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From: jenk@microsoft.com (Jen Kilmer)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: sex education
Message-ID: <Apr.5.23.31.32.1993.23904@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 6 Apr 93 03:31:33 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Lines: 44
Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu

In article <Mar.26.02.54.26.1993.8940@athos.rutgers.edu> swansond@nextnet.ccs.csus.edu (Dennis Swanson) writes:
>In article <Mar.22.02.52.49.1993.330@athos.rutgers.edu> heath@athena.cs.uga.edu (Terrance Heath) writes:
>>[...]
>>When I do programs, I spend
>>about half the time talking about absitinence [...]
>>I find that most people who object
>>to sex education actually object to the teaching *anything* other than
>>abstinencne, and that IMO is just as irresponsible as only talking
>>about comdom use.
>
>I'm under the impression that most sex ed instructors and/or policy makers
>actually object to making any more than a passing reference to abstinence,
>wishing to spend time only on the "realistic" choices. 

In the "sex ed" portion of the  high school "health" course I took
in 1984, it was impressed that the only 100% positive way to *not*
get pregnant was to *not* have sex.

Other methods of contraception were discussed, in the framework of
a chart which showed both the _expected_ failure rate (theoretical,
assumes no mistakes) and the _actual_ failure rate (based on research).
Top of the chart was something like this:


 Method                  Expected         Actual 
 ------                 Failure Rate    Failure Rate
 Abstinence                 0%              0% 


And NFP (Natural Family Planning) was on the bottom. The teacher even
said, "I've had some students tell me that they can't use anything for
birth control because they're Catholic. Well, if you're not married and
you're a practicing Catholic, the *top* of the list is your slot, not 
the *bottom*.  Even if you're not religious, the top of the list is
safest."

Yes, this was a public school and after Dr Koop's "failing abstinence,
use a condom" statement on the prevention of AIDS.

-jen

-- 

#include <stdisclaimer>  //  jenk@microsoft.com  // msdos testing
