I Blame Mosquitoes

AP reports: "Teens who make a one-time pledge to remain virgins until marriage catch sexually transmitted diseases about as often as those who don't pledge abstinence, according to a study of the sex lives of 12,000 adolescents."

Comments

[db]

I got it from the toilet seat
I got it from the toilet seat
It jumped right up and grabbed my meat
Got it from the toilet seat

--Frank Zappa

[Norman]

And I read that keyboards and mouses are more bacteria laden than toilet seats. I caught my STD from an online chat room.....she swore she had never cybered before...

[joe]

Nothing on methodology, but I tend to doubt that each pledgers matches up to a non-pledger in a way that eliminates all the other variables. It is likely that non-pledgers, in the aggregate, live in communities and socialize with acquaintances that have higher rates of STDs. If this is true, it would be even more damning for the pledgers, since it would mean that non-pledgers are no more likely to get an STD, despite having a much greater chance of coming into contact with someone who has one.

[Jim Walsh]

So much for the argument that abstinence always works when it's tried...

[Larry]

Ironies:
1. According to those who speak for God the moral way to act is the exact opposite of how He designed us to act.

2. We have parents saying;
a. Don't "do it" until you get married.
b. After you hit puberty at 12, wait until you graduate from college at 22 (or better still 25 with your Ph.D.) to get married.
In fact, for the first decade of experience as a sexual being you shouldn't "do it" with anyone else, "abuse" yourself, look at "dirty" pictures or movies, or even think about s*e*x. Then you should get married and have fulfilling marital relations.

3. There are way too many ways to swap germs and remain a "virgin."

4. When kids who pledge not to "do it" get into a situation where the rubber meets the road they won't have one.

5. Given the current level of sex education, I keep getting the picture of a little girl looking up at her dad and saying, "But I can't be. Johnny and I were having way too much fun doing other things to ever actually go to sleep together.

[Mark S.]

"...you shouldn?t ?do it? with anyone else, ?abuse? yourself, look at ?dirty? pictures or movies, or even think about s*e*x. Then you should get married and have fulfilling marital relations."

And even then, you should only have s*e*x for reproductive purposes only! Sex for pleasure is a SIN, even with your wife/husband! AMEN!!! HALLELUJAH!

[Greg]

It definitely has something to do with little pricks...

[Pavel]

Studies show that Dihydrogen Monoxide is involved with almost 100% of STD transmissions.

[Citizen]

"Teens who make a one-time pledge to remain virgins until marriage..." Well, clearly a one time pledge isn't very effective if the "one time" is when eveyone still has their clothes on.

[Norman]

Sounds like the teens making the pledges have taken their cue from politicians....you don't really have to mean it later when you change your mind.

[Critic]

I don't trust anyone under twenty.

[Mo]

The interesting thing is that the kids taking aabstinence pledges wait longer to have sex, but use condoms less often. If abstinence education said, if you do give in to your throbbing, biological desires, wear a fucking rubber, then some good would be done.

[Shultz]

I suppose it is possible to catch something from an outsider. But you can't possibly catch an STD from another teen who has also pledged to remain a virgin, can you?

P.S. Why does it hurt when I pee?

[Nise Tri]

You heard from Reason.com: you're damned if you do as well as if you don't.

So I guess that makes sex and the free market a foregone conclusion?

[a precocious 27 year-old]

or better still 25 with your Ph.D

Ph.D at 25? Whoa, slow down Doogie Howser. Try 28 or so.

[chairm]

Heh. But ...

Condoms are not generally effective in preventing the spread of some sexually transmitted diseases. For example, last week the CDC reported to Congress that --

"HPV (human papilloma virus) infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection for both men and women in the United States ... about 80% of sexually active men and women will have acquired HPV by age 50. ... For those who choose to be sexually active, a monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner is the strategy most likely to prevent genital HPV infections."

Also, it may be that in this case the virginity pledge encouraged abstinence from coitus and not other, err, forms of sexual conduct that might result in the spread of STDs. Heck, with some STDs even heavy duty petting and ambitious necking (in every teenager's playbook) can do the, err, trick. Even if a virgin married a non-virgin, it would take just one time...

>>Ironies: 1. According to those who speak for God the moral way to act is the exact opposite of how He designed us to act.

If you mean to say that believers in God contradict God's design by speaking in favor of morality, you surely have missunderstood both religion, morality, and God's design.

Anyway...

A teenager who pledges abstinence seems to have a better chance (x11) of delaying sex (for 2 years longer on average) than a non-pledge. And to have fewer sex partners. And, according to this study, where there are more immediate peers who also make the public pledge, the one-time pledge is more effective. So more societal supports (even just a publicly-signed card) shows promise. It buys time to educate further, right?

I mean, at least for short-term results; and for a youngster, short-term is all there really is. And it runs out too quickly.

[Dee]

"Ladies keep your legs closed, and guys keep it tucked away and if you dont want to catch an STD either choose abstice or go to a doctor and have them check out you and your partner...its only common sence

[Dee]

"Ladies keep your legs closed, and guys keep it tucked away and if you dont want to catch an STD either choose abstice or go to a doctor and have them check out you and your partner...its only common sence