Fla. Teens believe that Mt. Dew will prevent Pregnancy

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

here

A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state.

The survey showed that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant.

State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education, Local 6 reported.

They are proposing a bill that would require a more comprehensive approach, the report said.

It would still require teaching abstinence but students would also learn about condoms and other methods of birth control and disease prevention.

I'm sorry, but I just can't believe those results.

[Canuckistan]

The survey showed that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant.

File this one under Thinking, Wishful.

drinking a cap of beach!??

k9skippy

[HollowMan]

Well, I did used to hear that drinking Mt. Dew made you sterile.

I know it's not the best way to go about it, but at least this means an opportunity for more than abstinence only education.

[Rebochan]

Okay, I don't think my sex ed was *that* bad, but we still needed an overhaul of it. This is just sad.

Might explain the pot smoking on campus too...

[Jahungo]

What results? I didn't see a single relavent number in the article or the video clip embeddee. How many is "some?" Survey's aren't 100% reliable, and depending on how they were designed I can see students putting down joke answers. If like 2% of students believed these things, I would say that joke answers and other errors are a likely culprit. If it were something like 20%, well maybe then I would start to worry.

That being said, the reforms seem like a good idea. Abstinence only sex ed is stupid.

ETA: I looked and found a few other articles on the same topic, like this one, and didn't find any numbers at all. Makes me very suspicious. I would guess that somebody decided they wanted a good story and took a sensationalist approach, simply ignoring the facts.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by k9skippy

drinking a cap of beach!??

It's hard to catch HIV when you're in a coma or dead.

[Mickey Blue]

Note, parents everywhere that still teaches abstinance only ed, instruct your kids to give ridiculous answers on suvays like these if they ever make it to your area, its apparantly one way to do away with money spent on ignrance and lies, aka, abstinance only education.

-MB

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Jahungo

What results? I didn't see a single relavent number in the article or the video clip embeddee. How many is "some?" Survey's aren't 100% reliable, and depending on how they were designed I can see students putting down joke answers. If like 2% of students believed these things, I would say that joke answers and other errors are a likely culprit. If it were something like 20%, well maybe then I would start to worry.

I'm guessing they are either a) holding back details until the full story is broadcasted or b) No one's made it over to the legislative offices yet to get the documents.

That being said, what I said before stands. I do not believe these results are accurate

[Jahungo]

Assuming my guess about the survey is right, I find these tactics rather repulsive and disreputable. It's almost becoming the enemy. Abstinence-only education teaches that abstinence is the only 100% sure method of pregancy and STD prevention. Sure it's true, but it's incredibly misleading and disingenous. These tactics have all the same faults and no upside.

Misinformation is never a positive thing, even if in the short run it helps your side.

[Buckle Up]

There is no such thing as "abstinence-only sex education." There is a choice between "school-sponsored, curriculum-based sex education" and "friends, peers, legend, and social networking sites-based sex education."

Some kids are going to have sex. Those kids have questions. Who do you want answering them? Because they are going to ask.

You don't have to encourage their sexual behavior - go ahead, push for abstinence. But you'd better think hard about your back-up plan.

Gah, preaching to the choir.

[Jahungo]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

I'm guessing they are either a) holding back details until the full story is broadcasted or b) No one's made it over to the legislative offices yet to get the documents.

That being said, what I said before stands. I do not believe these results are accurate

I would sure say they're holding back details, but I don't think it's until the full story is broadcasted. Even if it's just an early report, why withold the numbers? It's not like it would unduly add to the length of the article. Someone must have seen the actual survey results and get this story going. The only thing I can think of is a sensationalist motive: to make the story seem like a lot more than it is. The tone of the article makes it seem like it's a huge problem and these beliefs are rampant. The real truth, I suspect, is just that these results occur largely as a errors common to all surveys, and probably leading questions as well. The real truth is not newsworthy. Only this partial truth is interesting at all.

[Mickey Blue]

Originally Posted by Jahungo

Assuming my guess about the survey is right, I find these tactics rather repulsive and disreputable. It's almost becoming the enemy. Abstinence-only education teaches that abstinence is the only 100% sure method of pregancy and STD prevention. Sure it's true, but it's incredibly misleading and disingenous. These tactics have all the same faults and no upside.

Misinformation is never a positive thing, even if in the short run it helps your side.

Well, if AO programs only taught that it would, as you said, be technically correct (omitting of course tons of other information) but sadly many also preach misinformation, even lies, to try to head off real information at the pass.. After all, odds are kids are gonna hear that you can have "safe" sex with BC and condoms, so best be quick to spread lies about both (or exaggerations if you prefer).

That said, this is not an AO vs. comprehensive sex ed thread, and it also appears that this is not the whole story.

-MB

[Jahungo]

I would certainly go so far as to say this news report is (again, if I'm correct in my assumption that "some" is a pretty small number) misinformation and exaggeration, and possibly a lie as well. Maybe not a lie, as like I said all the individual statements are true, but it is deliberately trying to paint a false picture in the reader's mind. That's not much better.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Jahungo

Someone must have seen the actual survey results and get this story going.

Yeah. A legislator. In session. That's the person with the results and the source of the story.

[Wild Redhead]

State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education, Local 6 reported.They are proposing a bill that would require a more comprehensive approach, the report said.It would still require teaching abstinence but students would also learn about condoms and other methods of birth control and disease prevention.

Welcome to the 21st century.

[Adelaide]

Ugh - I almost started a thread in Rantidote after my daughter came back from a soccer practice horrified a what some of her friends believed about sex and pregnancy. One said that if you jump up and down after sex, or lie down with your legs up in the air, you won't get pregnant. Another said that if you want to induce miscarriage you just engage in real strenuous activity.

My daughter didn't feel comfortable speaking up to correct them, but it sparked a really good conversation between us about the type of sex education they must be exposed to. My daughter also can't relate to these girls believing this stuff and not checking it out with their parents, when she knows she can ask me anything.

Another example of this nonsense is my nephew who has always attended Falwell's institutions. You can imagine what type of sex-ed was offered there. He and his then girlfriend got pregnant last year, and my MIL's response was that this clearly proved that they weren't usually fooling around because if they were having lots of sex they'd know about birth control. The fact that they got pregnant proves how innocent they are. Such mental gymnastics are common with her, but by that logic my kids will be total sluts before they ever have sex.

[Jahungo]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

Yeah. A legislator. In session. That's the person with the results and the source of the story.

Yeah. And they're witholding the facts in a deliberate attempt to mislead.

And even if they're in session, they've obviously had time to either speak to reporters or at least put this "result" in a public forum where reporters have access to it. They're not giving the numbers for a reason. That reason, I suspect, is that they're largely full of horseshit.

If something comes out and proves me wrong, I'll take it all back. But I don't think I am.

[glass papaya]

Originally Posted by Jahungo

Yeah. And they're witholding the facts in a deliberate attempt to mislead.

And even if they're in session, they've obviously had time to either speak to reporters or at least put this "result" in a public forum where reporters have access to it. They're not giving the numbers for a reason. That reason, I suspect, is that they're largely full of horseshit.

If something comes out and proves me wrong, I'll take it all back. But I don't think I am.

I'm with you. The survey has no title, no indication as to who conducted it, nothing. Until I'm proven wrong, I will be inclined to believe that if it exists at all, it was probably something informal like a survey for a school newspaper article.

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by Adelaide

One said that if you jump up and down after sex, or lie down with your legs up in the air, you won't get pregnant.

Wait, isn't lying down with your legs in the air recommended if your are having fertility problems? Not that either of these is effective, but that one is counter-productive.