Study: Abstinence pledges may trigger risky sexual behavior
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Adolescents who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to substitute high-risk sexual behaviors that increase the likelihood of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases, according to researchers who studied the sex lives of about 12,000 teens.
The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain why a study by the same group last year found that despite having fewer sexual partners and getting married earlier, teens who pledge abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers.
The latest study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that teens who pledge abstinence until marriage are more likely to have oral and anal sex than other teens who have not had intercourse.
"They substitute other non-coital sex, which, however, puts you at risk," said Hannah Brueckner, assistant professor of sociology at Yale University and one of the study's authors.
Among virgins, boys who have pledged abstinence were four times more likely to have had anal sex, according to the study. Overall, pledgers were six times more likely to have oral sex than teens who have remained abstinent but not as part of a pledge.
The pledging group was also less likely to use condoms during their first sexual experience or get tested for STDs, the study found.
Data from the study was taken from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
The study used an in-school questionnaire administered to a nationally representative sample of students in grades 7 through 12, and followed up with a series of in-home interviews of students approximately one, two, and six years later. It was funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S.D., called the study "bogus," and disputed that those involved had pledged true "abstinence."
"Kids who pledge abstinence are taught that any word that has 'sex' in it is considered a sexual activity," Unruh said. "Therefore oral sex is sex, and they are staying away."
Millions of teens have signed written pledges or verbally promised to abstain from sex, part of a church-led effort to discourage premarital sex and the spread of disease. President Bush has boosted funding for abstinence-only education in schools.
Critics say that education needs to be coupled with safe-sex education to be effective.
"If adolescents only had sex in monogamous, married relationships, by definition there would be no STDs," Brueckner said, echoing President Bush's remarks in last year's State of the Union address. "But the majority of adolescents don't live like that. They do have sex."
Last year, the same research team found that 88% of teens who pledge abstinence end up having sex before marriage, compared with 99% of teens who do not make a pledge.
Abstinence Pledge = VD
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Rspaight
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Abstinence Pledge = VD
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
I find it fascinating that the abstinence brigade gets so defensive whenever someone comes out with a study that refutes their beliefs. They're so delusional, they really must feel as though they can control every sexual situation, from a steamy encounter in a parked car to a carefully planned bedroom romp when the parents are away for the weekend. Also, the oral/anal sex figures are clearly relatable in this case to an unintended consequence of abstinence pledging. Through their own efforts, the abstinence brigade is actually contributing to sodomy in America! Nice work.
Critics say that education needs to be coupled with safe-sex education to be effective.
"If adolescents only had sex in monogamous, married relationships, by definition there would be no STDs," Brueckner said, echoing President Bush's remarks in last year's State of the Union address. "But the majority of adolescents don't live like that. They do have sex."
We need more realistic people with common sense like this woman setting our sex-ed cirriculum, and not a bunch of Bible-thumping fundamentalists.
"It's great how you can control 60 musicians with one just stick-- I can't control these fuckers with two!" -- Ian Paice
dudelsack wrote:Meanwhile, teens who pledge to have sex before high school graduation are 98% likely to fail in their efforts, unless they are fictional teen movie characters.
and if they are the latter, they run a much higher risk of death by slasher than other teens.
"I recommend that you delete the Rancid Snakepit" - Grant
http://www.safesearching.com/billmaher/ ... 040105.htm
MAHER: And finally, New Rule: Abstinence pledges make you horny. [laughter] In a setback for the morals/values crowd, a new eight-year study just released reveals that American teenagers who take virginity pledges wind up with just as many STD’s as the other kids. [laughter] But that’s not all. “Taking the pledge” also makes a teenage girl six times more likely to perform oral sex, and four times more likely to allow anal. [laughter] Which leads me to an important question: where were these pledges when I was in high school? [laughter] [applause]
So, seriously, when I was a teenager, the only kids having anal intercourse, were the ones who missed. [laughter] [applause] My idea of lubrication was oiling my bike chain. [laughter] If I had known I could have been getting porn-star sex the same year I took Algebra 2—[laughter]—simply by joining up with the Christian right—[laughter]—I’d have been so down with Jesus, they would have had to pry me out of the pew. [laughter] [applause]
And, let me tell you, there is a lot worse things than teenagers having sex. Namely, teenagers not having sex. Here is something you’ll never hear: “That suicide bomber blew himself up because he was having too much sex.” [laughter] “Sex, sex, sex, nonstop, all that crazy Arab ever had was sex, and look what happened.” [laughter] But among the puritans here of the 21st century, the less said to kids about sex, the better. Because people who talk about peepees are “potty-mouths.” [laughter]
And so, armed with limited knowledge and believing that regular, vaginal intercourse to be either immaculate or filthy dirty—[laughter]—these kids did with their pledge what everybody does with contracts. They found loopholes. [laughter] Two of them, to be exact. [laughter] [applause]
Is there any greater irony than the fact that the Christian right actually got their precious little adolescent daughters to say to their freshly-scrubbed boyfriends, “Please, I want to remain pure for my wedding night, so only in the ass.” [laughter] [applause] “And then I’ll blow you, I promise.” [laughter] Well, at least these kids are really thinking outside the box. [laughter] [applause]
MAHER: And finally, New Rule: Abstinence pledges make you horny. [laughter] In a setback for the morals/values crowd, a new eight-year study just released reveals that American teenagers who take virginity pledges wind up with just as many STD’s as the other kids. [laughter] But that’s not all. “Taking the pledge” also makes a teenage girl six times more likely to perform oral sex, and four times more likely to allow anal. [laughter] Which leads me to an important question: where were these pledges when I was in high school? [laughter] [applause]
So, seriously, when I was a teenager, the only kids having anal intercourse, were the ones who missed. [laughter] [applause] My idea of lubrication was oiling my bike chain. [laughter] If I had known I could have been getting porn-star sex the same year I took Algebra 2—[laughter]—simply by joining up with the Christian right—[laughter]—I’d have been so down with Jesus, they would have had to pry me out of the pew. [laughter] [applause]
And, let me tell you, there is a lot worse things than teenagers having sex. Namely, teenagers not having sex. Here is something you’ll never hear: “That suicide bomber blew himself up because he was having too much sex.” [laughter] “Sex, sex, sex, nonstop, all that crazy Arab ever had was sex, and look what happened.” [laughter] But among the puritans here of the 21st century, the less said to kids about sex, the better. Because people who talk about peepees are “potty-mouths.” [laughter]
And so, armed with limited knowledge and believing that regular, vaginal intercourse to be either immaculate or filthy dirty—[laughter]—these kids did with their pledge what everybody does with contracts. They found loopholes. [laughter] Two of them, to be exact. [laughter] [applause]
Is there any greater irony than the fact that the Christian right actually got their precious little adolescent daughters to say to their freshly-scrubbed boyfriends, “Please, I want to remain pure for my wedding night, so only in the ass.” [laughter] [applause] “And then I’ll blow you, I promise.” [laughter] Well, at least these kids are really thinking outside the box. [laughter] [applause]
Chuck thinks that I look to good to be a computer geek. I think that I know too much about interface design, css, xhtml, php, asp, perl, and ia (too name a few things) to not be one.
