No big shocker here, but an investigation by Congressman Henry Waxman (D) of California found that "the majority of programs used by federally funded schools and organizations to teach abstinence contain false, misleading or distorted information about reproductive health":
The report found errors or misrepresentations in more than 80 percent of 13 popular curricula used by most of the 69 school districts, hospitals and community groups that received funding from a federal initiative to encourage young people to abstain from sex.It gets better:
Lesson plans included false information about the effectiveness of contraceptions and stated that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teen-agers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy."Good call. Because the Bible has a lot to say about fondling genitalia before marriage. Better to scare the kids a bit than send them to the firey gates of hell.
Turns out these books provide helpful relationship advice as well:
Some course materials cited in Waxman's report present as scientific fact notions about a man's need for "admiration" and "sexual fulfillment" compared with a woman's need for "financial support."Ha ha ha. Great metaphor! These text book authors are artists, I tell you!One Choosing Best book tells the story of a knight who married a village maiden instead of the princess because the princess offered so many tips on slaying the local dragon.
"Moral of the story," notes the text: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess."
Allow me to be the first to propose that future historians refer to these times as the "era of the absurd."
Link to Austin-American Stateman article.
Posted by sarah at December 2, 2004 3:32 PM | TrackBack