A good blog to check out

I have the blog Wait4YourMate on my Check Out These Sites list. There are several interesting lessons to be learned from taking a look at this site.

Yet One More Interesting Blog

Another interesting and out-of-the-mainstream blog

More Interesting Blogs

I really appreciate blogs that have lots of pictures, movies, and other cool stuff. Who says learning can’t be fun?!

Best and Worst—Take 4

Recommendations for web sites and blogs

BEST: Abstinence Africa is a spin-off from Abstinence Clearinghouse, a BEST pick from earlier in the week. The Resource Library link is a rich collection of research articles, letters from Africans, and stories from other sources. A recent post from October 3rd reports on a training seminar that True Love Waits International held in South Africa. The web site is blog-like in that it posts articles under various topics and has plenty of links to follow, but the most recent stories are not easy to find. The site would be more user-friendly if the recent posts were more prominent.

WORST: NARAL’s “Screw Abstinence Party” invitation. NARAL stands for National Abortion Rights Action League. You cannot link to the actual web site anymore, but WorldNetDaily preserved the essence in a story posted in July of 2005. The fundraiser in Seattle was promoted as an opportunity to communicate dissatisfaction with spending for abstinence education funding. The event was highly criticized by insiders and outsiders alike as “counterproductive” and “juvenile.” It also did very little to support the pro-abortion group’s contention that it strongly supports the teaching of abstinence as a component of its “Comprehensive Sexuality Education” message.

The Best and Worst—Take 3

Recommendations for web sites and blogs

BEST: Sex and Relationships for Teens by LifeCare. This is a good example of a local web site that hits the target. It’s intelligent and fact-based, in addition to using graphics and language that appeal to teens. However, the web site would benefit from more citations and/or links to supporting research in the STD section and with an expanded discussion on the effectiveness of condoms and birth control.

WORST: Teenwire is Planned Parenthood’s teen web site and provides some enlightening information on exactly what this federally-funded organization believes is appropriate educational material for America’s teens. School-aged children can get the facts on everything from “What is the proper way to feel my girlfriends boobs?” to “Does swallowing sperm make you fat?” to “Is it true that sex is more pleasurable if the girl is on top?” In 2006, Planned Parenthood received $300-million from federal grants and contracts—about one-third of its annual income. Of course, much of the organization’s 2006 income came from the nearly 265,000 abortions performed in its clinics. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider. (Stats from Concerned Women For America.)

Interesting Blogs

Arab Free Press

I’m taking a class at UNC-Chapel Hill on the Global Impact of Communication Technologies. It’s been an interesting exercise to watch my adult classmates creating their own blogs on subjects about which they are passionate. One is called The Arab Free Press. It’s written by a doctoral student who has spent a great deal of time in the Arab world. He always has some valuable insights on things we see in the news everyday. Check it out. Make sure to read the post from October 12th on the way that podcasting is being used in the Arab world—will it foster democracy there?

On Blogging—Using blogrolls

One of the great things about finding a blogger that you want to follow, is that they will introduce you to other bloggers that they like. It’s like going to a party and having a well-connected person take you around to introduce you to all the other interesting people. But it’s even better, because as you meet these new interesting people, you can see a list of the people they find fascinating. This list is called a blogroll. The blogroll is usually on one side or the bottom of the blog but not all blogs have them. Check out the Four Hour Work Week blog by Tim Ferris for an example of an extensive blogroll.

The Best and Worst—Take 2

Recommendations for web sites and blogs

This is the second in a series of recommendations on some abstinence education web sites/blogs that would be a great resource for abstinence educators (BEST) and those that are not so great for one reason or another (WORST).

BEST: The National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) is a fairly new player in the field of abstinence education, but in 2006, the group jumped in with both feet on the federal level to help preserve Title V funding. Title V is a federal mandate that distributes money to states to assist them in teaching abstinence education. NAEA, as a 501(c)(6) organization, can participate in vigorous and unlimited lobbying on the state and federal levels. The NAEA web site keeps getting better and better although it still lacks some depth—a symptom of their fledgling status. I especially appreciate the Advocacy page which provides practical links and background on the issues that are most pressing on the federal level.

WORST: I used the term “worst” with regret here because this next web site has an ideology that I support, but the manner of presentation is such that the message is muddied. It seems to be a beneficial exercise to critique it. First, this web site, Blount Nurses for Health Education out of Maryville, Tennessee, appears to be focusing on educating teens, but the aesthetics do not reflect this. The site consists only of a list of topics and stories on one page. This makes it difficult to read and the page comes across as dry and academic. Even the URL is bland (http://64.177.211.175). Second, the language is a bit too inflammatory. Two examples are: “Don’t be tricked! You are being outnumbered by young men, many of whom want you for sex, rather than because of who you are as a person,” and “We have witnessed hundreds of young people’s lives permanently ruined because of poor decisions in their teen years for a few minutes of sex.” These statements could be construed as the marketing of fear and not necessarily the most effective way to communicate to young people today. And third, the web site is surprisingly lacking in scholarship. There are very few citations or references included. For example, in regards to condoms, the site states: “Moderately effective. Frequent failures.” I would have expected more accurate and precise language from an organization of nurses. In closing, if abstinence educators are going to be a force for change in public and private debate, we must heighten the level of research and discourse in every venue. There are several national organizations that serve as resources and models for this (see side bar Check out these sites). Let’s take advantage of them.

On Blogging—Blogs as a gatekeeper

I know very few people who would not agree with the statement that the web is great! It’s a source of immediate information, a means of instant communication, and a personal shopping mall that’s open 24 hours a day. But, like anything else, it does have it’s drawbacks. Trying to stay up-to-date on the latest information in your field can feel like drinking from a fire hydrant. That’s where blogs can be useful. Find people who agree with you and that are credible, and let them do the work for you! I have a teenager, so I’m eager for any help in that area. I keep an eye on Andrew Robinson’s Blog. He has interesting things to say in his own right, but he sends me to web sites and other resources as well. It’s like chatting with a friend.

The Best and the Worst

Recommendations for web sites and blogs
For the next few weeks, I’ll be doing some Best/Worst web site recommendations on sexual abstinence education. The hope is that this exercise will point you to some resources that will be valuable to you and may provide a healthy dose of skepticism regarding some sites that might seem official and unbiased.

I’ll base my ratings on: how well the web site or blog supports the teaching of abstinence education; if the posts are backed up by and linked to research; if the language matches the audience and is colorful but not too emotional or misleading; and if the site is user friendly and pleasing to the eye.

BEST: The Abstinence Clearinghouse blog and web site are among the best in providing up-to-date information on national events surrounding abstinence education, even though you have to be a member to access most of the research. This organization has been around for a decade and provides some excellent training for abstinence presenters. These sites could be more helpful if their posts provided more links and citations to their sources. In addition, their blog would have more credibility if there was more information about who their blog writers are.

WORST: Known as SIECUS (Pron: SEEK-us), the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States has commandeered a reputation as an authority on issues of sexuality and sex education. The non-profit’s web site is clinical and professional and provides an official-looking veil for an advocacy group that espouses policies on sex education that many people find offensive and inappropriate for children. SIECUS publishes “Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education” which they say is downloaded from their web site 1,000 per month (p.5). Among other things, these guidelines recommend that children ages 5 to 8 (kindergarten through 2nd grade) learn such concepts as: “Vaginal intercourse – when a penis is placed inside a vagina – is the most common way for a sperm and egg to join” (p.26); “Touching and rubbing one’s own genitals to feel good is called masturbation” (p.51); and for ages 9 to 12 (3rd through 6th grade), “A woman faced with an unintended pregnancy can carry the pregnancy to term and raise the baby, place the baby for adoption, or have an abortion to end the pregnancy” (p.62).