Children are our future

Teach them well:

Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found.

Those and other assertions are examples of the "false, misleading, or distorted information" in the programs' teaching materials, said the analysis, released yesterday, which reviewed the curricula of more than a dozen projects aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

In providing nearly $170 million next year to fund groups that teach abstinence only, the Bush administration, with backing from the Republican Congress, is investing heavily in a just-say-no strategy for teenagers and sex. But youngsters taking the courses frequently receive medically inaccurate or misleading information, often in direct contradiction to the findings of government scientists, said the report, by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), a critic of the administration who has long argued for comprehensive sex education.

(snip)

Among the misconceptions cited by Waxman's investigators:

• A 43-day-old fetus is a "thinking person."

• HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be spread via sweat and tears.

• Condoms fail to prevent HIV transmission as often as 31 percent of the time in heterosexual intercourse.

(snip)

Joe. S. McIlhaney Jr., who runs the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, which developed much of the material that was surveyed, said he is "saddened" that Waxman chose to "blast" well-intentioned abstinence educators when there is much the two sides could agree on.

So those that favor these sorts of distortions and lies have the best of intentions, and that's all that matters? I hear they just repaved the road to hell as well.

I think abstinence education is a fine idea, but you should teach our children the actual facts that surround it, not distortions and lies. What, for example, is the positive outcome of teaching kids that AIDS is spread by sweat and tears? Complete shunning of those with AIDS? Fear of an entire segment of the population?

What about teaching kids that genital touching can get you pregnant? Why not go all the way back in time to the idea that STDs can be caught from a dirty toilet seat?

Remember that Bush and the GOP endorse this kind of thing:

Some course materials cited in Waxman's report present as scientific fact notions about a man's need for "admiration" and "sexual fulfillment" compared with a woman's need for "financial support." One book in the "Choosing Best" series tells the story of a knight who married a village maiden instead of the princess because the princess offered so many tips on slaying the local dragon. "Moral of the story," notes the popular text: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess."

You hear that, ladies? It's scientific fact that you need financial support. Science has proven that you cannot function in society on you own, you need the help of a man to get you through you life.

And ladies, don't form any ideas of your own in order to gain that financial support, and if you do, do not share then with the man you are trying to court. You will scare him away into the arms of a more docile and subservient woman. Best just to stay home from school altogether, keep your eyes down, and speak only when spoken to. Nice moral, huh?

*UPDATE* I'd read a couple of post elsewhere that claims this is an assualt on abstinance teaching. Pandagon has the right response:

Why is lying to kids such a favored pastime of the abstinence-only crowd? Are they afraid that people can act in responsible ways without complete prohibition? Or are they afraid that they'll start touching themselves in ungodly ways?