Monday, 29 June 2009
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The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
By Brian Greene
see relatedWant to reduce the number of abortions? Here's my plan:
Step 1: Proper sex education. How many of you had a PROPER sexual education course? I know I did. I still have nightmares about the slideshow. If you had a proper course, you know what I'm talking about. The extreme closeups on ravaged genitalia.
"What is that? Is that a hippo with gout?"
"That's gonorrhea."
"Oh. I'm never touching a woman. Ever."
Those slideshows always reminded me of what could happen if I had unprotected sex. Even ten years later those images are burned to the backs of my retinas. And for the record, a proper sex education still teaches that abstinence is the best way to prevent pregnancy and STDs. But it should not be the only thing taught.
Expecting teenagers to just "say no to sex" is incredibly naive. This is when hormones are flowing and every single facet of society tells you to have sex... it's fun and popular. So just saying "abstain" and washing your hands of it is not a solution. Teaching kids about condoms, the pill, and other options are what works. Kids that don't get sex education don't know that you can get STDs from oral sex, or that you can get pregnant even if you do "pull out." So obviously their education is incomplete.
Part of this sex education will be teaching that pregnancies are a purely biological function, not a horrible stigma upon whatever woman has it. My theory is that part of the reason for getting an abortion is the fear of the shame of being an unwed teenage mother.
Step 2: Access to contraceptives. All this teaching doesn't do any good if they can't get the things they need for safe sex. This seems fairly self-explanatory. Expecting kids not to have sex because they have no access to condoms is like expecting to reduce the number of fires by removing fire extinguishers.
Step 3: Financial support for women who DO become pregnant. One of the determining factors in getting an abortion is "can I afford this baby?" If they get help with things like medical attention, maternity clothes, leave of absence from their job, a legitimate way to get affordable care for the child while the mother works her job... why, they might not get an abortion. Far too often the "pro-life" crowd seems to cease caring about the life once it is outside the womb.
Now of course, there will be some concern over people abusing this, and saying "I'm pregnant, give me money." There's a really simple way around that. Give them funding in a way that can only be used towards legitimate enterprises. I obviously don't know the most fool-proof method yet, but some thoughts I've had include:- Something like food stamps, but used only towards things like maternity clothes, cribs, diapers, etc.
- "Pregnancy counselors" or something of the sort that you must go through to buy all these things. You must check in with them every so often for medical checkups and help planning and purchasing.
- Medical checkups would be required for proof of pregnancy.
- Something like food stamps, but used only towards things like maternity clothes, cribs, diapers, etc.
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Comments (85)
"Expecting kids not to have sex because they have no access to
condoms is like expecting to reduce the number of fires by removing
fire extinguishers."
i loved that line.
Great post, and great points. All of this makes perfect sense.
I pretty much agree with this. I also think desperately needed and huge improvements to the foster care system are in order, as well. I always wish that groups led by guys like James Dobson would do as much to raise money for that sort of thing as they do for pro-life campaigning.
@fatal_is_life - That is my favorite line too.
Id expect nothing less than good posts from you godlessliberal. Good stuff.
I love that you added changing teen pregnancy into something that is not a social stigma. I've heard so many women say they were pregnant, and sometimes I wonder if anyone ever gave them a congratulations. Yeah, it's not in a teens best interest to get pregnant, but it's a beautiful thing, even if it happens by mistake.
You make very good points.
Thumbs up!
@AibellFaeire - My parent's friends' daughter got pregnant out of wedlock and at 19, and announced it in front of my family and her family at the same time. Everyone sat there with their jaws dropped, but I instantly ran up to her, gave her a huge hug and congratulated her.
leeeeeeegit.
Please tell me when you are running for office so that I can cast my vote. Totally sensible solutions that no one can disagree on. What a concept.
Everything suggested in this post is a wonderful idea. Hopefully more people start taking common sense into consideration some time in the near future!
I had a comprehensive sex education class (my school district required us to go through three different levels of it in 5th, 8th, and 10th grade) and it didn't prompt me to start having sex right away. On the contrary, I don't think I would have waited as long had I NOT had the class and I would have made a lot of dumb choices.
100% agreed
Haha fucking awesome. I don't remember where I got these statistics (probably in my social psychology class) but it shows that kids who got abstinence only education are no less likely to have sex than those who get a proper sex education course. However, those who got abstinence only were more likely to end up pregnant and with STD's.
Great post.
In my area, it's illegal to teach any form of birth control other than abstinence in schools. Our county also has the highest teen pregnancy rate (and teen motherhood rate) in New Jersey. I'm pretty sure it's not a coincidence.
Well stated.
I gotta say, I only skimmed it, so I didn't catch the finer details (just lazy today), but from what I glanced at, this is a well thought out approach. I'd accept it as policy.
I agree except for one thing ... I don't think it is a inherently a bad idea to teach abstinence ALONG WITH proper sex education. This is where I think both sides of the debate keep shooting themselves in the foot. The fact of the matter is - the only 100% certain way to prevent pregnancy and STD transmission is abstinence. There is nothing wrong with telling kids this up front, while at the same time sharing the 2nd best methods - condoms, birth control, spermicide, etc. with them. I think we do ourselves a disservice by teaching kids ONLY abstinence, but I also think we do ourselves a disservice by leading them to believe that "safe sex" is the best option. The best option is to wait, but for those who can't or won't, "safe sex" is the next best choice. I don't see why folks on both sides of the debate get bent out of shape about hearing that.
more people need to have this kind of view
@radicalramblings - Every single sex ed program I have ever studied had maintained that the only 100% safe way of preventing STDs and pregnancy. Abstinence is always taught as part of sex ed. I know it was focused on a lot in mine. If anyone here has had a proper sex ed class that didn't advocate abstinence, please speak up and correct me. That's a district I'd like to write to.
People's kids grow up, their parents do not; indeed they march toward senility.
I agree with this...I've had three different sex ed's from my school. They brought in speakers and slideshows and just...-shudder- One of them brought in this Ziploc baggy full of the grossest water you've ever seen, and there was a dollar bill in it. She asked a guy to come over and get the dollar out, and of course he asked for a glove. She said that was her point exactly. Anyways. Yeah.
@GodlessLiberal - I was not speaking of a specific program. You know as well as I do, that there are misguided people who advocate teaching abstinence only - who are then responded to by equally misguided folks advocate removing abstinence education completely. They're both wrong, and thankfully for the most part neither side is getting completely what they want. I just want to point out that any sucessful plan to revamp the system needs to specifically include language that will allow for abstinence education to be a *part* of the curriculum.