Posted on 11/17/2004 1:46:49 PM PST by blakep
If we are having problems with sexual education here in America, shouldn't we try to implement a system that the Dutch have in place? I don't know the positives/negatives of the system because I can't get any details on the web, can some of you help me out?
I hear they have an average of 8 pregnancies per 1,000. Plus their abortion rate is the lowest in the world.
Well, I believe it is unhealthy... I can't imagine a worse politics than no sex for young people.... Virginity IS overrated!
I should have said, "Enough *illegal* marijuana ..." etc. My bad. Personally, I'm for marijuana legalization & taxation. I doubt Jamaican marijuana is adulterated or full of garbage added by organized crime dealers.
Love your handle, BTW. Great book.
How young should they begin being sexually active? 15, 12, 11, 8? The Sex Positives believe as young as tykes playing doctor and to "keep at it". No such thing as "age appropriate" behavior. Experiment a little. Try same sex encounters. Group sex. See "what you like".
It is called "indoctrination". IT is unhealthy. Burn them out on sex by the time the reach high school and have developed a number of personality disorders. This is better?
I agree. The high abortion rate here in the U.S. is appalling. The relatively high teen pregnancy rate (compared to the Dutch and others) is also not a good indicator for our society.
Of course, compared to the British, we look pretty good.
Well, they start in their teen years, that you like it or not... So the best is to provide thenm with contraception!
You don't like iut? Since the beginning of times elder and parents have tried to rtein in the young without results...
Join the club!
""What are the reasons? I don't know for sure, but I do know that the numbers are there."
Ummmmmmm.....just a stab in the dark....but is it possible your tagline holds a clue?
"
I guess not. What would my being an atheist have to do with the pregnancy rate among teens in different countries?
It's true the article is poorly written. The government in Holland stopped giving handpouts because they're trying to copy the approach we use in the US where we encourage abstinence.
So just as their bodies go through hormonal changes that will affect them for life you suggest medically giving them horomones to suppress their biological ability to reproduce.
Somehow that doesn't seem healthy.
Which is why the mantra of "safe, legal, and rare" is just mumbo jumbo to placate Catholic Democrats.
...but this is not the case with All About Sex. On the contrary, the success and popularity of this site since 1997 has been nothing short of phenomenal and we appreciate all the positive sentiment - it should be clear to any sex educator or parent familiar with this site that kids want and need open, honest and non-judgmental answers to their sex and sexuality-related questions, and that if such a forum is provided to them, they will flourish with it and ask questions they wouldn't be comfortable asking anywhere else. Rather than the days when talking about sex was only done in whispers and biology class, today's kids have so many more options for exploring the subject of sex, and, frankly, their own sexual interests. When AAS started, there was only one other site that had anything positive to say to kids about sex, but now there are many, many sites with excellent, open and honest information about sex.However, being so successful has a negative side as well, and keeping up with the popularity of the site and the work involved in maintaining the site and providing regular, fresh content, has become more than we can handle along with our obligations to our own families and employers. Expense has been another factor, although our host, Advances.com, has always worked with us to bring bandwidth expenses down, and this site has never been a profit-making site, and has never even taken donations. So, for a combinations of reasons, we are closing the site and hope everyone will understand. It has been a fantastic 7 years and we have been touched by so many of the fantastic regulars and kids who have poured out their hearts and souls talking about their sexual dilemmas, their happy and exciting first experiences, and their traumas and disappointments. Judging by the comments we frequently get, it seems that we've touched a few people's lives and been a positive force in general, and for that we are thankful.
Below are links to many other excellent resources for parents and for teens.
Very Sincerely, The owners and volunteers of All About Sex.org
RESOURCES FOR TEENS AND PARENTS :
Advocates For Youth - Calls for politicians to "Respect Young People's Right To Be Responsible". Excellent site that has a section focusing on responsible sexual rights of adolescents, with excellent reading material about sex education elsewhere in the world and how it compares to the U.S.
gURL.com - A truly fantastic website created for girls that has an extensive area on sex and sexuality. They give honest, factual answers to girl's questions without pushing any ideology. They also have an excellent set of books for adolescent girls called the "Deal With It" series.
PFLAG Talk - Parents & Friends of Lesbian And Gay Youth - One of the most well-known and solid organizations available to gay, lesbian and bisexual youth - http://www.critpath.org/pflag-talk/
Being Girl.com - A really cool website created by the Tampax Corporation that talks about many sex-related issues (and has a sex-positive attitude), with a focus, of course, on the female body.
SexPedia - From the Discovery Channel's website, in the section focusing on sexual health, comes a 'encyclopedia' of sorts of sexual facts, from A to Z
The Coalition For Positive Sexuality ~ This site was the ONLY other site when we started that promoted a POSITIVE approach to adolescents and sex, and they helped make the AAS website so popular by being the first site to link to us! They have excellent instructions on condoms and other safe sex practices.
Go Ask Alice! - Now one of the most established and well-known resources available to people of all ages dealing with health, in general, and more specifically, sexuality and sexual health. It is run by Columbia University in New York and is very well done.
Like It Is! - The Brits Do Exactly That... They Truly Tell It Like It Really Is! No Political Agenda, No Religious Dogma, Just Honest And Open Conversation About Teen Sexuality, Discussed The Way It SHOULD Be In America (but isn't)
The Joys Of Teen Sex - Obviously, This Website Is Not In America... But It Is No Parody... It Is A Non-Politicized View On Teen Sex In The U.K., Where Adolescent Sexuality Is Considered... NORMAL (gasp!)
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Condoms!! - A Fantastic Resource From The People At CONDOMANIA!
SIECUS - The Sexuality Information Education Council of the United States - A resource geared toward sex educators and parents.
-------------------------------------------------
SOME ADDITIONAL FACTORS...
To be perfectly honest, there are other factors in our decision to shut down, and although those factors are a little embarrassing to admit, they are important enough that others need to know about them. Speaking now just for myself as the creator of this site and primary owner, I have had other things to consider in keeping AAS open the last year or so including the fact that I now have a wife to consider and a family of my own to start, and negative opinions about this site (even though we rarely hear any) no longer affect me alone. Also, sadly, the political climate in America has changed so dramatically since the Bush Administration and the Tom Delay Congress came to power that people no longer feel that they can speak out freely on controversial issues - especially if one is daring to disagree with the current political forces.
[snip]
Only a few weeks after No New Money went live last August, 24 House Republicans, led by Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., jotted off a letter to HHS Secretary Thompson asking that both SIECUS and Advocates for Youth (which was listed on the site along with more than a hundred other 'supporting organizations') be investigated."
And that is just one small example of what the political climate has become... SIECUS is now under further vicious attack by Republicans in Congress and a score of Religious Right groups. Keep in mind that SIECUS has been writing the sex education curricula for public and private schools in America since 1964 and is hardly a "controversial" group. To get a better idea of exactly what is going on, you can read the complete last article posted on the AAS site in December 2003. You can also visit the SIECUS website for the latest news.
[snip]
Yes... if they need it! A^nd they are the ones to judge if they need it...
I am a realist... You seem to believe you can convince them... As I said it hasn't worked since the dawn of humankind... So why do you think you can change that?
What's your problem exactly?
That you deal with the facts instead of averting your eyes?
That's cuz they all go to Club VanDerSexxx
Sheep don't get pregnant, well not by people anyways.
I have to laugh when I think of the red light district there. One time I was there with another college buddy on a trip from France where we were studying. We used to playact for each other's amusement. We sat in a cafe across the street and in full view of a public outdoor condom dispenser at the entrance to a red light street. We would each go out and play stupid blonde foreigner trying to buy a pack of cigarettes from the machine. It was hilarious watching the other do this from our cafe table.
Pick an age for sexual consent. Also pick a new age for legal consent (since Planned Parenthood and Democrats believe that the medical procedure known as abortion does not need a waiver signed by an adult guardian).
Please tell me your "enlightened" number.
Also at what age should adults and those under 18 be able to hook up? An adult is more able to provide the financial component of the relationship (whether it is paying for an abortion or raising the kid) than a young teen.
Why should you pick an age? The teens will pick the age... And passing laws won't change anything!
Should they be able to get abortions?
When can adults have sex with them legally?
These are REAL WORLD situations.
Go back to your Utopian dreams.
Well yes, they should, with parental notification...
As to adults, again this is a question of definition... An 18 year old is considered an "adult" and isn't in reality. An 18 year old having sex with a 16 year old is just nature...
A 40 year old having sex with a 16 year old is a pervert!
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