TheNZThrower
Active Member
Hi everyone. The following (EDIT: Link included) Heritage foundation article attempts to articulate a factual case for abstinence only sex-ed, but are they successful? Or not?
Their first section on the risks of early teen sex activity is dedicated to the alleged increased risks of STD infection. They begin by listing the STD rates among the general population and teens as follows:
Searching Google likewise does not turn up any useful results
If we look at the 2001 edition of "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior,", we instead get a number of 12 million per year according to the Surgeon General's Letter contained within:
So we already have a number off the mark by about 3 million; though to be fair, the number could have increased within the year between the publishing of the call to action and the Heritage article. To be fair, the rest of the data appears to be accurate, and their 3 million figure for teen STDs comes from the Guttmacher Institute.
To be continued...
EDIT: See the post below by deirdre for an updated check on the figures of the Heritage Foundation.
Their first section on the risks of early teen sex activity is dedicated to the alleged increased risks of STD infection. They begin by listing the STD rates among the general population and teens as follows:
Their first & second sources are from the webpage of the American Social Health Association circa April 8 2002, the publication date of the article. The citations from it claim that a statement of dissent has been published by the ASHA on their aforementioned webpage:Today, there are more than 20 widespread STDs, infecting an average of more than 15 million individuals each year. Two-thirds of all STDs occur in people who are 25 years of age or younger. Each year, 3 million teens contract an STD; overall, one-fourth of sexually active teens have been afflicted.
However, a glance at the archived webpage shows no such statement mentioned at all.Shepherd Smith and Joe S. McIlhaney, M.D., "Statement of Dissent on The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior," issued by the Medical Institute of Sexual Health, Austin, Texas, June 28, 2001, and American Social Health Association, Research Triangle Park, N.C., "STD Statistics,"
Searching Google likewise does not turn up any useful results
If we look at the 2001 edition of "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior,", we instead get a number of 12 million per year according to the Surgeon General's Letter contained within:
So we already have a number off the mark by about 3 million; though to be fair, the number could have increased within the year between the publishing of the call to action and the Heritage article. To be fair, the rest of the data appears to be accurate, and their 3 million figure for teen STDs comes from the Guttmacher Institute.
To be continued...
EDIT: See the post below by deirdre for an updated check on the figures of the Heritage Foundation.
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