Study: Texas leads nation in teen birth rate

[SeraphymCrashing]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...tories/072607dntexteenbirthrate.ac717295.html
Texas is number one in the nation for teenage births, and also relies heavily on abstinence only education.

Of course correlation does not prove causation, but there does appear to be a strong trend between ignorance, poverty, and teenage pregnancy.

Better comprehensive education would be the rational person's solution. But of course in Texas they believe that more information isn't always better:

Don McLeroy, president of the State Board of Education, noted that sex education is mainly a local issue, with state law requiring each district to have a local committee that decides what will be taught.

"The idea that just giving them a lot of information is going to solve it, I think, is kind of naive," he said. "Certainly, it's more of a societal problem than it is a school problem."

 

[HumbleMan]

McElroy is right in one aspect. Throwing a bunch of information out there won't solve the problem. What might be relevant in McAllen or Uvalde isn't the same issues in Dallas, Houston, or San Antone.

I do think the state should set set the tone and push the program at statewide advertising levels, but each district should be able to implement their own way of addressing the issues in their community.

One other observation, for anyone who thinks the government shouldn't be involved in this issue. You're right, it shouldn't have to, but the parents and the church sure don't seem to be stepping up and filling their role.

 

[SeraphymCrashing]

McElroy is right in one aspect. Throwing a bunch of information out there won't solve the problem. What might be relevant in McAllen or Uvalde isn't the same issues in Dallas, Houston, or San Antone.

Well giving children more information and education might solve the problem, it might help, and it might not. Looking at places with comprehensive sex education shows that they tend to have lower rates of teen pregnancy. But one thing guaranteed not to help is keeping them ignorant. Which is exactly what McElroy is proposing.

And for those who don't know McElroy is the new TExas president of the board of education. You know the one who thinks that evolution is a pack of lies. Some Examples:

In 2001, McLeroy and a majority of the board rejected the only Advanced Placement textbook for high school environmental science because its views on global warming and other events didn’t comport with the beliefs of the board majority. The book wasn’t factual and was anti-American and anti-Christian, the majority claimed. Meanwhile, dozens of colleges and universities were using the textbook, including Baylor University, the nation’s largest Baptist college.

In 2003, McLeroy voted against approving biology textbooks that included a full-scale scientific account of evolutionary theory. The books were approved.

Definately the guy I'd want choosing what kind of education my child receives.

 

[CACTUSJACKmankin]

anonther piece of the mountain of evidence that abstinance-only doesnt work. Why do people fear knowledge and sex?

 

[Foolish_Fool]

Well giving children more information and education might solve the problem, it might help, and it might not. Looking at places with comprehensive sex education shows that they tend to have lower rates of teen pregnancy. But one thing guaranteed not to help is keeping them ignorant. Which is exactly what McElroy is proposing.

And for those who don't know McElroy is the new TExas president of the board of education. You know the one who thinks that evolution is a pack of lies. Some Examples:

In 2001, McLeroy and a majority of the board rejected the only Advanced Placement textbook for high school environmental science because its views on global warming and other events didn’t comport with the beliefs of the board majority. The book wasn’t factual and was anti-American and anti-Christian, the majority claimed. Meanwhile, dozens of colleges and universities were using the textbook, including Baylor University, the nation’s largest Baptist college.

In 2003, McLeroy voted against approving biology textbooks that included a full-scale scientific account of evolutionary theory. The books were approved.

Definately the guy I'd want choosing what kind of education my child receives.

Sigh, people are never going to stop making fun of me because I'm from Texas if we keep this up.

 

[SeraphymCrashing]

Sigh, people are never going to stop making fun of me because I'm from Texas if we keep this up.

Don't worry, every time I feel smug about not being from Texas, some fool does something unbelievable in Colorado (my home state).

 

[Dannager]

Sigh, people are never going to stop making fun of me because I'm from Texas if we keep this up.

Plenty of room here in beautiful, sunny, refreshingly sane California.

 

[UberLutheran]

But ain't it great that our Texas young-uns don't know nothin' about their jobbers and their hoo-has so at least they're not gittin' into trouble thataway?

YEEEEEEEEEE-HAW!!!

 

[RacismIsBad]

It's clear that the adherence to abstinence-only education is an ideological one, and continuing to support it on these grounds is foolish. Abstinence-only education from a logical standpoint doesn't hold up because it relies on people not having sex at all. When they do have sex, abstinence-only education has failed and the person is less likely to use a condom or contraceptive. This of course leads to higher incidences of pregnancy and disease transmission.

Perhaps the problem is the goals of abstinence-only education and comprehensive sex education are different. The goal of abstinence-only education is for people to not have sex. They don't care about rates of teen pregnancy or disease transmission because they treat that as a "consequence." Comprehensive education gives people all the tools, which will lower rates of pregnancy, disease transmission, and abortion. The point to understand is that everyone is not going to follow what is taught, so ask yourself: is it better for people to have sex without condoms, birth control, etc.or with those tools?

This is something that will also affect us economically as teenage mothers will more than likely find themselves on government assistance at some point. And if you seek to cut that safety net out, it shows that you really don't care about the kids.

 

[CGL]

I have a feeling Minnesota would led this category, If only the gopher girls didn't turn their wombs into Josef Mengele's dispensary.

 

[RacismIsBad]

I have a feeling Minnesota would led this category, If only the gopher girls didn't turn their wombs into Josef Mengele's dispensary.

Females that decide to abort are not excluded from rates of teen pregnancy. Those that carry to full term are not the only ones counted.

 

[SteveAtheist]

anonther piece of the mountain of evidence that abstinance-only doesnt work. Why do people fear knowledge and sex?

Didn't Adam and Eve eat from the 'tree of knowledge'?

knowledge = bad

 

[PassionFruit]

No surprise here.

People we have to remember the goal of Abstinence-Only education, is to keep teens from ****ing. Not really about reducing teens pregnancies nor STD's. But Abstinence-Only education can't even to stop teens from having sex.

 

[Concetta]

I could not find in the article, if the teen count included the immigrants who cross the border to have an American baby... ? Any stats on that?

 

[ACougar]

My son did his first year of High school in Kileen, outside of Ft. Hood. There were a lot pregnant girls and girls with kids going to school there... although I'm not sure that Arizona is a whole lot better.

Telling kids that the smartest thing they can do is abstain is good, however there's nothing wrong with telling them "now if your too stupid to abstain, at least take these risk reducing measures."

 

[Macano]

Well, what else are you s'posed to do in Texas? Most boring state EVAR!

 

[Arnold_Philips]

Perhaps it would help if the slogan were changed to, "Don't mess around with Texas"?

 

[Ave Maria]

Abstinence only "education" is not education at all. They need comprehensive sex education and then maybe the teen pregnancy rate would go down drastically.