It seems that in this country we deem sex as an act that must wait for marriage and search for ways to make our children understand this. We pay for religious teachings that tell them that sex will send them to hell, teachers that tell them that sex is horrible outside of marriage, and a government system that claims it's unnatural.Could all of this be true?
Now we must first understand that Abstinence is a very respectable achievement, it's not something to be looked down on nor something that should be made fun of. However, to think that those who are abstinent are above those who are sexual active is ignorant. Sex is a completely natural activity that many enjoy, yet many don't want them to do so.
In America we spend $1 Billion dollars a year on Abstinence Only Education. However, the organizations that are supported by this money DO NOT teach children about birth control methods unless to state that 'Condoms are not 100 percent effective' without going on to state that they are 99.9 percent effective. They teach children that STD's are more dangerous today and that it's easier to catch them since so many more people have them today than they did in the 1950's.
This is a complete lie. See, in the 1950's one out of every fourty-seven people were infected with an STD. Now, in 2000, one in ever four people are infected with an STD. Why the huge jump? Sex in the media? Looser morals? Nope, in the 1950's they didn't count Herpes as a STD. If they had it would be the exact same number as it is in 2000.
But the schools teach children that condoms and birth control pills are basically ineffective. They teach them that everyone should have sex with only one other person after they get married. They teach them that masturbation is unhealthy and could lead to sex, and contrary to popular belief, only a small amount of people actually masturbate! The worst part? The government backs them up.
In a 2004 pamphlet released from the United States government it was stated that "Sexual Activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects." Harmful PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL effects! I assume they want us to believe in the pamphlets they handed out in the 1950's that masturbation could kill you and make you go insane! Then they go on to state that on average people usually have sex with 2-3 people. Bullshit once again, since current studies have found (Kinsey Report 2004) that the average person will have 8.5 sexual partners in their lifetime.
Back to the masturbation thing, almost everyone masturbates. The Kinsey Report states that 80 percent of women do it and that 90 percent of men do it (I think that they might be off by 19 percent for women and 9 percent for men). Infact, everyone should masturbate. Why? Masturbation has significant health benefits. It lessens menstration cramps, lessens stress, cleans the prostate, and more significantly: it's enjoyable! Infact, penetration has been found to help out public speaking! Harmful physical effects? Nope.
But even worse, the teachers of this nonsense go against condoms since they could encourage sex, so they state that they don't prevent STDs. Incorrect. If you were to have sex with someone who is HIV positive you'd have a 1 in 500 chance to catch the disease, however with a condom you'd have a 1 in 500,000,000 chance to catch it!
But the real reason Abstinence Only Education is taught in 35 percent of our public schools in the U.S.A is because of religious nutjobs who think that fucking will make God mad, so they make the children afraid of sex and try to make them pledge abstinence. Out of those children who do pledge abstinence, 88 percent break their pledge. What's worse? Out of those children 80 percent choose not to use a condom because they believe the lies the teachers spewed out.
Do our children deserve this disrespect? Should we lie to them about something so natural? I believe not. Should we be paying our government to continue to spread this bullshit around the country? Hell no. I wish I could give you a simple statement about Abstinence Only Education, but I can't. However, I know who can!
In the words of the multiple award-winning porno actress Flower Tucci*: "Abstinence Only Education is ignorant, people should be informed to make good, informed choices". I couldn't of said it better myself.
