India Reports Rising Numbers of Teen Sex Addicts

First Kiss At the Altar

Abstinence Grantees Research Update

Congress Renews Federal Funding for Abstinence Education

Boys & Girls Learn Differently: The Science of Gender and Learning  

Portrayal of Risky Sexual Behaviors on TV Inspires Imitation Says Study

Dressing to Sexually Arouse Men -- or Not...

SEXUAL ADDICTION/PORNOGRAPHY : INDIA REPORTS RISING NUMBER OF TEEN SEX ADDICTS

Hyper-sexuality, or sex addiction, is now striking Indian students at 13 or 14 years of age—not in the previously common twenties or thirties—according to two psychiatrists who specialize in the disorder. In fact, half their patients are teenagers, and the doctors think they know why: "Children are now being brought up on a heavy dose of adult material through audio-visual and print media. They are growing up faster and seeking adult pleasures without realizing that they don't have the maturity to deal with it. As a result, they are getting addicted to them," said Siladitya Ray, consultant psychiatrist at Ruby General Hospital. This disturbing report details case histories of young people who have become obsessed with pornography and masturbation but do not consider it to be a problem.

(Source: “Kids Falling Prey to Sex Addiction,” The Times of India, 11-25-08, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Kids_falling_prey_to_sex_addiction/articleshow/3753279.cms; 25November2008, abstinence.net)


FIRST KISS AT THE ALTAR

They teach abstinence in Chicago public schools, so when Claudaniel Fabien and Melody LaLuz fell in love and decided to get married, they knew they had to apply all the good advice they’ve been giving their students to themselves. They don’t stay alone in the house together; they remain vertical while cuddling on the couch; and they’ve decided to highlight their total commitment to one another by saving even their first kiss for the wedding.

"It really tested us and encouraged us to grow closer in our hearts and our minds, just expressing things verbally," Fabien said.

(Source: “Practicing Abstinence, Bride and Groom Have Never Kissed,” Chicago Tribune, 11-29-08, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-talk-no-sexnov29,0,2758381.story; 29Nov08, abstinence.net)
 

ABSTINENCE GRANTEES RESEARCH UPDATE
This 15-page research update focuses on abstinence programs that seek to influence healthy family formation skills, such as establishing healthy relationships, managing conflict, and understanding important aspects of selecting an appropriate marriage partner. The first article of this issue explores programs that focus on relationships, from an evaluation research perspective. The second article explores research related to college students’ “hookups,” including social and psychological predictors associated with young adults who are most likely to engage in this type of sexual activity.

Research Update #2
(Source: http://abstinence.pal-tech.com/assets/File/Research_Updates/ResearchUpdateNo_2_Final.pdf) [8 Oct 08]

Congress Renews Federal Funding for Abstinence Education
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Saturday that extends funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) through September 2009, reports citizenlink.com.

Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said this is good news for U.S. students.

"We are pleased that the abstinence-until-marriage funding remains in place through next September, but we understand that the work to keep the funding in place will continue with a new Congress," she said.

The development and implementation of CBAE programs to encourage teens to remain chaste has been singularly successful not only in combating the glamorous, but false, media messages about sex bombarding youth, but also gives teens a thorough understanding of the physical, emotional and financial consequences of sexual promiscuity.

An example of the abstinence programs developed with the CBAE funding is that created by Dr. Patricia Sulak, a practicing OB/GYN with Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic in central Texas, and implemented in the Westwood Independent School District by Living Alternatives pregnancy resource center of Palestine, Texas.

The program, titled "Worth the Wait," focuses on the real consequences of teen sexual promiscuity and speaks to teenaged students before they become sexually active.

Living Alternatives director Dana Morgan said during an interview with the Palestine Herald-Press (see: http://www.palestineherald.com/local/local_story_264230029.html), "The curriculum is conservative. It teaches that abstinence is the best choice in preventing teen pregnancy and STD's."

Topics covered in the program include: Emotional Needs, STD's and Other Facts, Puberty/Anatomy Review, Pregnancy, Sexual Limits and Goal Setting, Refusal Skills, Sex and the Law and Making Good Choices.

According to Morgan, parents are not being left out of the program. They are asked to be involved with their child through the use of "discussion worksheets" sent home after each session.

"We are just presenting the medical and scientific facts about sex to the students," she said. "It is up to the parents to instill in their teen their own morals and values about the issues." [7 Oct 08, TM. Baklinski, DC, LifeSIteNews.com]

BOYS AND GIRLS LEARN DIFFERENTLY: THE SCIENCE OF GENDER AND LEARNING WEB CAST
In Part I of a two-part series, Kathy Stevens from the Gurian Institute provides the science behind the "nature-based theory," which explains how developmental differences in the brain manifest in the way boys and girls grow and learn differently. She discusses the implications of these differences for educating boys and girls and designing programs for them. Part 2 of the series will build on the developmental differences explained in Part I, focusing on how to communicate effectively with boys and girls and implement effective abstinence education programs.
(Source: http://abstinence.pal-tech.com/resources/conference.cfm?subSec=27&id=484)
[8 Oct 08]



Portrayal of Risky Sexual Behaviors on TV Inspires Imitation Says Study
Found to encourage first time one night stands, regardless of outcome shown on program
Content analyses demonstrate that TV programming is highly saturated with sexual content and risky sexual behavior. A new study in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Communication shows that people with direct experience with such behavior are not influenced by its portrayal on TV. However, those without direct experience are more likely to participate in the unsafe behavior in the future, regardless of the consequences displayed.
 
Robin L. Nabi and Shannon Clark of the University of California conducted two studies to assess whether or not televised depictions of risky sexual behaviors alter viewers' expectations of their own future sexual behaviors, regardless of their consequences
 
In the first study, researchers examined the contents of TV programming schemas and found that viewers expect main characters to ultimately survive and thrive despite the adversity they face. In the second study, college women were exposed to various portrayals of promiscuous sexual behavior, such as one night stands, that were edited to display more or less positive or negative outcomes.
 
Portrayals of the risky behavior were likely to affect only those without direct experience with the target behavior. The portrayal of outcomes-good or bad-did not affect attitudes or intentions regarding that behavior.
 
Specifically, for those who had not previously had a one night stand, viewing fictional depictions of this behavior significantly increased expectations of the likelihood of having one in the future, regardless of the positive or negative outcomes portrayed.
 
"Even when behaviors are negatively portrayed, audiences may be motivated to model them anyways," the authors conclude. "We hope this research stimulates greater care in the application and testing of psychological theories to the study of media content and effects."
[SANTA BARBARA, CA, September 30, 2008, www.LifeSiteNews.com]

Dressing to Sexually Arouse Men -- or Not

Editorial by John-Henry Westen
  Sex sells, and advertising agencies know this better than anyone else. Their research into the subject has identified the areas of the female body which when exposed will lead men to sexual arousal.  There is a science to all this which is on display most obviously in television commercials. 
 
A disciple of Freud, J.C. Flugel, tried to suggest that those "erogenous zones," as he called them, fluctuated.  However, the typical body parts when exposed still cause sexual arousal.
 
From somewhere between the elbow and the shoulder, from just below the knees and up, and from the collar bone down (front and back), and all places in between are the areas which would more properly be referred to as the permanent erogenous zones.  Exposure of these body parts, usually on young, slender attractive women, creates the desired sexual arousal which alters normal discernment and has been found to increase sales.
 
With the science in hand it is possible for women to ascertain what to wear based on the desired outcome. The question then becomes whether women wish to dress to sexually arouse men or not or whether they realize that their dress is almost certain to do just that.
 
Sexual arousal, however, is not usually on the minds of most women as they select their clothing. Dressing to be attractive, to be well liked, to be popular, to be beautiful, to be noticed, to be fashionable, 'with it' - these are the desires which normally drive the selection of apparel.
 
There is also a problem of perception when it comes to selecting what to wear.  There is a common misperception around what men think when viewing scantily clad women.
 
Many women hope that in dressing provocatively men will find them attractive and desirable, with a view to a lasting relationship.  In reality, however, few, if any, men view a scantily clad young woman walking down the street and gape after her with thoughts like, "What a beautiful girl, I wish I could marry her."
 
Rather, the thoughts of most, if they permit themselves the gaping, are too crude to put in print.  Typically these thoughts do not consider the woman as a person.  
 
Decent or tasteful dress, as it is sometimes called, does not mean frumpy and unstylish as the folks at http://www.purefashion.com have made abundantly clear.
 
Such dress, which covers up the erogenous zones, leaves intact one of the most authentically appealing aspects of womanhood - the mystery.  That mystery has its own compelling quality but one which is not given to usury as is provocative dress. 
 
See related coverage:

Immodest Dress in the Church: Like Frogs in Boiling Water
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08080509.html
 
"Pure Fashion" Shows for Girls Catching on - Meet "Modesty Guidelines"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06050102.html
 
Call for Merchants to Offer Modest Fashions so Women Can "Dress with Dignity"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032904.html
[September 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com]