Web Comics and Abstinence Only Diseducation

Sometimes you read something that just changes the way you think about it. I've read article after article on abstinence-only education and been horrified time and time again by those promoting this diseducation campaign.

daddYman just sent me this comic strip which perfectly illustrates its dangers.

Let's be clear: those advocating abstinence-only education are ruining lives. Having an unplanned child (or having an abortion) too early in life may not always turn out poorly but certainly is an eventuality we should do our best to minimize. Human sexual organs still mature at the same rate as was appropriate when humans had an average lifespan of 30 years.

We live longer now and expect people to wait an extra decade (or two!) before starting a family. If you believe your children should wait until marriage to have sex - that is great. But if you do not educate them and prepare them, studies show that they are more likely to engage in unsafe sex practices (and become pregnant or contract a disease).

Abstinence only education is a terrible idea. I have to wonder about anyone who promotes it. I really wonder how many proud fathers want their daughters to submit to a good Christian like Ted Haggard on their wedding night, wondering if it is normal for their husband to require them to dress up like a male prostitute as foreplay. Of course, she won't have any prior experience with which to compare her husband's fetishes and will be forced to consider them normal.

Of course, people should be free to do what they want in their bedrooms, but I am horrified by those religiously motivated folks who demand women submit to men and deny them any opportunity educate themselves about their bodies.