Abstinence Resources
NEW! PP & Oral Sex
NEW! The Rise of the Good Girl / Bringing Back Purity
NEW! The Effect of Sexual Abstinence on Educational Attainment
Interview with Chaste South African Swimming Champ
Abstinence Education Legislation Update (update 1 Nov 07)
10 Great Dates
CBAE & Title V
A Call to Let Girls BE Girls
Money Grows on Family Planning Trees…
RESOURCES
CONCERNED PARENTS REPORT. As promoters of chastity and abstinence as the only way to lower or eliminate the risk of both teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, Concerned Parents Report searches for studies in six areas:
"Understanding Your Teen," "What's Working With Teens," "Today's Risky Lifestyle Behavior," "Today's Danger with Sexually Transmitted Infections/Diseases," "Why Contraception is Not the Answer," and "Why Abortion is Not the Answer to a Teen Pregnancy."
Their website is a good place to start when researching these issues. Go to http://concernedparents.com/index.htm. [Abstinence Clearinghouse Email Updates, 31Oct07]
JUST SAY YES: THE WORLD PREMIER OF “LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP”
Three years ago, Just Say YES envisioned On October 16, 2007, a $600,000 dream became reality as the World Premier of “Look Before You Leap,” a show that would engage and reach teens in their own multimedia language, at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas.
A skydiving theme was used to portray the urgency of developing a plan prior to making a decision that could significantly impact one’s life. Saving sexual activity for marriage was emphasized as the safest, healthiest way to avoid destructive risks one would regret forever.
Since the premier, this state-of-the-art multimedia program has been shown in Dallas, TX and San Francisco, CA.
To book “Look Before You Leap” in your local venue or anywhere in the nation, contact Just Say YES at 972.437.0002 or email [email protected]. [Abstinence Clearinghouse Email Updates, 31Oct07]
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ENCOURAGES ORAL SEX. "Our government tax dollars are helping Planned Parenthood run its teen web site, Teenwire. We’ve often reported the horrible extremes this killing-for-profit organization promotes with its sexual agenda; this time Planned Parenthood is once again discussing oral sex. Planned Parenthood comes across as if it is doing teens and parents a favor.
One does not need to be a teen or a parent to realize that depicting a scene of a man and a woman embracing in front of a bed, along with the title “Examining Oral Sex,” is not being done to help teens. It’s being done to encourage sexual behavior.
In the article, “Examining Oral Sex”, Planned Parenthood explores technical virginity, describes how oral sex is “safer” and discusses other sexual propaganda. Planned Parenthood has been pushing “outercourse” for decades. According to a different article on Teenwire, “Generally, ‘outercourse’ means sex play without vaginal intercourse. Depending on personal preference, it can involve kissing, massage, masturbation, ‘frottage’ (rubbing bodies together), sharing fantasies — including cybersex and phone sex, anal sex play … and oral sex play.”
Yet, in the article on “Examining Oral Sex,” PP makes it appear that it is abstinence education programs that are driving kids to have oral sex.It is incredible the lengths that Planned Parenthood will go to in its effort discredit abstinence education programs and to push its deviant sexual practices on our children."
As much as liberals decry major corporations that act as if they're above the law, there's always quiet when the subject is Planned Parenthood, America's No. 1 corporate provider of abortions. During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported a profit of $55.8 million — and received a record high in taxpayer funding of $305.3 million. [Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 11/07/07] "We must take away our tax dollars from Planned Parenthood. www.stopplannedparenthoodtaxfunding.com" [7Nov07, STOPP Report, www.all.org/stopp/]
THE RISE OF THE GOOD GIRL WITH WENDY SHALIT. In her provocative 2000 book, A Return to Modesty, the brilliant Wendy Shalit argues for the feminine virtue of keeping your clothes on.
In her 2007 follow-up, Girls Gone Mild: It’s Not Bad to Be Good, Wendy puts us in touch with girls who essentially are rebelling against their mother’s generation: They’re going mild, not wild! Can we encourage our own daughters to “go mild” — and our sons to appreciate such women? Wendy and Betsy Hart sort it all out in an audio interview. [Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 11/07/07]http://radio.nationalreview.com/betsyhart/post/?q=OWNhZGM1NDVhY2NhMzgzNTI4NGU4MGVhMmIxNjExYWY=]
BRINGING PURITY BACK IN OHIO. The national media will be pushing condoms next Valentine’s Day, but J.A.M of Ohio plans to be “Bringing Purity Back” at several events between now and then. There’ll be a fashion show for girls who want to look good in their clothes without showing too much and free t-shirts for all.
J.A.M. recently presented at the University of Toledo and is recruiting students who are interested in starting a chapter on campus and want to plan a purity ball.
For more information, go to www.jamamerica.org. [Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 11/07/07]
THE EFFECT OF SEXUAL ABSTINENCE ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT: ABSTINENCE REMOVES OBSTACLES TO TEEN SUCCESS. A 2007 study published in Social Science Research Network reveals support for and a more detailed examination of earlier research, such as that by Rector and Johnson in 2005, showing abstinent teens with increased rates of graduation from high school and college attendance.
Professors Joseph J. Sabia and Daniel I. Rees found that “approximately one third of the abstinence effect can be explained by pregnancy prevention and the avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases, and an additional 27 to 33 percent can be attributed to the avoidance of depressive symptomology, lowered self esteem, and academic distraction.”
[“The Effect of Abstinence on Educational Achievement,” Social Science Research Network, July 2007, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=994856#PaperDownload;
Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 11/07/07]
Abstract:
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2004) describes abstinence as the surest way to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, and it is obviously an effective method of preventing unwanted pregnancies. However, teaching abstinence in schools has also been justified on the grounds that refraining from having sex as a teenager may impart important psychological and emotional benefits that, in turn, lead to increased educational attainment.
In fact, there is some evidence in support of this view. Rector and Johnson (2005) found that abstinent teens were more likely to graduate high school and more likely to go on to attend college than their sexually active peers.
They argued that these findings were evidence that sexually active adolescents become preoccupied with the present (p. 20) while those who abstain [are] subject to less emotional turmoil and fewer psychological distractions… (p. 3), but could not rule out the possibility that the association between delaying first intercourse and educational attainment was, at least in part, due to difficult-to-measure factors such as an individual's inherent degree of risk aversion or ability to control his or her impulses. Distinguishing between these explanations is crucial given that total federal funding for abstinence-only sex education in the U.S. grew to nearly $180 million by Fiscal Year 2006.
We aim to disentangle the effects of teenage childbearing from the estimated relationship between delaying first intercourse and educational attainment while addressing the endogeneity of virginity decisions by first employing school fixed effects, then family fixed effects, and lastly taking an instrumental variables approach. Our primary goal is to assess whether delaying first intercourse is causally related to educational attainment, controlling for the influences of becoming pregnant and having a child. In addition, we are interested in documenting other potential routes through which abstinence might affect educational attainment.
We use age of menarche as an instrument in order to estimate the causal relationship between delaying first intercourse and educational attainment. There is evidence to suggest that age of menarche is positively related to age at first intercourse, but little reason to suspect that it is directly related to educational attainment. Thus, differences in the biological onset of puberty can be used to identify, in effect, random variation in age at first intercourse.
2SLS estimates show that abstaining from sex for an additional year is associated with a .031 increase in the probability of graduating from high school, an estimate that is statistically indistinguishable from that obtained using OLS. Remaining abstinent until age of 18 is associated with a .175 increase in the probability of graduating from high school and a .111 increase in the probability of college attendance; neither estimate is statistically distinguishable from its OLS equivalent.
We find that approximately one third of the abstinence effect can be explained by pregnancy prevention and the avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases, and an additional 27 to 33 percent can be attributed to the avoidance of depressive symptomology, lowered self esteem, and academic distraction.
[JEL Classifications: I21, J13, I10;
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=994856#PaperDownload
Sabia, Joseph J. and Rees, Daniel I., "The Effect of Sexual Abstinence on Educational Attainment" (July 2007). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=994856
Sabia – University of Georgia; Rees – University of Colorado at Denver – National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) July 2007]
INTERVIEW WITH CHASTE SOUTH AFRICAN SWIMMING CHAMP. Sexual abstinence is just one expression of a disciplined life, as Penny Heyns, a South African Olympian, reveals in this brief interview.
When asked if she has ever had “unsafe sex,” she simply says, “No…Abstinence is the only guaranteed protection.” [The Times, 10-08-07, http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=580270; Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 10/17/2007]
ABSTINENCE EDUCATION LEGISLATION UPDATE. Debate on the Senate Labor HHS bill that contains CBAE funding is continuing. Senator Lautenberg has withdrawn his damaging amendment on medical accuracy thanks in large part to Sen. Brownback's diligent and consistent efforts to garner support from his Senate colleagues. [23Oct07, The Abstinence Clearinghouse Email Update]
CBAE Update from the lobbyists in DC (1Nov07):
The House/Senate Labor HHS Conference is currently meeting in the US Capitol to negotiate the final differences between the House and Senate Labor HHS bills. The House passed bill provided a $28 million increase over FY2007 (to $141 million) and protected the "A-H" guidelines. The Senate passed bill provided a $28 million cut (to $86 million) and eliminated the "A-H" requirements.
We are receiving early reports from the Conference negotiations that the House position has prevailed in Conference negotiations.
We are working to verify further details regarding both CBAE and the new contraceptive sex education program that was created through CDC in the House bill. More information on this will be provided as details are clarified.
These numbers will not be final until the Conference report has been approved by the Conference Committee and the report has been filed. There is a strong likelihood that this bill will be vetoed by President Bush because the overall spending level in the bill is higher than his budget request. It is unclear at this time whether there are sufficient votes
in the House and Senate to override his veto. This situation will be monitored closely and information will be provided to you as it comes. [1November07, The Abstinence Clearinghouse Email Update]
10 GREAT DATES COMING TO SPOKANE. Teen-Aid announces the beginning of 10 Great Dates in Spokane and the inland northwest this fall. Training by Marriage Friendly Communities and the first ‘Great Date’ will be September 22.
Training for each organization’s host couple will be from 9 – 12 noon at Eastpoint in the Spokane Valley.
This will be followed up by the ‘First Great Date’ presented by authors and founders, Dave and Claudia Arp. The Arps have presented their 10 Great Dates throughout the world with particular success with our armed forces.
The format is simple and fun: locate a hosting organization and find out when they are going to offer each of 10 Great Dates, show up for a 20 – 30 minute DVD on how to make your relationship even better then go out on a ‘Great Date.’ Child care is provided in most cases.
Check out the first ‘Great Date’ in September. All classes and materials are FREE. The date is on you, though.
Find out more information and register at: www.marriagefriendlycommunities.org
[POSTED: AUG 29, 2007, abstinence.net, Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update 30Aug07]
CBAE AND TITLE V
Here is a thorough update regarding to the Title V and CBAE programs.
September is going to be a very busy month for federal abstinence education programs.
CBAE:
FY2008 CBAE funding is currently being considered by Congress. The CBAE program is funded as part of the Labor, Heath and Education Appropriations package, a mulit-billion package that funds all of the programs in these three agencies. The House has passed its version of the FY08 Labor HHS bill, and included a $28 million increase for CBAE, bringing total CBAE funding to $141 million. The House passed version protects the "A-H" criteria, and makes no damaging changes to the CBAE program. The Senate Appropriations Committee has offered its proposal for CBAE, cutting CBAE by $28 million for a total funding level of $85 million. The Senate proposal also eliminates the "A-H" criteria, leaving the CBAE program with no definitions governing the program.
The next step in the CBAE process will be consideration by the full Senate, where damaging amendments such as medical accuracy and proven effectiveness are possible. Senate consideration of the Labor HHS bill is likely to happen toward the end of September.
Once the Senate has completed its consideration, a House/Senate Conference Committee will convene to resolve the differences between the House and Senate bills. Because the proposals for CBAE differ dramatically between the House and the Senate, CBAE will be a topic of discussion during these negotiations.
Title V:
The Title V program is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2007.
The House has proposed a two year extension of the SCHIP program, with a series of damaging changes, as part of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). SCHIP is also scheduled to expire on September 30, 2007. The House passed proposal includes three new Title V provisions, including State flexibility, medical accuracy, and proven effectiveness.
* State flexibility allows states to use Title V funding for either abstinence education as defined by "A-H"; OR to use Title V funding for comprehensive sex education.
* Medical accuracy requires that Title V programs must provide information that is free from medical innaccuracy, and defines medical inaccuracy as any information that is either unsupported or contradicted by peer-reviewed journals.
* Proven effectiveness requires Title V programs to show a reduction in pregnancy, STDs, or HIV.
The Senate also passed an SCHIP extension, but the Senate SCHIP proposal was much smaller in scale and does not include an extension of Title V Abstinence Education. As a result, the Title V extension will be the topic of Conference negotiations to resolve the differences between the House and Senate SCHIP proposals.
SCHIP Conference negotiations are still in beginning stages. Members who will serve on the Conference Committees have not yet been appointed, and a framework for the negotiations has yet to be established. Title V will not be discussed until a framework for the negotiations has been agreed upon. The negotiations will be tense and controversial, and the White House has already threatened a veto of the SCHIP packages passed by the House and Senate. Now that Congress has returned to work after the August recess, we expect these negotiations to begin quickly and in earnest.
Statements of Support:
Two champions for abstinence education submitted statements of support to the Congressional Record during debate on the SCHIP package, Rep. Joe Wilson (SC) and Rep. Robin Hayes (NC). To view the debate, please contact www.abstinence.net. [4Sept07, Abstinence Clearinghouse, [email protected]]
A CALL TO LET GIRLS BE GIRLS. Melinda Tankard Reist, founding director of Women's Forum Australia, has released a new study, Faking It, documenting the shocking increase in sexualized images and content marketed to pre-adolescent girls as young as five or six.
An analysis of the top three girls magazines—Barbie Magazine, Total Girl, and Disney Girl—shows between 50% and 75% of the content deals with personal beauty products, “crushes” on older guys, and instruction in such things as “sexy” dance moves.
Reist: “The phrase [Corporate Paedophilia] was invented by Phillip Adams, an Australian broadcaster and columnist. It is very prescient — even though the corporations who use little children in their marketing hate it. The phrase highlights the way little girls are treated as sexual fodder for the flogging of products. It's all about extending the market for products — corporations and advertisers are looking to younger and younger girls to both sell products and to be target markets for those products. As a result, the vulnerability and dignity of children gets sacrificed. They become objects, things to use. It's crept up on us so that we have hardly noticed.”
(Source: “Focus on media: A toxic culture for girls,” mercatornet.com, 08-17-07, http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/focus_on_media_a_toxic_culture_for_girls/)
[Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 8/29/2007]
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MONEY GROWS ON FAMILY PLANNING TREES…
While many in Congress complain about the cost of abstinence education, they fail to realize that abstinence until marriage — Authentic Abstinence Education — is good preventive medicine. As Benjamin Franklin taught us, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Although the rate of teen sexual activity had steadily declined since 1991, a federal analysis of the latest data suggests that in the last six years the percentage of young people having sex has hovered at nearly the same level.
Unfortunately, after a decade of decline in the nineties, teenagers now overall seem no more inclined to delay sex until after high school today than they were in 2001.
Liberal groups like Advocates for Youth (AFY) have been quick to blame this plateau on the rise of abstinence education, claiming that Congress has spent an unprecedented amount on the "save" sex message. Pointing to last week's House vote to slightly increase Title V abstinence funding and reauthorize $141 million in Community Based Abstinence Education grants, AFY President James Wagoner said that [Congress] "turned its back on public health."
What Wagoner fails to admit is that while abstinence has experienced a long-deserved influx of federal funds, value-free sex education continues to outpace spending on conservative programs by hundreds in millions of taxpayer dollars (about $12 for every $1 for abstinence education funding).
Case in point: while the House approved an additional $28 million for abstinence programs in Title V, liberal programs received the same raise, adding another $28 million to its bulging $310 million budget!
Perhaps the biggest culprit for the stagnancy on teen sex front is confusion.
The federal government continues to subsidize a mixed message on sexual activity.
It promotes programs that tell kids not to have sex, yet funnels money to groups that offer nothing more than a "how to" lesson in promiscuity.
Abstinence may well be making a significant difference in the rate of teen sexual activity, but how can it expect to compete with the near-billion spent undermining that message?
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) did his best to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving any more Title X money, but his amendment fell just shy of passing.
The rates of teen sex will resume their decline when leaders realize, as Pence has, that when it comes to the government's abstinence message–accept no substitutes!
[July 23, 2007, Family Research Council]
For every dollar spent on abstinence education, $12 are spent on comprehensive sex education. In the period that the author described the waste of $1.5 billion dollars to help our youth make better choices, our counterparts received $15 billion to $20 billion distributing condoms. When they failed (Planned Parenthood condoms were rated as the poorest quality by Consumer Reports), our youth were given the option to have an abortion through its own clinic.
Who knows, if we both had comparable funding, we could change the youth culture for the better. More authentic abstinence education could be a blueprint for success in Jacksonville and a newfound freedom for our youth!
[Charles V. Christie, 05-22-07; Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update 5/23/07]
REDUCE THE RISK = SEX ROULETTE. According to a report carried on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, condoms are only 85 to 87 percent effective against HIV transmission.
However, a revised estimate carried in a bulletin of the World Health Organization sets the estimate of effectiveness at 80 percent.
For some, 80-plus percent effectiveness sounds good.
Yet would you eat a restaurant that served food free from E. coli bacteria only 87 percent of the time?
Would you fly in an airline that advertised that 87 percent of its flights landed safely?
[Kelly Boggs, 05-18-07; Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update 5/23/07]