Hi Jeanie

Perhaps you would need to consider (not talking about doing studies like you are, though) that these kids are often not "planning" on having sex and it just happens cause they get carried away after putting themselves into bad situations or flirting with the idea even though they know or think its wrong.

That’s exactly the point I was making, like all animals we are driven by hormones and instincts. Our conscious minds have some control over these but not total control. That is a fact of life we have to deal with and teaching abstinence only contraception ignores this, ignores our true nature. Many young people will get into situations in which they are challenged like this and not everyone can resist it (not that I personally think they always should but that’s another story) the problem for the abstinence only crowd is that they aren’t prepared for it when it happens while most others carry a condom or two and have some fun without getting pregnant, they don’t. All animals are driven to reproduce and we are no different. Ignoring human nature, ignoring one of the many lessons that ToE has to teach us as the abstinence only message does, causes problems as the statistics show.

UT = Utah is that right?

Kids will be kids, somewhere between kids and adults they have to face up to hormones and instincts that they are not prepared to deal with especially if they are given a very cursory abstinence only sex education. I think it’s far more important to teach them the whole truth, give them a fully detailed age appropriate sex education, and to teach them about consequences and respect for themselves and for others than to just say “DON’T”. Don’t is not in our nature. How many children first got the idea to take a cookie because mum said “Don’t”?

All the best Jeanie

Russell