Because if that's the case we might as well not do anything for sex ed.
The point should be to get children to understand the risks of sex, and what protection is out there. The point should be made that no protection is 100% effective in mitigating every risk. If the children make mistakes after being informed it can't possibly be worse then them making the same mistakes without being informed.
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Blindy obviously shouldn't have said:
Is your insinuation that if something isn't 100% effective we shouldn't even try it?Because if that's the case we might as well not do anything for sex ed.
The point should be to get children to understand the risks of sex, and what protection is out there. The point should be made that no protection is 100% effective in mitigating every risk. If the children make mistakes after being informed it can't possibly be worse then them making the same mistakes without being informed.
I was mocking his faulty reasoning, not the concept of education.
I'm not certain why anyone thinks any level of in-school sex ed is going to have the faintest bit of effect. Our schools and our culture are grounded in self-actualization and immediate gratification with no thought to long-term planning.
Kids are pretty well aware that pregnancy and STDs can happen to them; they also know there are various means of avoiding both. The problem is that no one, but no one bothers to teach kids that their actions have consequences they must be responsible for, that it is essentially for them to consider how their actions will impact the people around them, and that future success depends on the choices they make now.
I suspect that teen pregnancy would drop a lot if it actually hit home to kids that all of their future plans, college, good careers, etc will immediately go up in smoke if they have a child. The pleasure of right now tends to pall if you're aware it means the rest of your life will be one step away from welfare at best.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
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Verily, Karnaj doth proclaim:
Actually, I recall reading about a study that suggested that the vast majority of teenagers have a very specific and diminished capacity for thinking about the consequences of their actions. They're literally incapable of doing it, rather than being just unwilling or selfish.
This basically. Your frontal lobes aren't fully developed until around 21, maybe even as late as 23 or so. This is the part of your brain that goes, "Whoa now, I know that riding bareback is pretty sweet, but you really don't want to get someone knocked up now do you?"
So yes, most Sex Education of any type has a pretty minor impact, but the question becomes how much we value the minor impact.
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And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Karnaj was all like:
Actually, I recall reading about a study that suggested that the vast majority of teenagers have a very specific and diminished capacity for thinking about the consequences of their actions. They're literally incapable of doing it, rather than being just unwilling or selfish.
Here is a study based on one man's experience with somewhere between 22 and 100 teen and pre-teen boys (he was convicted on evidence for 22 but his personal jounals indicated many more): Greek Love. He concludes that all men are born gay and that pederasty is an ideal way to disperse the sexual frustration of youth. He died of cancer in prison before he could be tried a second time when evidence came out that he was not a first offender. So much for studies, eh?
If teenage children are incapable of planning for the future and recognizing that their actions have consequences, we must ignore several hundred years of history during which people were expected to marry and start families between 14 and 16. I would have to ignore the ability of my own stepsons to identify and accept the consequences for rules they break. I would also have ignore that one of my wife's students came to her at 10 to learn the harp with intent of getting a music scholarship and double majoring in some variety of scientific pursuit; she is 16 now and appears to be playing for a couple of different symphony orchestras while she works on general education.
On another level, my youngest stepson, at 6, readily lies about his behavior in class; he has identified that we will be perturbed with him if we find out that he was misbehaving and he then tries to deflect the consequence. Children of all ages do this until their parents teach them that lying is a reprehensible and, ultimately, ineffective activity. If children below 21 - 23 are incapable of assessing and predicting consequences, how can they lie to avoid them? If they lack the mental facilities to make long term plans, how does anyone younger than 25 decide what career they want to pursue?
Ridiculous study is ridiculous and supportive of irresponsible behavior.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
