|
An
Rx For Teen Sex Doctors are joining the abstinence movement. Here's
why they're now telling kids, "Just say no" BY JODIE MORSE Sunday, Sep.
29, 2002
The slide show was chilling: a cervix
with precancerous lesions, shriveled fallopian tubes. But what made Seth
Claude and his friends really blanch was a penis covered in sores and
distended like an autumn gourd. "Before, I just thought if you got genital
warts, maybe you had one or two, but then I saw the person with a
bajillion of them and was, like, 'Whoa,'" says Seth, 13. "(The pictures)
are enough to make you have nightmares."
But will they keep him from having
sex? The images form the backbone of Worth the Wait, a sex-education
curriculum taught at Seth's school, Caldwell Middle School in Caldwell,
Texas, and in 31 districts across the state. Written by Dr. Patricia Sulak,
an obstetrician-gynecologist and professor at Texas A&M University's
College of Medicine, the lessons set forth the clinical consequences of
teen sex in pictures and eye-popping statistics charting the numbers of
young people infected with sexually transmitted diseases. The take-home
message: abstain from intercourse or put yourself at grave medical risk.
A bitter battle over sex ed has long
raged in this country—and with each year the foes have become more deeply
set in their stances. On one side are religious conservatives arguing that
sex outside of wedlock is unholy. They have secured millions of federal
dollars for abstinence programs that teach about the hazards of
contraceptives. The other camp, backed by virtually every major medical
organization, contends it is irresponsible to deny kids information about
condoms. Now, as Congress is weighing President Bush's proposal to boost
abstinence funding by 33% to $135 million, those allegiances are shifting.
A small but vocal cohort of doctors has gone to the abstention side. "I
used to think all we had to do was dump condoms in the schools and be done
with it," says Sulak. "But after reviewing the data, I've had to do a 180
on kids and sex."
The turnabout is proving contagious.
Sulak has sold her slide kits to health-care workers in 44 states. More
significant, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
which has long been on the other bank of the sex-ed divide, will honor her
with a presidential award next spring. Meanwhile, a group of more than 400
doctors collaborated on an abstinence cd-rom, Prescriptions for Parents: A
Physicians' Guide to Adolescence and Sex, released last month by the
National Physicians Center for Family Resources. "Parents and children
want medical facts, not a one-sided moralist approach," says Dianna
Lightfoot, the center's president.
Abstinence educators also want to put
the medical story on the table. From 1999 to 2001, the Medical Institute
for Sexual Health in Austin, Texas, which markets materials to abstinence
instructors, saw a 150% increase in sales of its products. Even the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc), whose education programs
encouraged condom use, has been quietly recasting its position on
abstinence. The agency pulled from its website this summer a feature
called Programs that Work, which had touted the success of eight
condom-based sex-ed curriculums. Now the agency is focusing on
abstinence-only programs. Says Lloyd Kolbe, director of the cdc's division
of adolescent and school health and an original author of the condom
feature: "It was a very limited approach."
What's different now? The '90s
presented a mixed picture of teen sexual health. There was a solid 20%
decline in the teen birth rate, and according to a cdc report released
last week, sexual activity decreased 15%. But the incidence of certain
sexually transmitted diseases rose among adolescents. A quarter of all new
HIV cases today occur in those ages 21 and younger. And doctors are
reporting more frequent diagnoses of herpes and the human papillomavirus,
or HPV, which is linked to cervical cancer and is thought to infect more
than 15% of sexually active teens. The last figure is the one gnawing at
some doctors. Though the particulars of HPV remain something of a medical
mystery, we have learned at least one frightening thing about the disease:
hpv is spread through skin-to-skin contact of genitals and their
surrounding areas, so condoms do not always protect against it. Which
means, as Sulak is fond of saying, there is no such thing as safe sex.
That Sulak should be leading this
charge is a little surprising. She is a highly respected contraceptive
expert who has devoted the past decade to researching the birth-control
pill. She came to her latest cause seven years ago when she was asked to
help choose a sex-ed program for her son's middle school. The curriculums
she examined were steeped in ideology and medical errors. So she designed
one, drawing extensively on data from the National Institutes of Health
and the cdc. "All we've done is state facts," she says, "and you can't
argue with facts."
But the way those facts are framed is
drawing fire from both sides. Some hard-line conservatives, who see sex ed
as the one culture war in which they have had consistent successes,
contend Sulak doesn't do enough to promote the sanctity of marriage, a
condition of receiving federal abstinence funding. Nor are they
particularly pleased by the prospect of young children spending part of
their school days looking at cervixes. Says Leslee Unruh, president of the
National Abstinence Clearinghouse: "I've raised five abstinent children
without showing one of them diseased genitals."
For their part, advocates of
comprehensive sex ed worry about sins of omission. Worth the Wait is
silent on masturbation and homosexuality and, in keeping with federal
guidelines, mentions condoms only to point out their myriad imperfections.
"Manipulating facts about condoms is using a scare tactic to try and get
kids not to be sexually active," says Tamara Kreinin, president of the
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. "And the fact that
physicians are now doing this gives it an added level of credibility." Dr.
David Kaplan, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado
School of Medicine, shares her concern: "It's infuriating not to give kids
information so that they can protect themselves."
Yet some of Sulak's most ardent
defenders also come from within the medical profession. "I'm a convert to
her way of thinking," says Dr. Gerald Joseph Jr., an
obstetrician-gynecologist in Springfield, Mo., and district officer at the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. "There's no question
her program is 100% medically accurate and responsible." Indeed, doctors
have a hand in all aspects of the Worth the Wait curriculum. Not only do
they train health educators from participating schools, but either a
doctor or medical student also gives a guest lecture to students during
the semester. If at any point during the program those students say they
won't be abstaining until wedlock, they are promptly referred to a medical
professional to talk about contraceptives.
Perhaps the most pressing question
about Worth the Wait is the one that has dogged the abstinence movement
from the start: Does it work? Though a major federal evaluation of 11
programs is due out early next year, no study has yet confirmed the merits
of the just-say-no approach. But there are small signs that Worth the Wait
is making a difference. A continuing evaluation that involves Texas A&M
University professors found that from 1999 to 2001, frequency of sexual
activity among seventh- and eighth-graders in the program dropped 4% and
2% respectively.
Back in Caldwell, Seth Claude and his
girlfriend Chaille say they are taking things slowly. "We sit next to each
other on the bus and at lunch," he says. And when they get together, they
often wind up talking about genital warts.
—With reporting by Perry Bacon
Jr./Washington and Adam Pitluk/Caldwell
Most
Teens First Had Sex at Home By LAURA MECKLER Associated Press 09/26/02
WASHINGTON (AP) - Parents wondering if their
teenagers are having sex might look upstairs or down the hall. New
research finds most sexually active teens first had sex in their parents'
homes, typically late at night.
The findings, being released Thursday, should dispel
myths that teens are most often having sex after school, when parents are
still at work, researchers said. The message for parents, experts say, is
nothing new: Be aware of what your kids are up to.
``Kids no longer need to drive to lookout point to
have sex,'' said Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent
Teen Pregnancy. ``The data suggest the adults may be in the house.''
By the time students are in the ninth grade, 34
percent have had sexual intercourse. That rises to 60 percent by 12th
grade.
The report, by researchers at Child Trends, is based
on a national teen survey that has been tracking about 8,000 teens since
1997. The ages of the teens ranged from 12-16 when the survey began, and
researchers have interviewed the same group every year since then. This
report looks specifically at the 664 teens who reported having sex for the
first time between 1999 and 2000.
Of those surveyed in 2000, 56 percent said they first
had sex at their family's home or at the home of their partner's family.
Another 12 percent had their first sex at a friend's
house; 9 percent at a teen's own home; 4 percent in a truck or car; 3
percent at a park or other outdoor place and 3 percent at a hotel or
motel. Ten percent said someplace else.
The findings reinforce earlier research that parents
can have a significant impact on their children's decisions about sex,
Brown said.
``This notion that it's impossible to supervise kids
is ludicrous if a lot of them are having sex in the rec room,'' she said.
Earlier this month, researchers reported that teen
girls who are close to their moms are more likely to stay virgins. That
report, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, also found that
half of mothers of sexually active teens didn't realize their children
were having sex. Further, while the vast majority of mothers strongly
disapprove of their teenager's having sex, large numbers of teens don't
realize how their moms feel.
``Parents need to know where their children are and
what they're doing,'' Brown said. ``This is not a new idea.''
As for timing, Thursday's report found 42 percent of
teens said their first sexual encounter was at night, between 10 p.m. and
7 a.m. Another 28 percent said it was in the evening, between 6-10 p.m.
Just 15 percent said it was in the late afternoon,
between 3-6 p.m.
That cuts against the conventional wisdom among
parents and policy makers alike that teens are more ``at risk'' of sex
after school, said Jennifer Manlove, a researcher at Child Trends.
Research has shown that teens are more likely to
commit crime during the after-school hours, Brown said. But people have
wrongly assumed that the same goes for sex, she said.
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth did not
look at whether teens were having sex on weeknights or weekends. And it
did not ask if parents were home at the time. Although the survey has been
interviewing teens since 1997, this was the first year the questions about
where and when teens first had sex were asked.
09/26/02 00:13
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be
published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written
authority of The Associated Press.
Disturbing
post-9/11 apathy to faith By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religion Correspondent
From the Life & Mind Desk Published 9/5/2002 7:18 PM
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Pollster
George Barna has voiced alarm Thursday that Sept. 11 had not changed the
beliefs and religious practices of most Americans.
"Surprisingly few people said the
terrorist attacks had any impact on their faith," wrote Barna in his
latest survey, which was taken on the eve of the aggression's first
anniversary. "Only 12 percent admit to such an effect," he added.
"This is very disturbing," Barna said
in a telephone interview.
Barna found it also surprising that
67 percent of a representative group of 1,256 adults polled said they
planned nothing special to commemorate the Sept. 11 crisis. A mere 8
percent planned a prayer, 6 percent attending a religious service and 3
percent a special family gathering.
"People are just busy," remarked
Barna, "they don't know any more what holidays -- such as Veterans' Day --
relate to which event. It seems we are so fast-paced that nothing can
derail us from our agenda.
"Our minds have become like hard
drives. We have to constantly erase files. That's why young people are
asking, 'Are religious files relevant?'"
According to the poll, nearly half
the people surveyed feel their faith was a critical resource in helping
them to personally respond to the attacks. But while church attendance was
up in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, it has since dropped back to
its normal level.
This corresponds to a random United
Press International survey of ministers, priests and rabbis in various
parts to the country, who reported, however, that those who came to their
services listened to sermons with a greater intensity than ever before.
New York clergymen also told UPI they
noted "a hunger for God's word especially among young professionals."
The Barna survey contained one
seemingly inexplicable contradiction. On the one hand, 41 percent of those
who attend Christian churches told his pollsters that their congregation
had done nothing since last September to address the attacks or their
implications.
On the other hand, 58 percent
responded their churches had done an "excellent" or "good" job addressing
these matters. Of the non-Christians, 56 percent reported their temples,
mosques or synagogues had ignored the attacks.
Of all the faith groups, only among
the evangelicals did a majority (63 percent) say their faith was crucial
to them in this traumatic time. Of the non-evangelical Christians, just 27
percent and of the non-Christians a mere 20 percent gave this response.
According to Barna, not a single
significant change has occurred in the Americans' religious and moral core
beliefs during the last 12 months:
1 -- "God is the all-powerful,
all-knowing perfect creator of the universe, who rules the world today" --
69 percent concur.
2 -- "The Bible is totally accurate
in all its teachings" -- 61 percent agree.
3 -- "Satan is not a living being but
is just a symbol of evil" -- 51 percent accept this unbiblical assertion.
4 -- "Eternal spiritual salvation can
be earned by doing good deeds" -- 51 percent agree with this statement,
which contrasts with Scripture and core Christian teachings.
5 -- "When he lived on earth, Jesus
Christ committed sins" -- 40 percent believe this even though it runs
counter the basic Christian message.
George Barna, whose research group
has established itself as the pre-eminent Christian pollster taking the
nation's religious pulse, sounded distressed when discussing his newest
findings: "How many cataclysmic events will it have to take until we
finally get it?"
Copyright © 2002 United Press
International
A School
Principal's Testimony (Submitted 09/12/2002)
This is a statement that was read over the PA system at the football
game at Roane County High School, Kingston, Tennessee, by school
Principal, Jody Cloud (I the webmaster cannot say when it was made - if
anyone knows - please send me the information.
reply1@fountaingateway.com)
It shows clearly just how far this country has gone in the wrong
direction.
"It has always been the custom at Roane County High
School football games, to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to
honor God and Country."
Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am
told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law. As I
understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve
of sexual perversion and call it "an alternate lifestyle," and if someone
is offended, that's OK.
I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity, by
dispensing condoms and calling it, "safe sex." If someone is offended,
that's OK.
I can even use this public facility to present the
merits of killing an unborn baby as a "viable means of birth control." If
someone is offended, no problem.
I can designate a school day as "Earth Day" and
involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the
goddess "Mother Earth" and call it "ecology."
I can use literature, videos and presentations in
the classroom that depict people with strong, traditional Christian
convictions as "simple minded" and "ignorant" and call it "enlightenment."
However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God
and to ask Him to bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship,
then Federal Case Law is violated.
This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at
worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and
anyone, except God and His Commandments.
Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently
ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not
necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best,
and at worst, hypocritical. I suffer from that affliction enough
unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional
transgression.
For this reason, I shall "Render unto Caesar that
which is Caesar's," and refrain from praying at this time.
"However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and
thank God and ask Him, in the name of Jesus, to bless this event, please
feel free to do so. As far as I know, that's not against the law----yet."
One by one, the people in the stands bowed their
heads, held hands with one another and began to pray.
They prayed in the stands. They prayed in the team
huddles. They prayed at the concession stand and they prayed in the
Announcer's Box!
The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme
Court of the United States of America - the Seat of "Justice" in the "one
nation, under God."
Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee remembered what so many
have forgotten. We are given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM
Religion. Praise God that His remnant remains! Celebrate Jesus in 2002!
Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of Me before men,
then I will be ashamed of you before My Father."
Yes, I do Love God. He is my source of existence and
Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I will be
nothing, but with Him, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens
me. Philippians 4:13
Sniper Steals
Spotlight From Kidnapped Kids By Michael L. Betsch CNSNews.com Staff
Writer October 14, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - An 11-year-old Missouri boy
disappeared outside of his home late Sunday afternoon a week ago, while
riding his bicycle. Shawn Hornbeck's father, Craig Akers, says he won't
give up hope, but some wonder if the establishment media has given up on
its high profile coverage of child abductions.
Charles Pickett, a senior case manager at the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), suspects the
media has overlooked the Hornbeck case because of his unattractive rural
upbringing. But that wasn't the case when 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was
taken from her upscale home at gunpoint June 5th, Pickett said.
The Smart case had an element of intrigue that
triggered the national media to react, he said. "And, boy, they sure did
jump on that one."
"Here you had a child that lived in a very upscale
home in a very upscale community and she was taken out of her bedroom,"
Pickett said. "You know, how can you take a child out of million dollar
home in a community where nothing ever happens and nobody knows anything
about it?"
He surmised that media coverage of child abductions
"may be like buying real estate - location, location, location."
But the Smart case was probably very beneficial to
exposing the media to the plight of missing children, Pickett said. "There
are some kids that got some media this summer because of Elizabeth Smart
that may have normally not gotten exposure because somebody wasn't that
interested in the story."
In the meantime, he said, there were other abducted
children around the country that didn't get the same media exposure and
assistance that Smart received.
"It's a good possibility that media sensationalism
and how it will be received in the viewers' eyes is very important, maybe,
to the media in what type of cases they do profile," Pickett said.
He suspects the sniper crisis that has struck fear
throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is the main reason why
the national media has not highlighted any child abductions or issued any
AMBER Alerts in recent days.
For example, Pickett suspects few people are aware
that President Bush announced on Oct. 2 that his administration is taking
immediate action to help develop and enhance the AMBER Alert Plan.
Specifically, Bush directed Attorney General John Ashcroft to establish an
AMBER Alert coordinator at the Justice Department.
But Pickett said Bush's announcement was overshadowed
by the media's coverage of the sniper's first fatal shooting of a
55-year-old in Wheaton, Md.
Pickett hopes the national media will continue
reporting child abductions because, regretfully, they occur on a daily
basis. Further, he said, "It's going to be the key to help them bring
these children home."
Jim Naureckas, editor of Fairness and Accuracy in
Reporting's magazine Extra, doubts the establishment media will be
revisiting child abduction stories in the near future. In his opinion, the
barrage of kidnapping stories that flooded the national news last summer
were being played for "ratings purposes."
"When you take a [kidnapping] story that doesn't have
any real impact on any people in other parts of the country and give it to
them because it's exciting and dramatic and maybe has some striking visual
- that's kind of the definition of 'sensationalism'," he said.
Naureckas said one of the key features of
sensationalism is the need for novelty. That means broadcasters can't use
the same sensation over and over again, he explained.
"While people can be momentarily fascinated by the
specter of children in danger, that's not going to keep your ratings at a
peak indefinitely," Naureckas said. "The sniper is the new kidnapping
story."
Instead of broadcasting stories about mysterious
people who kidnap children, he said the national media outlets are now
focusing on a mysterious person who goes around the capital region
shooting people.
But Naureckas said the sniper story is slightly
different from that of child abductions, because it doesn't occur
frequently. "Kidnappings and shark attacks happen pretty routinely," he
said.
When the shark attacks and kidnappings were leading
the news there was no evidence of a significant increase in their
occurrences, Naureckas noted. "It was just that the media noticed them and
saw that this is something that they could attract attention with and ran
with them as far they could go."
Further, Naureckas said he's not surprised that the
media's coverage of shark attacks, child abductions, and the sniper all
have one common theme - fear.
"People do respond on a very deep, instinctual level
to the idea that they're in danger," Naureckas said. "You'll pay attention
if you think you're in danger. So, it is one of the most compelling things
that you can put on television."
And, the 24-hour cable news stations have discovered
that they pull in their best ratings if they only cover one story, he
said.
E-mail a news tip to Michael L. Betsch.
mailto:mbetsch@cnsnews.com
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP A CHILD YOU LOVE.
Tips for parents to help their children stay safe
-
Children should know their full name, home address, home
phone number and how to use the telephone. Put your contact information
in a highly visible location where your children can see it: Include
office phone number, cell phone, pager, and family/friends.
-
Children should always have a trusted adult to call if
they are scared or have an emergency.
-
Select a babysitter carefully. Acquire references from
family, friends, and neighbors. Ask your kids how the time with the
sitter was. Listen carefully to what they say.
-
Make a list of neighborhood boundaries where your kids
can not travel beyond. Choose easily identifiable landmarks.
-
Tell your children what homes they can and can not visit.
-
Never leave children unattended in an automobile.
-
Children should never go anywhere with anyone without
your permission, no matter their age.
-
Many parents put their children's names on their property
to identify it. Be careful where you put your Childs name on their
clothing, book bags and other personal property. This may put them on a
first name basis with an abductor.
-
Walk your children's school routes with them. Both to and
from the school. Point out landmarks. Show them safe places they can go
to in the event of an emergency or they are followed, if they take the
bus make sure they know what bus to take.
Children our the most precious people on Earth.
Please pass these tips on to others so you can add to the growing list of
people who are informed and take action. |
free.