Online Only: RESPECT the facts

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. What does it mean to you?\nThat depends. Do you pay taxes?\nIf you do, you should know that your state government allocated more than a million dollars to Indiana RESPECT, an abstinence-only education initiative for the 2006 and 2007 fiscal years. For Indiana, RESPECT means Reducing Early Sex and Pregnancy by Educating Children and Teens (I know, it’s a stretch). \nThe Indiana RESPECT Web site’s trendy and user-friendly layout features young, hip teens hanging out, laughing and generally having a wholesome, sex-free time. Except for the pregnant ones with cold sores.\nThe site has lots of scary statistics about the horrors of teen sex, as well as tips for talking to your teen. Parents can even watch Indiana RESPECT commercials featuring sultry teens staring seductively into the camera and commenting, “If you don’t talk to your (son or daughter) about sex…I will.” \nWhat you can’t find out from Indiana RESPECT is how to use a rubber. That’s because the program “promotes abstinence as the only 100% safe method to stay free from pregnancy and STDs.” That’s true. But what about the overwhelming majority of the human race who will have sex with more than one person before marriage?\nAs reported directly on the Indiana RESPECT Web site, 64 percent of high school seniors have had sex, and more than a third of U.S. females become pregnant before their 20th birthdays. Gosh, I wonder why?\nMaybe it’s because most of them were too uninformed (or stupid) to figure out how to use a condom. According to Planned Parenthood’s Web site, when condoms are used correctly, they prevent pregnancy 98 percent of the time. When used incorrectly or inconsistently, that number drops to 85 percent. Incidentally, according to a study I just made up, condoms were 108 percent effective at preventing pregnancy when used by rocket scientists. \nOf course, it’s a lot harder for kids, most of whom aren’t rocket scientists, to figure out how to use a condom when their teachers tell them to “just say no.” The folks behind the Indiana RESPECT campaign failed to notice that a more honest approach to sex ed could prevent most of the statistics it touts. \nA recent study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that 88 percent of teens who pledge to abstain from sex until marriage have sex before marriage. These teens are also less likely to use a condom the first time they break their vows and less likely to receive testing for sexually transmitted diseases.\nYet our lawmakers still found the abstinence only movement compelling enough to spend more than $1.3 million on it. This could really hurt Indiana’s reputation as a state on the cutting edge of society. \nThe real losers aren’t the taxpayers; they’re the kids who suffer from this lack of education. It’s time for state lawmakers to put down the Bible and get this state’s social policy out of the 18th century. \nOf course, they aren’t the ones shopping for prom dresses at the maternity store.