New report re-uses old data to target abstinence pledges {EDIT}

Phoenix · 01-08-09, 03:17 PM

News Headlines - New report re-uses old data to target abstinence pledges : Townhall.com

Quote:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Another new look at old data has caused a stir in the national media, and abstinence pledges are taking another hit just as Congress and the new Obama administration are reconsidering millions of dollars in funding for abstinence education programs.

The latest report, appearing in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, examined 934 teenagers with strong religious backgrounds, 289 of whom took abstinence pledges and 645 who did not. Based on this within-group comparison, the study found that teenagers who took a pledge were just as likely to have premarital sex as those who did not take a pledge; and those who took pledges were less likely to use contraceptives.

However, the study only compared the behavior of strongly religious teenagers to other strongly religious teenagers and made no comparison of this group to teenagers with little or no religious influence in their lives. In other words, the study only looked at how "elites" of a population compared to other "elites" and did not examine this sample's behavior for differences and similarities with the general population of all teens.

It seems the study compared a group of religious teens that took the pledge to religious teens that didn't. Religious teens from religious families have been found to have less premarital sex than other teens.

To the ones using this study to justify Sex ed training in schools...You've been duped.

DarkWizard12 · 01-08-09, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix

News Headlines - New report re-uses old data to target abstinence pledges : Townhall.com

It seems the study compared a group of religious teens that took the pledge to religious teens that didn't. Religious teens from religious families have been found to have less premarital sex than other teens.

To the ones using this study to justify Sex ed training in schools...You've been duped.

yay! I'm a good statistic!

Kandahar · 01-08-09, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix

It seems the study compared a group of religious teens that took the pledge to religious teens that didn't.

That's the whole point. Otherwise you aren't measuring the effectiveness of the abstinence pledge, you're measuring the effectiveness of religious indoctrination. Comparing the pledgers to the population as a whole would be ridiculous and would prove nothing about the abstinence pledge, because teens who take the abstinence pledge in the first place are not representative of the population as a whole. The question that the study was answering was "Does taking an abstinence pledge cause/promote more abstinence?" And the answer was a definitive no.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Religious teens from religious families have been found to have less premarital sex than other teens.

Well obviously. Who the hell waits until marriage if they AREN'T religious?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix

To the ones using this study to justify Sex ed training in schools...You've been duped.

I can't even begin to comprehend how you made that logical leap. Please explain.

PeteEU · 01-08-09, 04:02 PM

I wonder what state has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the US... a red or a blue state.....

emdash · 01-08-09, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteEU

I wonder what state has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the US... a red or a blue state.....

mississippi

Tucker Case · 01-08-09, 04:08 PM

If abstinence pledges fail this horribly with the "elite" religious kids, who are typically taught premarital sex is a sin, why bother making it fail even more with kids who don't think God is going to send them to hell for a BJ?

PeteEU · 01-08-09, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tucker Case

If abstinence pledges fail this horribly with the "elite" religious kids, who are typically taught premarital sex is a sin, why bother making it fail even more with kids who don't think God is going to send them to hell for a BJ?

Did you not read the link above.. its the blacks and Hispanics fault that the stats from the "red" religious states are high....

Abstinence is a bullcrap idea, brought on by religious fanatics who use it to control women.

Phoenix · 01-08-09, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kandahar

That's the whole point. Otherwise you aren't measuring the effectiveness of the abstinence pledge, you're measuring the effectiveness of religious indoctrination. Comparing the pledgers to the population as a whole would be ridiculous and would prove nothing about the abstinence pledge, because teens who take the abstinence pledge in the first place are not representative of the population as a whole. The question that the study was answering was "Does taking an abstinence pledge cause/promote more abstinence?" And the answer was a definitive no.

If a group has already been taught that abstinence is the proper way to handle their relationships, they may not feel the need to "pledge" it because it's just the way it is. Why pledge not to do something that you are already not going to do?

independent_thinker2002 · 01-08-09, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix

News Headlines - New report re-uses old data to target abstinence pledges : Townhall.com

It seems the study compared a group of religious teens that took the pledge to religious teens that didn't. Religious teens from religious families have been found to have less premarital sex than other teens.

To the ones using this study to justify Sex ed training in schools...You've been duped.

How do we know they were telling the truth?

Kandahar · 01-08-09, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phoenix

If a group has already been taught that abstinence is the proper way to handle their relationships, they may not feel the need to "pledge" it because it's just the way it is. Why pledge not to do something that you are already not going to do?

Exactly, that's the whole point. The abstinence pledge is ineffective and stupid. The people who sign up are from a subset of America that is arguably less likely to have sex in the first place, with or without the pledge. So what exactly is your point about the abstinence pledge?

01-08-09, 04:02 PM	#4
PeteEU Guru Join Date: Mar 2006 Last Online: Today 01:01 PM Location: Mijas, Costa del Sol Posts: 3,965 Thanks: 139 Thanked 729 Times in 532 Posts Lean: Centrist Gender:	Re: Abstinence Pledges Ineffective....OH wait.... I wonder what state has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the US... a red or a blue state.....
	__________________ PeteEU

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