Here’s the report on the complete nonsense of “Abstinence-Only” sex education curricula in American public schools.
These whoppers aren't flukes; if you're a parent, this is more than likely the curriculum your kids are receiving right now. If you're young, I'm sure you're all to familiar with this baloney from firsthand experience.
(Don't you luv the little Abstinence graphic I found to illustrate this post? It's just that simple!)
Some of the falsehoods are scientific bloopers and misinformation. The bad facts aren't neutral or aribitray— they're designed to promote unreasonable fear and dread about premarital sex. For example, getting cervical cancer has NOTHING to do with having sex before marriage... DUH. But these programs beg to differ!
But the material that sent me over the moon were the pieces of wisdom doled out about what young men and women really want out of life:
Some excerpts:
Stereotypes that Undermine Girls’ Achievement
Several curricula teach that girls care less about achievement and their futures than do boys. One curriculum instructs: 'Women gauge their happiness and judge their success by their relationships. Men’s happiness and success hinge on their accomplishments.'
Another curriculum lists 'Financial Support' as one of the 'Five Major Needs of Women,” and 'Domestic Support' as one of the 'Five Major Needs of Men.'
The curriculum states: ' Just as a woman needs to feel a man’s devotion to her, a man has a primary need to feel a woman’s admiration. To admire a man is to regard him with wonder, delight, and approval. A man feels admired when his unique characteristics and talents happily amaze her.'
GAG ME!
And for you science purists, here's another tidbit:
Abstinence-Only Curricula Contain Scientific Errors
In addition to the inaccurate and misleading information discussed earlier, a number of the abstinence-only curricula contain erroneous information about basic scientific facts. These errors cover a variety of issues:
• Human Genetics. One curriculum states: 'Twenty-four chromosomes from the mother and twenty-four chromosomes from the father join to create this new individual.'
In fact, human cells have 23 chromosomes from each parent, for a total of 46 in each body cell.
The same curriculum also teaches: 'Girls produce only female ovum, boys, however, have both male and female sperm.'
This too is inaccurate. Females produce ova with X chromosomes, and males produce sperm with either X or Y chromosomes. These combine to make an XX combination (female) or an XY combination (male).
Read it and weep! Or better yet, organize to get rid of it. My hat's off to Waxman for leading up this investigation. Few politicians will do anything to promote the public sexual health, and I was amazed that he had the guts to do something like this.
