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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (146195)	4/24/2002 8:07:22 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575780

Have you ever been to Planned Parenthood? I have, with a girlfriend, and they were very helpful. Didn't push anything at all and advised condoms over pills. Gave us a bag of free condoms and asked for nothing in return. You have the wrong idea about them. Very important service they provide. Especially to young people deciding to have safe sex. The religious right as a FACT is seriously against ANY sex education in schools and seriously AGAINST even telling kids about CONDOMS. They use the excuse that it would be promoting sex. But kids are going to have sex whether you educate them or not. Better educated than not. Religious conservatives probably cause as many abortions and unwanted pregnancies as anyone through this deluded practice. Talk to your local teachers and ask them if they're allowed to even use the word "sex" in school. Thanks to the religious right, they're not. At least here in "liberal" LA. Can't teach evolution either which is really ridiculous. Religions in general are now exposing themselves as creators of some serious problems in our world. I respect religions and they help many people but fundamentalists insists on believing folklore from 2000 years ago and denying scientific facts and inquiry. Bin Lauden is the extreme example but we have many here in home who are just as irrational. Maybe they don't blow up people but they nevertheless do more harm than good sometimes. The mixture of the oil business and religious conservatives in the GOP is a weird and troublesome mix. At least religious conservatives should be environmentalists and stand up for God's creation, but they don't seem interested. Why is that?

To: i-node who wrote (146195)	4/25/2002 3:28:00 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575780

There is ample anecdotal evidence today that serious efforts to teach abstinence work to warrant continued efforts. That "ample anecdotal evidence" must be in hiding. ____________________________________________________________ Govt. Report Questions Abstinence Programs By LAURA MECKLER .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (April 24) - There still is no evidence whether programs that push sexual abstinence prevent teen sex, pregnancy or disease, the government reported, as Congress debates whether to renew an abstinence-only initiative. These programs have multiplied in the five years since Congress directed almost half a billion dollars to the effort, but an evaluation aimed at determining whether they work will have no definitive results for a few years, said an interim report released Tuesday. The report found the programs offer teens a variety of activities, although they also have trouble getting parents and local schools involved. It also found that, despite claims by advocates, no reliable evidence exists whether the programs work. ''Most studies of abstinence education programs have methodological flaws that prevent them from generating reliable estimates of program impacts,'' the report said. The abstinence-only initiative, created in the 1996 welfare overhaul, has caused heated debate because it bars any discussion of condoms or birth control other than to explain their limitations. Congress is deliberating whether to renew the program for five more years, as President Bush wants, or to allow the money to be spent on a broader range of activities. Several Democrats said at a House hearing Tuesday they were disturbed by the program, but most Republicans defended it. Given the restrictions, states across the country debated whether to take the abstinence-only money. Eventually every state took the money, although California later dropped out. In 1999, about half of high school students and nearly two-thirds of graduating seniors reported having had sex. That's a small drop from earlier years, but the report cited a lack of evidence that the abstinence-only programs were responsible for the decline. The report, written by independent researchers who are evaluating the initiative, also found: -Programs incorporated many messages beyond sexual abstinence. These included building self-esteem, aspiring to healthy marriages, decision-making skills, withstanding peer pressures and developing goals. There were weekend gatherings, essay contests, family retreats and door prizes at school dances. -Many programs try to bridge the gap in parent-child communication by trying to engage parents in programs and trying to get teens to feel more comfortable talking to their parents about sex. There's been little success. ''Despite widespread parent enthusiasm for programs, getting more than a small fraction actively involved has proven to be a major challenge for virtually all programs,'' the report said. -Establishing partnerships with schools is difficult, both because of competing priorities and debate over sex education policies. On Capitol Hill, a House Commerce subcommittee debated whether to renew the program, with the full committee scheduled to vote on it Wednesday. Several Republicans said it makes sense to bar discussion of birth control if programs are stressing that abstaining from sex is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. ''We have a duty to ensure we are not sending mixed messages to our youth,'' said Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa. Others said teen-agers can sort it out and advocated programs that encourage abstinence but also teach about birth control in case kids have sex anyway. ''Why can't we tell kids the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?'' asked Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pa., who said he wants his two teen-age daughters to be taught about abstinence and contraception. ''Why can't we trust kids?'' Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said the states should be allowed to decide what their programs contain, noting that Republicans support state flexibility for other programs. ''When it comes to an issue like abstinence-only education, it's somehow OK for ... the federal government to put a choke hold on the states,'' he said. ''Sometimes we want states' rights. Other times, when it doesn't serve our purpose, we don't.'' AP-NY-04-24-02 0245EDT Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.