Abstinence Only: Walking the Tightrope Without A Safety Net

[vakkotaur]

Some people are fond of a saying about sexual abstinence in the prevention of pregnancy which is that, "It works every time it's tried." This is true as far as it goes. But what isn't mentioned is that when it "isn't tried" or perhaps it would be better to say that when it fails that it can fail badly if there is no backup system. And if abstinence is the only thing taught, there may well be no backup system due to ignorance.

Considering that the urge to reproduce (or at least go through the motions) is one of the strongest urges a creature has, it should be expected that it will happen and will happen not long after the urge manifests. The call of sex is summed up well in the saying that "The limbic system controls the four F's - Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, and... Reproduction." That's pretty basic stuff. It has to be, as a species doesn't survive without making more of itself.

Some believe that a "just say no" style campaign is the only "right" way to deal with such a powerful urge. It is not. In fact, it is pretty much unworkable in this case. "Just Say No" might work for illicit drugs, providing a person has never taken them and thus has little or no attraction to them and is not experiencing the addict's urge to repeat the experience of a high. But this urge isn't from a drug people can escape so easily. It's built in to the body. Short of irreversible and therefore undesirable procedures before puberty, there is no escaping it.

The result is that abstinence is like walking a tightrope. It may be an impressive or admirable feat, but it is something of a feat. There is a tension there and it demands concentration to work. It only takes one slip for things to go wrong. Abstinence-Only is like walking a tightrope without a safety net: That one slip can now result in a very hard landing.

NOTE: I have no problem with the teaching of abstinence as the primary and best way of avoiding pregnancy (and sexually transmitted disease). I do have a problem with it being the only thing taught.

Comments

[jdm314.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[melskunk.livejournal.com]

I've certainly seen a few surveys where, much to the horror of the people teaching it, abstinence only taught teen had higher instances of STDs and teen pregnancies than the other sort.
People are only human.