Sex Education–Abstinence
Dear Editor,
Mr. Sessions is mistaken in his assertion that, by using a condom, one could “conceivably have sex with everyone on campus and none of these encounters would result in an STD or a pregnancy.” Manufacturer labels, the most optimistic source of information about condom efficiency, state that a condom is no more than 99% efficient. Government research places the efficiency at more like 60% due to breakage, incorrect usage, etc. A generous 90% efficiency and one student engaging in sexual activity with the other 16,000 students on campus, gives approximately 1600 cases in which Pregnancy and STD transmission are very real possibilities.
Would you like to know the non-personal, non-religious reasons that casual sexual encounters are poor choices? Unwed mothers are less likely to seek prenatal care and thus more likely to give birth to a low birthweight baby. Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk for drug and alcohol abuse. Children growing up in single parent homes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have emotional or behavioral health problems. Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school. Children in single-parent families are more likely to be in trouble with the law than their two-parent family peers. (All statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.) Anecdotal evidence aside, single-parent families face many challenges that are almost insurmountable.
Most responsible sex-education organizations do not call sex with a condom safe. They call it “less-risky”. When the possible results are dramatically life-altering occurrences such as a serious STD, pregnancy, or abortion, the ONLY sure solution is abstinence.
Ricky Fieldingrlfielding@cc.usu.edu519-17-2316(435) 770-8569