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.
Several million children ages 9 to 18 have participated in the more than 100 federal abstinence programs since the efforts began in 1999. Waxman's staff reviewed the 13 most commonly used curricula -- those used by at least five programs apiece.
The report concluded that two of the curricula were accurate but the 11 others, used by 69 organizations in 25 states, contain unproved claims, subjective conclusions or outright falsehoods regarding reproductive health, gender traits and when life begins. In some cases, Waxman said in an interview, the factual issues were limited to occasional misinterpretations of publicly available data; in others, the materials pervasively presented subjective opinions as scientific fact.
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.
One curriculum, called "Me, My World, My Future," teaches that women who have an abortion "are more prone to suicide" and that as many as 10 percent of them become sterile. This contradicts the 2001 edition of a standard obstetrics textbook that says fertility is not affected by elective abortion, the Waxman report said.
More ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26623-2004Dec1.html
Ok... Religious Right clearly don't know what they were talking about. I wonder if they know that divorce/broke up or fired/layoff itself are more prone to suicide than abortion? I would say approx 30% or higher. I also wonder if they even aware that AIDS rate is higher in heterosexual than homosexual? Noooo. *gasp* They did not! [Note: I insert my dry humor/sarcasm in these comment] Seriously, with these moronic curriculums & programs, it got me think twice about sending my child(ren) to the school in America... We definitely will homeschooling my kids... Well, it is more likely that we will be in Sweden by that time anyway.
I feel sorry for our young generations, they have no choice but grow up in that kind of moronic programs/curriculums in the public schools. Be honest with you, abstinence education isn't about keeping people safe at all. It's about pushing Religious Right agenda. Oh btw, these curriculums/programs are now laughstock at one of communities where I mod at. At least they give them something to laugh at. That's good thing, right? Right?
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.
Several million children ages 9 to 18 have participated in the more than 100 federal abstinence programs since the efforts began in 1999. Waxman's staff reviewed the 13 most commonly used curricula -- those used by at least five programs apiece.
The report concluded that two of the curricula were accurate but the 11 others, used by 69 organizations in 25 states, contain unproved claims, subjective conclusions or outright falsehoods regarding reproductive health, gender traits and when life begins. In some cases, Waxman said in an interview, the factual issues were limited to occasional misinterpretations of publicly available data; in others, the materials pervasively presented subjective opinions as scientific fact.
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.
One curriculum, called "Me, My World, My Future," teaches that women who have an abortion "are more prone to suicide" and that as many as 10 percent of them become sterile. This contradicts the 2001 edition of a standard obstetrics textbook that says fertility is not affected by elective abortion, the Waxman report said.
More ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26623-2004Dec1.html
Ok... Religious Right clearly don't know what they were talking about. I wonder if they know that divorce/broke up or fired/layoff itself are more prone to suicide than abortion? I would say approx 30% or higher. I also wonder if they even aware that AIDS rate is higher in heterosexual than homosexual? Noooo. *gasp* They did not! [Note: I insert my dry humor/sarcasm in these comment] Seriously, with these moronic curriculums & programs, it got me think twice about sending my child(ren) to the school in America... We definitely will homeschooling my kids... Well, it is more likely that we will be in Sweden by that time anyway.
I feel sorry for our young generations, they have no choice but grow up in that kind of moronic programs/curriculums in the public schools. Be honest with you, abstinence education isn't about keeping people safe at all. It's about pushing Religious Right agenda. Oh btw, these curriculums/programs are now laughstock at one of communities where I mod at. At least they give them something to laugh at. That's good thing, right? Right?
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