About this blog

Sex Sells
The old saying that sex sells is as true today as ever. Sex sells magazines, TV shows, music, video games and internet sites. Unfortunately the message is not being lost on our school-aged children. Research by the American Psychological Association shows they’re not only buying the products, they’re buying the lies at a younger and younger age that their sexual exploitation is not only normal but expected.

This can lead to some frightening misconceptions. Abstinence educators will tell you that many teens don’t realize that saying no to sex is even an option. Combine that with research that shows a correlation between teenaged sexual activity and a whole host of emotional, physical and social problems, and you can make a strong argument that teens in middle school and high school need a resounding message to abstain from sex until marriage.

Opposition
Critics often dismiss abstinence education as moralizing, but a convincing case can be made for abstinence, based only on physical and mental health benefits. Abstinence Until Marriage Education also draws the ire of homosexual activists who contend it discriminates against gays who, in many states, cannot legally marry. However, abstinence education targets school-aged children, not adults, and the recommendations for all children—homosexual or heterosexual—are the same.

A little history
Throughout the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s, the safe sex, (condom as the cure-all) ideology dominated health care thinking. However, as pregnancy and STD rates soared, health care professionals began to question the effectiveness of the safe sex message. In the 1990′s, the federal government began to fund abstinence education, and the state of North Carolina enacted a law that required its public schools to teach abstinence until marriage as the expected standard. According to statistics cited by Alysse ElHage in AUM vs. CSE, pregnancy rates and the number of sexually active teens have fallen consistently ever since.

Why a blog?
Abstinence education is a fairly new field. It took its first stumbling steps back in the mid-1990′s. Because of this and a relative lack of funding, there is much to learn. In addition, the stakes are high, so learning quickly is of paramount importance. Blogs provide an opportunity, not only for posting new research and information, but for creating a social network that encourages the exchange of ideas. Therefore, unlike a web site which provides one-way communication, a blog enables interactive communication within a community of learners. In short, we can learn from each other!

Who uses blogs?
According to blog expert Technorati, there have been over 50-million blogs since the first one back in 1994. Family Research Council (FRC), the public policy arm of Focus on the Family, has dedicate much energy to connecting and fostering relationships with bloggers. Take a moment and see this example of their blog. Notice the “Blogroll” on the right hand side. These are the bloggers that FRC consults each day as it updates its own blog. Another example is the Abstinence Clearinghouse blog.

How does a blog work?
There are many kinds of blogs, but the type I’ll employ is called a filtering blog. I’ll sift through internet sites such as Medical Institute of Sexual Health, Abstinence Clearinghouse, and National Abstinence Education Association, reports, statistics, analyses, stories from you and your colleagues, etc. and pass along the information that I think is most valuable to you. I’ll write a few sentences and include a link in case you want to read more. These postings stay on the blog so you can refer back to them whenever you want. There is no cost to you.

Connecting with blogs
There are several ways you can follow a blog. You can simply bookmark the page and check on it periodically or you can set up your computer to check for updates by signing up for the blog’s RSS feed. You can learn more about the process at this web site.

Join us!
The mandate is clear. Teens need to hear the message that their healthiest choice is to delay sex until marriage. Since abstinence education is a fledgling discipline, there is much to learn and an urgency to learn it. This blog will provide valuable research, resources and, most importantly, the ability to network and learn from others in this field.