment, discrimination, and violence. Homophobia may contribute to health problems such as suicide, feelings of isolation and loneliness, HIV infection, substance abuse and violence among GLBTQ youth. Abstinence-only sex education classes are unlikely to meet the health needs of GLBTQ youth, as they largely ignore issues surrounding homosexuality (except when discussing
transmission of HIV/AIDS), and often stigmatize homosexuality as deviant and unnatural behavior.
The good news is that Montgomery County is taking the right steps. MCPS has initiated a comprehensive sex education program that addresses many aspects of sex and sexuality, and is moving forward toward develoment of a straight-ahead curriculum to address issues of sexual orientation without the stigma and silliness.
posted by JimK at 11:13 AM
17 Comments:
If you really want to creep yourself out, go ahead and click on this link. This extremist group says, based on international treaties, that adolescents have a "right" to education about condoms. (funny, I thought our rights were enumerated in the U.S. Constitution) Presumably, parent with their own ideas are violating the "rights" of their students.
Also notable is their comment that, although there are health risks, adolescent sexual activity has many "positive mental health consequences". (someone ought to introduce them to a dictionary)
The gay stuff is a classic example of the problem with normalizing homosexuality. Now, apparently, an argument against abstinence is that it discriminates against gays. This is similar to the NEA types who now say traditional love stories are "heterosexist".
TTF, try to filter out the extreme groups, please.
Half of "aquestionimeanreally" has now disappeared
you got it- it's the half TTF doesn't like
anonymous said:
The gay stuff is a classic example of the problem with normalizing homosexuality. Now, apparently, an argument against abstinence is that it discriminates against gays. This is similar to the NEA types who now say traditional love stories are "heterosexist".
TTF, try to filter out the extreme groups, please.
______________
This anon is third group.
Somebody should tell this Anonymous idiot to go search Google for the word "heterosexist" on the nea.org web domain.
You do that by going to Google and enetering:
heterosexist site:nea.org
You get two hits, both from the title of some article mentioned in the reference section of the same paper.
If there are NEA types who now say traditional love stories are "heterosexist" then they're saying it somewhere besides at the NEA.
What pleasure do these morons find in this sort of dishonesty?
PB
Here's something interesting:
I just googled heterosexist and NEA and one of the hits was to a paper at familypride.org. The interesting thing was that it listed seven organizations to go to for resources. Six were clearly gay advocacy groups like PFLAG, GLSEN and SIECUS. And then there was NEA.
Hey. We've now had three days of Alito hearings. How do you guys think it's going?
I'm sure he won't be confirmed. As a brilliant political observer recently noted, the religious right's stranglehold on our government has been broken. The Republicans are in chaos. Sure, Kennedy looked like a fool yesterday but that was probably just the way the right-wing media made it appear.
"Somebody should tell this Anonymous idiot to go search Google for the word "heterosexist" on the nea.org web domain."
Passerby:
What do you think about the heterosexist literature controversy? You think we should keep kids away from books that make it seem like heterosexuality is normal?
NEA? Aren't they the nuts that want schools across the country to celebrate Gay History Month? Yeah, a whole month every year to talk about gay stuff. Perfect.
Jim
I've been reading about the new law signed last week criminalizing annoying posts on blogs. Apparently, anyone who runs a blog which allows this runs the risk of prosecution as a accessory to a crime. You might want to consider banning anonymous messages to protect yourself.
Anonymous said...
"NEA? Aren't they the nuts that want schools across the country to celebrate Gay History Month? Yeah, a whole month every year to talk about gay stuff. Perfect."
Yes that would be perfect.
"Yes that would be perfect."
No, it won't. It won't be perfect until we get S & M History Month.
anon in third group of course showing why they should be there
"anon in third group of course showing why they should be there"
What a very interesting thing to say, Kay.
Anon paranoia sets in...everyone in the universe is an anonymous.
But here is an interesting read for you anon
Johnny Garza doing the CRC work (or his own)
*******
Vandalized GSA posters spark protest
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http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/churchillhs/churchill_observer/news/article5.shtm
By Alison Pollack
During September’s Ally Week, a nationwide event in schools which encourages students to ally with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, posters put up by the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) were defaced and vandalized with anti-gay slurs. Photos of the posters soon appeared on the Citizens for Responsible Curriculum (CRC) website blog, prompting CRC lawyer Johnny Garza to threaten a lawsuit against the CHS administration; no lawsuit occured as a result of the threats.
According to GSA vice president Julia Abeles, Johnny Garza (the lawyer also involved in the MCPS health curriculum disputes) wished to “take action against [CHS]” and questioned whether the posters were approved by administration.
According to SGA sponsor Matthew Schilling who determines appropriateness of club posters, language, sexual innuendo and sexuality are all factors for rejecting a poster.
“I initialed the posters,” assistant principal Michael Richards said. “I get angry when people silence each other; it’s cowardly.”
Researchers on behalf of the GSA traced the photos of the posters found on the CRC website to the name “John Woodley,” believed to be an alias.
“People started commenting on the [CRC] website, saying how outrageous we were,” Abeles said. “They didn’t say anything vulgar, it was just random.”
Prior to the email Garza sent to GSA vice president Calei Chan, two posters were vandalized and several were repeatedly torn down.
“Each time a poster was torn down, GSA put it right back up again,” GSA sponsor Art Bescher said. “On one poster, ‘God hates fags’ was scrawled across, and on another, they wrote ‘gay’ in large letters, and crossed out ‘Gay-Straight Alliance’ to read ‘fag-homo lovers’.”
According to Chan, parents called in with complaints, asking for a particular poster to be taken down due to a misinterpretation of the word “slippery.” GSA decided to take it down because they did not want to send the wrong message with its posters.
“[CHS] tends to camouflage controversy,” Chan said. “I would have liked to keep the vandalized posters up just to shock students and help them see the poignant and provocative message.”
Some in the Potomac community still remain critical of the GSA and its motives due to religious or personal beliefs.
“I think the posters were a little pushy and opinionated,” an anonymous junior said.
According to Bescher, the GSA remains committed to its goal despite the harassment and will continue advocating equality in the CHS community.
"“[CHS] tends to camouflage controversy,” Chan said. “I would have liked to keep the vandalized posters up just to shock students and help them see the poignant and provocative message.”"
Demonstrating who had the most to gain from the incident. That's the perpetrator- nine times out o' ten!
Anyone following the Alito comedy hearings? I heard Biden brought the house down when he starting acting jealous of Alito because Biden's son couldn't get into Princeton.
For the Dems, it's all over now but the whining.
Oh yeah, the Dems are crying their eyes out as they watch conservative leaders tumble. Delay resigns his leadership post, Ney follows suit, and today we get to read about Ralph Reed and learn: "One of the most damaging e-mails was sent by Abramoff to partner Michael Scanlon, complaining about Reed's billing practices and expenditure claims: 'He is a bad version of us! No more money for him.' Scanlon and Abramoff have pleaded guilty to defrauding clients." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/15/AR2006011500915.html
This demonstrates the principle that you can laugh so hard it makes your eyes water.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
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