Golly, ordering teens to use birth control doesn't work either.

Gawdzila: Glad you're having a good time of it.
I wouldn't want to have kids young, though, even if I could still get a job and a degree, because those aren't the only things I want to do with myself. Traveling to far-flung places for long periods of time is a little hard when you've got kids, for instance. I'm gonna stretch out my freedom and irresponsibility for a bit before I think of making mini-me's ;)

Oh, I'll get to do that too. And buy the toyz. It's just more of a delayed gratification thing.

Impudent Domain 2009-07-18 03:16:05 PM
I'm gonna tell my daughter that birth control pills are bad for her health. I want some grandchildren before I'm too old to pick them up.

I f*cking hate you.

Raspil: Impudent Domain 2009-07-18 03:16:05 PM
I'm gonna tell my daughter that birth control pills are bad for her health. I want some grandchildren before I'm too old to pick them up.

I f*cking hate you.

I don't. What's your daughter's name?

texastag: Not these people...



They know different now.

/That little one is trying to steal my soul through the internet
//Palin will lose in the '12 primary
///You heard it here last
////Vasectomy for me, condoms for the teens

She was the reason I voted for McCain. Yummy.

Well I thought Scotthimself was going to win troll of he thread, but then aselene showed up with a face full of stupid...

Having grown up in Utah, I know how poorly abstinence only education works, there were alot of dropouts in my highschool due to pregnancy, and I'm sure there were a number of STDs. And as someone who wasn't retarded and did have sex in highschool, I can say that I believe in condoms 100%. Had sex with a number of girls, and since not one got pregnant, and no-one caught anything, I think I can say that aselene's "facts" are quite uninformed...

ThrobblefootSpectre: Golly, ordering teens to use birth control doesn't work either.

No, but teach them about the issues surrounding sex, std's, and pregnancy, and how to deal with them, and more often than not they will choose to use birth control on their own. This is the best you can hope for.

Teenagers may be prone to making rash decisions, but they are more capable than you give them credit for. You don't have to order them to do everything.

Even if you think that abstinence is the best policy, you have to understand that you simply will not get everyone on board with your idea. The question then becomes one of efficacy: given that 100% adherance isn't an option, what policy will be most effective at curtailing the problems associated with teen sex? So far the absolutely unquestionable leader is better and more informative sex education, NOT abstinence education.

People need to stop see this as "giving the thumbs up to teenagers" and start realizing that this is simply the solution that works the best for the most number of people. To promote abstinence education in the face of the facts is essentially to say that you value having the most ethical (by your standards) laws more than you value having laws that actually make things better.

serial_crusher: Keep bending those statistics, subby. Ever think it might have something to do with the ever-decreasing abortion rate? Kids are having the same amount of sex or less, and not as many abortions. I call that a win.

I agree. The rate of teen sex has been the same since the 1920s according to detailed federal stats kept since that time.

However, your goal is incomplete- less abortions without a care for teen pregnancy, teen birth rates or STDs.

How about preventing all three? Promoting condom use vs. abstinence only accomplishes your goal plus two other direct ones and another indirect one- prevention of later infertility caused by undiagnosed STDs.

As for your logic:
The teen abortion rate has been declining for 25 years.

From TFA- "Birth rates among U.S. teens increased in 2006 and 2007, following large declines from 1991 to 2005, according to a new U.S. government study."

So a 25 year decline in abortion rates cannot be used to explain a very recent two year increase in teen birth rates.

serial_crusher: Kids are having the same amount of sex or less, and not as many abortions. I call that a win.

I wouldn't, not by itself.

How about statistics on pregnancy, not just abortions?
If kids are having sex, getting pregnant, and NOT having abortions, then this increases the number of teenage mothers. This has an effect on high school and college drop-out rates, and, in turn, on average income, the number of people without medical insurance, and the number of people who need to claim welfare benefits. It also increases the divorce rate, as teenage mothers marry young to the high schooler than got them pregnant.

I call that a lose.

Gawdzila: serial_crusher: Kids are having the same amount of sex or less, and not as many abortions. I call that a win.

I wouldn't, not by itself.

How about statistics on pregnancy, not just abortions?
If kids are having sex, getting pregnant, and NOT having abortions, then this increases the number of teenage mothers. This has an effect on high school and college drop-out rates, and, in turn, on average income, the number of people without medical insurance, and the number of people who need to claim welfare benefits. It also increases the divorce rate, as teenage mothers marry young to the high schooler than got them pregnant.

I call that a lose.

I don't think I've ever heard the U.S. explained so well.