Researcher: UK teen pregnancy rate unchanged by school sex ed
Implicit (and sometimes explicit) in these approaches has been an assumption that access to family planning will reduce pregnancy rates amongst those teenagers who were already having sex but will not cause an increase in the proportion of all teenagers who engage in sexual activity.
Standard economic models, however, suggest that the two factors are irretrievably interlinked. Easier access to family planning reduces the effective cost of sexual activity and will make it more likely (at least for some teenagers) that they will engage in underage sexual activity….
In conclusion, despite recent decreases in the overall underage conception rate, unwanted pregnancy amongst minors in England and Wales has proved remarkedly resilient to policy initiatives implemented by different Governments over the past 40 years.
Looking forward, the time appears ripe for a shift in focus from policies aimed at reducing the risks associated with underage sexual activity to those which are aimed more directly at reducing the level of underage sexual activity.
~ Professor David Paton, chair of industrial economics at Nottingham University, discussing the fact that UK school sex education has resulted in little to no statistical change in the teen pregnancy rate over the last 40 years, as quoted by The Daily Mail, August 24
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
This is a good time to revive chaperoned dating.
And it only took them four decades to figure that out, too.
“And it only took them four decades to figure that out, too.”
Maybe in another 40 years they’ll figure out a solution. Or perhaps a more complete list of strategies that don’t work.
WHAT???!!! You mean easy cheap access to contraceptives does not reduce the rate of unplanned pregnancy! How can that be??? All these years Margaret and Nancy and Hillary and Cecile and Barack and all their friends have been telling us just the opposite! Have been lying to us all this time??? Or have they just been stupid??? What is this world coming to when we can no longer trust our great pro-choice leaders??? Oh, the humanity!
And no one from the government and surely not PP will ever teach teenagers what too-early sexual involvement does to your heart and spirit.
You can protect all the sex parts you want; there is no latex or pill from the heartache of giving yourself away to someone who cherishes your gift even less than you do.
Perhaps the problem is school sex ed. We parents hand the responsibility for far too much of our children’s education over to others. And for the most part, we freely and without limits open the sewer pipe of outside, negative influence (tv, internet) right into our homes.
I could say so much more, but it would just be a rant about where we are as a society and our messed up priorities. Lord have mercy.
The problem with most left-wing “solutions” are that they presume people are helpless sheep who don’t respond to the world around them. Sure, increased condom use would decrease STDs and pregnancies, if nobody’s behavior changed as a result. This is also why these prophets of future societal utopia seem unable to accept the fact that society could successfully cope with abortion being illegal, and indeed would be even better off as a result…
Our education system and our church denominations have dismally failed everyone by not getting the truth about this explained to the entire population. It is information that can be understood by anyone with a brain.
The real heart of the problem is undisciplined male sexuality.
The left’s solution was to remove ALL grounds for discipline and attempt to make women as undisciplined as men. To some extent, they won the battle, but are losing (lost) the war.
The result was the emergence of the slut as cultural madonna (A factor more than one pop singer has exploited to wealth and fame,) an explosion of shameless out of wedlock births, the dissolution of Judeo-Christian marriage as a key goal for sex, and the bankrupting of the culture towards government as Baby-Daddy. Sandra Fluke really is the Democrat’s Julia doll.
This approach doesn’t empower women – it enslaves them. One only has to look at other nations where Judeo-Christian marriage doesn’t exist to see the value women have in their culture.
The left’s war on women is nothing to fear, although I do mourn the needless destruction and consequences.
Why no fear? Take a look at the Clintons vs the Romneys as an example of how valuing life instead of embracing death endures over the long haul. it’s only a matter of time.
I don’t look upon the DNC & party, particularly with their morbid abortion plank, as some sort of triumph. Rather, I see the desperation of a morally corrupt core, hanging onto their Precious, like the ever-obsessed Gollum.
Want to kill Judeo-Christian marriage, denigrate Western Civilization and it’s embrace of God’s Word?
Fine – be bound/married forever to your bride: death.
You’ll want a divorce – but she won’t give you one – that’s one marriage that lasts forever.
Well, I’m glad to hear him say this.
Chris, I would argue that it’s more than just male sexuality, but rather undisciplined human nature. It’s the attitude that only males have sex drives and need to be controlled that can lead to lots of heartache for girls and women.
But congrats to Mr. Paton for his conclusion, which I’m sure isn’t entirely popular. I think a huge part of the problem (and note that there are many factors contributing to teen sexuality, pregnancy and the spread of STDs) is the way it’s presented and the focus of the curriculum.
Instead of focusing on the benefits of delaying sexual activity (such as self-respect, respect of others, healthier relationships, planning for the future, building discipline, better ability to focus on school, etc., etc.), many programs present all sexual choices in an all-you-can-eat buffet style: all choices are equal, there are no long-term consequences, do what makes you feel good, etc.
When the focus is on the physical implications of sex only (pregnancy, STDs) that is what they avoid by taking BC, getting abortions, what have you instead of avoiding the activity that would lead to those problems altogether.
It would seem that teens are no longer taught that sex is something very powerful and has the potential for great harm or great good depending on the situation – it needs to be respected and that decision should only be made by mature adults.
What many of you all are saying, without coming out and using the word itself is CHASTITY education.
So many people equate chastity with celibacy. The two are NOT the same.
Chastity is on the focus of respecting sexual activity and what it is–two people coming together as one being (whether you’re religious or not, you have to admit that the way a man and woman’s body fit together is like puzzle pieces to make a new picture). It’s respect for self and others.
Chastity has gotten a bad rap because people equate it with a bunch of NO’s and DO NOTs rather than the positives it makes way for:
Respect
Not settling for something less than real love and respect
Treating sex as more than just a casual past time
There’s other positives, of course, but those are just some of the ones that stand out in my mind.
The point is, there’s no such thing as sex without consequences–whether it’s the release of oxytocin in a woman (sometimes called “the bonding hormone”) or vassopressin in males (also called “the monogamy molecule”) to the emotions men and women both experience.
I’ve talked to both males and females. Both sides have heartache from treating sex activity with a casual “who-cares-come-what-may” attitude.
People can say all the want about how it doesn’t matter, but, I’ve seen enough evidence (and I’ve got my own experiences) that says there is NO such thing as sexual activity without consequences…and it’s not always STDs or unplanned pregnancies. Sometimes it’s emotional, spiritual, and/or psychological.
Hi LibertyBelle – I agree that undisciplined human nature is the core, however it really does come down to the male sex drive being the primary factor when considering culture.
Many feminists dump on the Old Testament saying it’s male-oriented. They forget/overlook God’s commandments were directed mostly at men, not women. In other words, men had to undergo greater change of their nature.
Just about every wife/girlfriend will tell you the ~6:1 ratio is real. That has an impact. For instance a single prostitute provides services for a market of men, while you don’t see the converse. Similar with porn and other visuals.
There’s much more to this perspective, particularly when historical accounts and ancient languages are considered (look up the words for male and female in biblical Hebrew – they refer concretely to their physicality/roles.)
I agree with the remainder of your comment. Also when it comes to young men – (in discussions I’ve had with them) they really do want to know the entire picture, with nothing held back, but often suffer from myopic deliveries from both sides.
Chaperoned dating or courtship — call it what you want but we have got to take humane and reasonable measures to decrease partnered sexual activity.
Herpes, HIV and other STDs are the results as well as brutal abortions.