 Wade F. Horn Assistant Secretary for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services |
Probably nothing this guy could possibly do would sway kids' thinking . . . |
Posted on 12/04/2004 5:43:38 AM PST by madprof98
Washington --- The new chief of the federal program to promote sexual abstinence --- dubbed the ''chastity czar'' --- says he wants to make it socially acceptable for American teens to just say no to sex.
Wade F. Horn, 50, assistant secretary for children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services, says youths who don't engage in sex ''don't feel supported in that choice.''
''They believe the broader culture sees them as odd, that they are strange if they commit to abstinence,'' Horn said. ''I want to give young people a fighting chance to make the healthiest choice to preserve their futures.''
Horn says he also wants to reach teens who have been sexually active with the message that ''you no longer have to be sexually active.''
A clinical child psychologist who led the Bush administration's initiative to promote healthy marriages and who oversees the Head Start program, Horn says he's passionate about teenage sexual abstinence. ''I'm a goal guy,'' he said. ''The only thing that's unstoppable is time.''
Horn blames Hollywood for giving irresponsible messages that casual sex has no consequences.
''It's undeniable that the only 100 percent effective way of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease is to be sexually abstinent,'' Horn says.
The huge government spending bill that Congress again takes up next week contains an additional $30 million for abstinence-only education, bringing the total to $168 million for the 2005 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Horn will oversee $50 million that goes to states and $105 million that goes to community organizations to teach abstinence to 12- to 18-year-olds.
Congress first set aside money for abstinence-only education programs in 1999, allocating $80 million in grants to religious, civic and medical groups.
Horn is sharply critical of comprehensive sex education programs that include information about using contraception, saying they create mixed messages that can cause confusion.
For example, he says, ''Imagine I am leaving on a trip, and my wife says, 'I love you and I trust you, but bring a condom in the briefcase just in case.'
''As a psychologist, I'm saying the best prevention messages are focused and consistent.''
Some say it's inevitable
Mike McGee, vice president of education for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, disagrees.
Horn's approach is ''like the stern dad who says I'm in control of my kid and I'm going to tell him not to do it and that's going to be sufficient --- and it's just not,'' McGee said. ''To really nurture kids, you've got to give them some guidance and some help to make some critical decisions.''
McGee says teen sexual activity is inevitable. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 61 percent of high school seniors have had sex.
Cynthia Dailard, a senior public policy analyst for the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a population control advocacy organization, said young people who hear an abstinence-only message and take a virginity pledge are less likely to use contraception. ''It's hard to keep a condom in your pocket when you've promised not to have sex,'' she said.
Success is questioned
A report issued last week by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) questioned the effectiveness of federally funded abstinence programs.
''I don't think we ought to be using taxpayer money for any program that's not proven to be effective,'' Waxman said. ''At a time when we have all these sexually transmitted diseases exploding all around us, particularly HIV-AIDS, we need effective programs.''
Independent researchers have been unable to prove significant benefits from abstinence-only education. At Columbia University, researchers determined that teenagers who take virginity pledges may delay sexual activity but that 88 percent have sex before marriage.
Waxman says the abstinence programs are ''driven by ideology, not evidence of effectiveness.''
Horn said, ''I don't need a study to show me that the only 100 percent effective way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease is abstinence.''
Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S.D., a nonprofit advocacy group, said her organization emphasizes that abstinence is cool by promoting T-shirts that say ''Touch your dog, not your date'' and music by former Miss America Tara Dawn, who sings ''I save myself for you.''
''When kids get good information on skill building and basic decision-making on relationships, they do wait until marriage,'' Unruh said.
Henry Waxman... way to dis a solution to a problem you never had.
It's all unconstitutional. The answer to one morass created by government is NOT to add more government programs. Admirable as this man's goals are, the federal government should not be doing this. If they would stop spending our money to *promote* promiscuity and perversion, that would be more than enough from them.
Drop all these government programs. Have parents reinforce the concept of personal privacy, personal choice, and the free use of volition and to He11 with anyone who disagrees. Peer pressure means nothing if you don't recognize someone as a peer.
Rid us of the NEA and all other unconstitutional government programs.
Top sends
Good luck with that.
Great line! I'm stealing that, if you don't mind!
We need a Chastity Czar? Yet another federal program to promote something that parents should be promoting.
If children won't take direction from their parents they sure aren't going to listen to nanny government.
Excellent point.
I couldn't agree more.
Unfortunatly, this type of crap is exactly what we have to look forward to, instead of fiscally responsible governance.
The party in power has been mandated to recklessly spend even more than the other party on programs that have never been considered before.
The wise thing to do is rarely "cool" because "cool" is the realm of idiots.
"chastity czar"
???
Huh?
What's the matter with a bit of "how's your father" anyway?
You ain't gonna stop em with a 50 year old "chastity czar".
Isn't it better to try to educate 'em so's they don't catch STD's or get pregnant too young?
Telling 'em it's not cool to do it won't work.
I mean it's in the bible isn't it.
"Go Forth & Multiply" HE said
Who are we to tell em otherwise?
Well, Henry, I don't either. So let's start defunding all of them today.
''I don't think we ought to be using taxpayer money for any program that's not proven to be effective,'' Waxman said.
Damn,doesn't leave too many programs now does it?
I've read through earlier posts; and yes, I do understand the scrawl of "government programs". I support the abstinence/chastity message and with taxpayer dollars. I've come from a location where these programs are urgently needed. I now live in a location where only segments might benefit from these programs -- as the rest of the population is already clear about not supporting perversion and/or pre-marital sex.
The "chastity czar" title is derogatory in the headline. Over 40 years ago, a subtle enemy of innocence, freedom, and honor infiltrated our country's institutions. The results are disastrous. As a country, we have to battle fire with fire to clean up the mess left to all of us by those who hate America. And those who instead of moving to the country of their "choice"; instead stay here and try to bring us all down to their own ridiculous levels of submission.
If children won't take direction from their parents they sure aren't going to listen to nanny government.
Over 40 years ago, that is exactly what happened -- the subversives entered branches of government, especially in schools, and did a bang-up job on seducing youngsters away from the counsel of their own parents. So, perhaps it can also work in reverse.. Like going back through a Time Tunnel. :)
Henry Waxman is a fool, and a pontificating, supercilious, viscious man. If Democrats don't have more "victims" to parade, they have no podium by which to say during election -- "Vote for Me! I'm your Savior!" Why should he care that early sex creates victims? It's big bucks and a podium to himself.
This is absurd. Kids don't have sex because it's "cool", so they will never refrain from having sex because it's "cool". I believe in abstinence but I don't believe in "teaching" it, I believe in enforcing it. I do, however, believe in encouraging frequent marital indulgence.
You saw that too. I hope the RNC and Bush team have captured that quote on tape for future use.
And why would you, as a conservative, defend a teats-on-a-boar useless government program?
Hey Einstein, what does the Bible have to say about fornication?
Wade F. Horn Assistant Secretary for Children and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services |
Probably nothing this guy could possibly do would sway kids' thinking . . . |
"her organization emphasizes that abstinence is cool by promoting T-shirts that say ''Touch your dog, not your date'' "
Well, I can see that becoming the most popular piece of clothing at my local high school. Are these people complete idiots?
Abstinence does not mean that kids have to be completly hands-off with each other.
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