Pure & Simple News
Everyone has the freedom to choose their actions, but they can't choose the consequences. Why is abstinence from high risk choices (alcohol, drugs, sexual activity, and pornography) the most important issue? The answer is because promiscuity (sex outside of marriage) consequences are the number one cause of:
- abortion (55 million since 1973)
- over 40 % of all children born out of wedlock
- divorce (50% of marriages end in divorce)
- improper bonding between parents and children and in other relationships
- broken future relationships
- welfare ($12 TRILLION has been spent on welfare since the war on poverty began and now there are more people living in poverty than when we started! Teen others often drop out of school and live in poverty with their children.)
- sexually transmitted disease (65 million young people have incurable STDs)
Standards that protect us from pornography, child molestation, abuse, sex trafficking, and sexual addiction are eroding our society and children and families are paying a high price by suffering the consequences of negative choices. The media consistently feeds all of us the message that high risk behaviors come without consequences.
It's important to think for yourself and realize how choices you make such as the friends you hang around, music you listen to, what you watch on TV, videos, and the internet influence you! You have tremendous worth as a human being and a great potential to do good in this world. Are you up to the challenge? If not you, then who will change our world for the better?
Resource: National Abstinence Clearinghouse e-newsletter, 12/2011
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Why Today's Sex Education Won't Work by Anne Nolte M.D.
published August 16, 2011 in the New York Post
When I hear that New York City has mandated that sexual education be taught in all middle schools and high schools, as a doctor, I can appreciate the motivation behind the mandate. Teen sexual behavior and risk-taking is a serious problem with serious consequences. But when I see that the content involves a token nod to abstinence and an emphasis on "safer sex" practices, I'm reminded of a saying made popular by Alcoholics Anonymous: "The definition of insanity is dong the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." Graphic sex education inside and outside of the schools, which teaches kids about the risks of early sexual behavior and provides detailed information about how to decrease those risks, has been stirring controversy for more than 30 years--but has little significant effect on outcomes. If we really cared about protecting our teens, medical professionals, educators, politicians and parents would step back and admit that something is just not working.
I'll never forget a patient that I cared for during my residency training -- 17 or 18 years old and pregnant for the first time, one of many pregnant teenagers who came to our prenatal clinic. In the first trimester, we treated her for chlamydia; in the second, for genital warts. In the third trimester, we hospitalized her -- not for pregnancy complications but because she had planned suicide after being notified that the painful blisters on her private parts were incurable. "How could this happen to me?!" she said. "We used a condom almost every time!" Dealing with pregnant teens was part of our daily routine as medical residents. These teens received medical care an average of 15 times throughout their pregnancies.
Most of my fellow residents exerted every effort to educate them about "safer sex" and ensure that they didn't leave the hospital after delivering their babies without having received a contraceptive shot, pills or condoms. Even so, a staggering number of these girls returned to out prenatal clinic within six months -- pregnant with their second or third child.
Most teenagers that I've cared for know about sex, condoms and birth control -- and have ample access to it. They know where to get it, when to use it and what can happen if they don't. Yet teen pregnancy rates remain unacceptably high; sexually transmitted diseases in some major cities are epidemic.
In medicine, sometimes what is needed is a paradigm shift, not just small changes but a radical re-evaluation of the probelm and the assumptions and presuppositions relating to it.
If we had the courage to look honestly at teen pregnancy, we wouldn't be satisfied with a mandate that does the equivalent of placing a tiny band-aid on a gushing artery. If we had the courage to admit that we don't have a solution, we'd be unwilling to spend more money on an old model that has pretty much failed.
If we had the courage, we'd challenge our preconceived ideas about teenage behavior and sexuality and would go back to the drawing board. Could it be that teens really are capable of self-control, moral decision-making and goal-directed behavior? That teens would adopt healthier behaviors if they got a consistent message from parents, teachers, doctors and the media that risk-avoidance, rather than simply risk-reducation, is possible and would maximize their happiness? Could it be that we -- the adults who discount their potential for acting with integrity and maturity -- are part of the problem? In every other public-health intervention, an ideal is promoted: no-smoking campaigns, no-soda-drinking campaigns. Why not in the area of teen sexuality?
I don't believe that his mandate springs from some hidden agenda to increase teen sexual behavior by saturating them with information about sex. It isn't part of some hidden plot to undermine society or the rights of parents or religious organization. I just believe that it isn't going to work -- and that our teens will continue to pay the price for our lack of courage.
How to Teach Abstinence to Teenagers
by Pat Gracia, eHow Contributor
Movies, television shows, music videos and songs sensationalize sex, which causes many teens to engage in the act prematurely. Peer pressure is also a huge factor and many teens are viewed as uncool or weird for choosing to abstain. Because of the many pressures that exist, adults must stress to teens that it is okay to wait. However, simply telling teenagers to abstain from sex may not suffice. Educating young people about sex and abstinence is the best way to encourage them to make good choices.
Instructions (click here to see entire story)
#1 - Explain the health risks associated with engaging in sexual activity. Few teenagers consider...
Women Who Began Having Sex as Teens Are More Likely to Divorce, Study Finds
Science Daily, June 14, 2011
A University of Iowa Study found that women who make their sexual debut as young teens are more likely to divorce, especially if "the first time" was unwanted, or is she had mixed feelings about it.
Published in the April issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, the analysis found that 31 percent of women who had sex for the first time as teens divorced within five years, and 47 percent divorced within 10 years. The divorce rate for women who delayed sex until adulthood was far lower: 15 percent at five years, and 27 percent at 10 years.
Find out the whole story here...
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