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someguy
04-14-2007, 09:31 PM
http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/impactabstinence.pdf

The report in PDF format, but for those who just want a summary go Here (http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/04/13/burying-release-of-abstinence-only-report-on-friday-the-13th-seems-fitting)

Burying Release of Abstinence Only Report on Friday the 13th Seems Fitting
By Scott Swenson on Friday, April 13, 2007.

The news for the Bush Adminstration's abstinence-only policies just seems to be getting worse, some might liken it to a swiftly sinking boat or ship.

So a burial at sea is appropriate, and by releasing the latest federal report on abstinence-only, Impacts for Title V. Section 510, Abstinence Education Programs: Final Report, from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. late on a Friday, that is exactly what the Bushies are doing.

“After 10 years and $1.5 billion in public funds these failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs will go down as an ideological boondoggle of historic proportions,” said James Wagoner, President of Advocates for Youth.

“The tragedy is not simply the waste of taxpayer dollars, it is the damage done to the young people who have been on the receiving end of distorted, inaccurate information about condoms and birth control. We have been promoting ignorance in the era of AIDS, and that’s not just bad public health policy, its bad ethics”.

“This report should serve as the final verdict on the failure of the abstinence-only industry in this country,” said William Smith, vice president for public policy of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS). “It shows, once again, that these programs fail miserably in actually helping young people behave more responsibly when it comes to their sexuality,” Smith continued.

In 1996, the federal government attached a provision to the welfare reform law establishing a federal program for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. This program, Section 510(b) of Title V of the Social Security Act, dedicated $50 million per year to be distributed among states that choose to participate. States accepting the funds are required to match every four federal dollars with three state-raised dollars (for a total of $87.5 million annually, and $787.5 million for the eight years from fiscal year 1998 through 2006). Programs that receive the Title V funding are prohibited from discussing methods of contraception, including condoms, except in the context of failure rates.

On a call yesterday organized by the Abstinence Clearinghouse, abstinence-only proponents were clearly rocked by the potentially ruinous news in the report. High profile abstinence-only advocate, Robert Rector, led the preemptive damage-control planning. He outlined several strategies the abstinence-only movement could use to rationalize the findings in the report saying, “The other spin I think is very important is not [program] effectiveness, but rather the values that are being taught,” Rector said. Whether or not these programs work is a “bogus issue,” Rector continued.

Noting that the study was posted on a Government web-site with no press release or advisory, Wagoner said: “The ‘stealth release’ of this study on an obscure government website on a Friday afternoon is clearly meant to bury its contents. But policy makers must now know that funds for these programs must now be eliminated”.

Citing the fact that the Institute of Medicine, the nation’s leading health authority, had called for the elimination of these programs back in 2000, Wagoner said: “Congress must now move to de-fund these programs. Anything short of eliminating these programs would be a dereliction of its duty to promote public health and protect young people in the era of AIDS”.

This is a blog entry and it's biased as hell but I only used it for the part I bolded on how much the study cost. And for those who can not look at the report, here are the graphs of the results. The blue is from people who participated in the abstinence program and the white are people who did not.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/1396/abstinenceonlyresultszy4.jpg

Brando @$$ Fat
04-15-2007, 12:05 AM
The news for the Bush Adminstration's abstinence-only policies just seems to be getting worse, some might liken it to a swiftly sinking boat or ship.

Funny....I'd liken the administration itself to a swiftly sinking boat or ship.

electriclite
04-15-2007, 08:59 AM
Saw this yesterday as well

Abstinence Students Still Having Sex (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/18093769/)

I mean is it REALLY a shock to anyone? The whole push for abstinence only sex ed, was always a push against common sense. Sure it'd be great if at least 5% of the kids followed through on the idea, but where the hell does it leave the other 95%?

And the fact that this sort of "education" was pushed during a time when AIDS has made a comeback, is beyond a disservice, its reckless negligence of the highest order!

I don't care how many parents say teaching kids how to have safe sex allows them to have sex, its a shitload better then them having sex anyway and being fucking morons about it, or do parents want to be grandparents early? Or worse.


Unless your kids have found someone they want to marry straight out of highschool, or 3 to four years after, they're not staying celibate till marriage, not the majority anyway.

BubbaStrangelove
04-15-2007, 10:06 AM
I don't understand how they have data on people who didn't participate in the study.

someguy
04-15-2007, 10:26 AM
Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove
I don't understand how they have data on people who didn't participate in the study.

It's a control group.

The Heart Collector
04-15-2007, 02:12 PM
Hhaha those graphs are hilarious.

Lynn7
04-15-2007, 02:47 PM
I don't think I have ever seen a study where both groups are almost exaclty the same on every point. Strange.....

Thrizzle
04-15-2007, 02:47 PM
Data seems too perfect to be true.

BubbaStrangelove
04-15-2007, 03:52 PM
Does this have something to do with the boards being down Friday night?