I do believe in abstinence-only teaching in our schools- I don’t necessarily think it is realistic but I think in an ideal situation the institutional policy should be that “no sex” is the way to go.

Back in say, the fifties, both parents and schools taught abstinence or pretended sex didn’t exist-and girls got pregnant.

Eventually, we started teaching teenagers about birth control- and girls got pregnant.

Those rates are not going down. The girls are still getting pregnant and the scarier thing is that they are getting younger and younger.

I am realistic that abstinence only teaching in schools is probably not the answer, but clearly what we are doing is not working.

We teach all kids not to run out into the street without looking, but that doesn’t mean some kids don’t just chase after their soccer ball anyway

That is true! But parents that are present in their kids lives usually have a good sense of whether they are careful or reckless. And if you know that your child is reckless, then you supervise him or put up a fence.

Also, we don’t say “Never ever go out into the street.” As I explained in my post on what I’ll tell my kids about sex, we tell our kids what is dangerous about running into the street and we tell our kids to look both ways before entering the street.

Teenagers sometimes have sex and get pregnant. No matter what you teach them- it’s just part of free will. Teaching kids to use condoms clearly hasn’t worked either- teenagers are still getting pregnant at an alarming rate.

I think the emotional and psychological ramifications of having sex at a young age are highly overlooked. And birth control isn’t going to protect them from that.

Most people I know that teach abstinence, teach it with the motivation of instilling in their children that their sexuality is something of VALUE. It really means something and is an important part of who they are so they should treat it as such. It isn’t about the simple physical act of having sex which is the point so many conventional sex education classes miss. I think many people just lump us all together as people who don’t tell their kids that condoms exist which is not the case at all.

I am very much a conservative, and I do not judge Sarah Palin or her daughter. I don’t know that running for VP is the best thing for her family. I know women whose families are thriving because mom works and families where the family life is suffering because she works. It just depends on the makeup of personalities and situations in that family.

http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege-updated

Lots for all of us to think about in that one…

Thanks for your post!

I don’t see anything wrong with teaching abstinence as the best option. I would also prefer that my daughter not have sex until she is mature enough to make good decisions about it. However, I wouldn’t teach it as the only option. I would teach her about birth control in the event that she does decide to have sex. I have a problem with the idea of not teaching sex ed and pretending that teenage sex doesn’t happen. It does. That is where Sarah Palin and I seem to disagree!

I’m getting way too caught up reading this stuff! Thanks for your thoughts on it!

Sorry – I didn’t mean to suggest that you were a conservative or a member of the media. I just linked to your post because it describes some of the double standards that they are up in arms about. To make it clearer, I edited my wording to add in “other interested parties” since it is true that it is not only the conservatives and members of the media that are talking about it.

For the record, I don’t disagree that there is a double standard. However, I think (a) some of the criticism of her choices is warranted given her policies stance and (b) I think that some that are crying foul about double standards have a few of their own (again, not suggesting you do, but those that “embrace” her and her pregnant daughter but criticize other women who get pregnant and are not married).