Abstinence "non" education - part 2

After thinking a lot about the state of sex education in our country, I thought back to the sex education I had recieved as a child. My school district, like many in Texas, used a curriculum called "Aim for Success". I remember sitting in the auditorium once a year listening to the same program from 6th grade until 10th. (So they were giving 12 year olds the same curriculum as 17 year olds - smart.) I remember hearing all those lies that we laugh about now when we read about federally funded programs.

I remember we played a game where we passed around a horn - every couple of seconds the man leading the program would tell the person holding it at that moment to honk the horn and stand up. By the end, over half the students in the room were standing. You can see what's coming. The man leading the program said, "Everyone who is standing has contracted an STD. Most of you were even using condoms when you had sex. Some of you are now infertile. Some will have recurring outbreaks, many of you will die."

Talk about uplifting.

I found the website to Aim for Success. They offer three different types of programs. Let's look at the options:

Program 1
Aim for Success Program
Why Choose Abstinence: It Protects. (ok, I agree)
Dreams and Goals: Affected by your choices. (yeah, like, choosing where to go to college...)
Pregnancy: No easy solutions. (Right, if you get pregnant, you're doomed to be a welfare whore for life.)
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A description of the leading STDs many of which are incurable and can lead to infertility, reoccurring sores, cancer and death. (one of the most misleading statements. Especially when the infection they use most often to illustrate infertility and cancer is HPV, a virus that over 65% of sexually active people carry - though most strands are harmless, and never cause cancer - especially when women have regualr pap smears that can detect cervical changes.)
Emotional Scars: Can last a lifetime. (Give me a break)
Failure Rate of Contraceptives: Pregnancy, STDs, and emotional scars can occur even with a condom. (Yeah, and they occur more without one!)
Alcohol and Drugs: One of the leading reasons why teens have sex. (so lets not equip them with knowledge of condoms and birth control)
How Far is Too Far: Setting boundaries. (no "heavy petting" - ala 1950)
Making a New Start: Rewrapping the gift of virginity. (ah yes, the plight of the "born-again virgin")

Program 2
Freedom to Succeed Program
Why Choose Abstinence: It's the Law (umm, ok...)
Dreams and Goals: Good choices bring good consequences. (and, I guess bad ones = having sex)
Child Support: Who pays, how much, and for how long? (Boys, keep your thing in your pants if you don't want to go broke!)
How does the Law Define Sex? It's very specific! (but we aren't going to go into specifics - that would be obscene)
Teen Sex Laws: Sex with a minor can be rape even if it was consensual. (good job, let's scare them out of doing it!)
Guess the Age: Can you pick the girls that are underage? (this just seems wrong....)
Sex Offender Registration: Who, how, what, and for how long. (boys, you don't want your picture up here, do you?)
Pornography: Unlawful, dangerous and distorts sex. (no sex positive porn here! And since when was porn against the law...?)
Sexual Harassment: Defined for students with examples. (good idea. really.)
The Best Protection: The pill, condoms, oral sex, just touching, or abstinence? Only abstinence gives 100% protection! (agree with the statistic...but you're leaving out a huge point. While only abstinence is 100% effective against STI's and pregnancy, if one chooses to have sex, using a combination of a hormonal form of birth control with a condom is the most effective way to reduce chances of contracting an STI or getting pregnant.)

Program 3
Achieve Success Program
How to Live the Abstinence Lifestyle
Dreams and Goals: Goals help you achieve success. (and your goal better not be to have sex before you're married. That is not success.)
Problems of Sexual Activity: Pregnancy, STDs and emotional scars. (what about the advantages of sexual activity???)
Dealing with Differences in Guys and Girls: Girls are excited by touch. Guys are excited by sight... So girls be careful how you dress! (really, I have nothing to say to this. I am so appauled that anyone would actually voice this to teenager women. "If a guy harasses you, it's your fault since you were dressed like a whore." I want to vomit. I've also never met a guy who wasn't excited by touch...)
Dealing with Pornography: Pornography never satisfies and always leaves you wanting more! (I'm sure many people could argue against this...)
Dealing with Peer Pressure: A N.I.C.E way to say No! (because all young ladies should be nice...)
Dealing with the Pressure of Romance: Is it love or a crush?
Dealing with Media Pressure: How does the media influence your decisions?
The Pressures of Drugs and Alcohol: Destroys self-control.

And there you have it. Pick door 1, 2, or 3 - but you'll find the same thing behind all of them...

LIES.