Iowa To Forego $238,648 Abstinence Grant

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
by Justin

POSTED: 5:35 pm CDT June 24, 2008
UPDATED: 6:48 pm CDT June 24, 2008

Skeptical states are shoving aside millions of federal dollars for abstinence education, walking away from the program the Bush administration touts for slowing teen sexual activity.
Barely half the states are still in, and two more say they are leaving.
Some $50 million has been budgeted for this year, and financially strapped states might be expected to want their share. But many have doubts that the program does much, if any good, and they’re frustrated by chronic uncertainty that it will even be kept in existence. They also have to chip in state money in order to receive the federal grants.

A federal tally shows that participation in the program is down 40 percent over two years, with 28 states — including Michigan — still in. Arizona and Iowa have announced their intention to forgo their share of the federal grant at the start of the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

The program was created by Congress in 1996 as part of welfare reform. [more...]

So…I have been working at a middle school for the last few years in the PE department so I get to see what this grant does first hand. “So what does it do,” you ask, “in terms of the sex education in the public school.” Well I haven’t seen this grant implemented in the public school. There are no programs implemented within the public schools. Programs seem to held to non-profit organizations. So why don’t they allow a non-profit/public school partnership to teach abstinence? I can’t ever seeing this happening because 95% of non-profits will be religious affiliation.

Plus abstinence education has one message: WAIT!!!!! KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS!!! Now what teenager wouldn’t respond to that message? Can’t you see them coming down the aisle for that one. I think that abstinence education is going to die if the only message is “WAIT!!” Wait for what? What are they suppose wait for? Why should they wait? And I think it goes a little deeper than “So you don’t get a STD!” Who cares? They have drugs to deal with that now. Or “You’ll regret it later!” Why? Mom and Dad have been divorced 2 or 3 times. They have had multiple partners. And that is their example!

So how do you think abstinence should be taught if taught at all?