Abstinence Education or Sex Education?

People, abstinence education is a stupid idea that causes harm. Plus, it's really stupid. I mean, the Church thought of it. Surprise, surprise.

Welcome To Earth, circa 2005

Fact of Life No. 1: Teenagers will have sex.
Fact of Life No. 2: STDs exist.

So what are you going to do? Tell them to use protection, or tell them not to do it - and if they do it anyway and get sick, well they deserve it for going against the word of God, don't they!

Bah.

Just Say NO
... in which I discuss the reasons textbooks give teenagers to say no to sex.

Reason No. 1: If a boy wants to have sex with you before marriage, he doesn't respect you.
... which might be true in many cases, mostly among teenagers, but the statement makes no distinctions whatsoever. Do they think teens are dumb? The effectiveness of this reason is nil for any teen who watches TV, because she sees gorgeous, consenting adults having very fulfilling sex all the time with no compromise in mutual respect - something that's actually true in Real Life (TM), except for the gorgeous part, I suppose.

Reason No. 2: You could get pregnant.
Not if you use birth control.

Reason No. 3: Most people regret having sex early, and wish they'd waited.
Look hard at what's left unsaid in the above statement: they wish they'd waited - not waited until marriage; the proportion of girls who regret having sex is far greater than boys because of the disparity of social pressures and expectations, to say nothing of religious ones.

Reason No. 4: Teens who have sex are prone to depression.
Again, it's supposed to be understood that it's mostly girls who are depressed - but the reason for that isn't sex as much as it is society's censure for them having sex.

Reason No. 5: Self control, not birth control! Use your will, not the pill!
Excuse me, these are slogans, not reasons.

Reason No. 6: You could get STDs.
True. You can only ever reduce the chances by using protection, not eliminate them. Good one! Too bad, though, that sex education stresses this message, too, so the net result here is null.

Doesn't the state education system have a legal (moral would be too much to expect) responsibility to at least not be misleading?

Things That Get Screwed Up

(a) If you only tell teens not to have sex - and they do anyway - who's going to give them the knowledge that will protect them from STDs, or even pregnancy?

(b) Reread the reasons teens are given to say no, above. Anything strike you? That's right: abstinence education preaches almost exclusively to girls. Don't believe me? Take a look at some major abstinence education websites, and tell me it's not true. Take a look at Virginity Pledges. The girls' pledge is to never have sex, period; the boys' pledge is to "never push the boundaries of a girl who doesn't want to have sex". Huh. This is not only hypocritical, but also revealing as to the true attitudes of only-abstinence-ists (and the Church) towards women. Women are sinful. Men couldn't possibly be.