tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post7191644971017303253..comments2024-03-02T02:26:00.928-05:00Comments on bleakonomy: Admitting the possibilitytetracontadigonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04604381739383227553noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-58774662396914057802010-02-09T14:48:43.666-05:002010-02-09T14:48:43.666-05:00By "sexually active," I mean "havin...By "sexually active," I mean "having vaginal intercourse." Your experience is very different from a large number of my patients back at Mt. Sinai.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11213051268392108382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-47507051423650780272010-02-09T14:32:52.796-05:002010-02-09T14:32:52.796-05:00Dr. Dan, I guess it depends on what you consider &...Dr. Dan, I guess it depends on what you consider "sexually active" is petting or a little show and tell "sexually active?" I had my first kiss when I was 12 (proceeding to necking) and played strip poker when I was 13, but didn't go any further until I was 16. This was back in the 70's and I went to Catholic school. Intercourse is the at risk behavior, not kissing, so I would like a clear definition of what "sexually active" means.<br /><br />jeez gj, hundreds of thousands of years, how about billions. Are you a creationist? You can't civilize the sex drive, but you can control it. As to pre-teens, it is curiousity, not sex drive that leads to experimentation (like playing Doctor) lets distinguish the two, shall we.<br /><br />CharoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-60141145123455915172010-02-09T09:38:41.512-05:002010-02-09T09:38:41.512-05:0030% seems freaking high for middle school
NTW, M...<i>30% seems freaking high for middle school </i><br /><br />NTW, Mama Nature doesn't care. She wired brains up to like sex and to seek it out. If the body has matured to the point that it is producing sufficient sex hormoes, well, it takes conscious effort to override hundreds of thousands of years of evolutionary conditioning. Humans need civilizing.Gadfly Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-63395219544245720882010-02-09T09:07:37.625-05:002010-02-09T09:07:37.625-05:00But I think Charo may be on to something about beg...But I think Charo may be on to something about beginning first at a very young age (say, 10? They're not THAT young, are they??) with an abstinence-only program (of-the-wait-until-you're-a-bit-older variety, not a wait-until-marriage variety). Then gradually phase in the condoms.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09953173396955681485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-28967955658646019052010-02-09T08:46:07.639-05:002010-02-09T08:46:07.639-05:00Charo, having worked in a dedicated adolescent hea...Charo, having worked in a dedicated adolescent health center in upper Manhattan for three years, I can assure you that adolescents as young as those described in the study often are sexually active. Like Naptimewriter, I was (and still am) dismayed by this reality, but reality it remains.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11213051268392108382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-56199333011112407282010-02-08T22:53:02.840-05:002010-02-08T22:53:02.840-05:00Dan, I, too, was shocked when I read the summary o...Dan, I, too, was shocked when I read the summary of the study last week. Despite the small sample and the reality that these were very young adolescents (10-13 years oldd) from a high risk population were not enough to keep me from rethinking my position on abstinence-only education. I guess if children are young enough, they need the world to be in black and white. As they hit high school they seem (from other studies) to do much better with comprehensive education; so that should be part of the dialogue.<br /> What I find quite upsetting is that even after the program, kids were participating in sexual activity in dangerously high numbers. The quote above notes success in that 30% of 8th graders, rather than 50% of 8th graders are sexually active after an eight-hour abstinence only program. Dramatic. But 30% seems really freaking high for middle school. <br />Let's get someone to study self-esteem training and see if that helps kids in all aspects of their lives as well as keeping them physically and emotionally safe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5393996338560944889.post-2494847925283438692010-02-08T20:21:22.192-05:002010-02-08T20:21:22.192-05:00whoa Dr. Dan, this study refers to young teenagers...whoa Dr. Dan, this study refers to young teenagers, of the 13 year old variety. For a host of reasons they are more naturally able to follow an abstinence regimen, because even without it there are not many kids that age who have sex, telling them not having sex is good is bound to make them feel more comfortable with themselves not having sex, which is something most of them won't be having anyway. Of course you should teach 13 year olds this. But 17 year olds? I went to Catholic school and yet virtually everyone of my peers (and this was in the 70's) had sex around the age of 16.<br />Now in Asia, they have sex later, but young people are not free. It isn't abstinence that keeps them pure (they aren't even taught about sex at all) it is overwhelming parental oversight.<br /><br />charoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com