More tales from the right-wing weenie wars!
From the front lines of my home state:
The day’s guest instructor had spiked blond hair, tight black jeans and a propensity for street slang. “You have been lied to, lied to by the media, lied to by celebrities,” Ed Ainsworth told the 120 squirming eighth-graders at Smylie Wilson Junior High School. “Will this condom protect your heart?” he asked, flashing a glossy Trojan ad on a giant screen. “Will this condom protect your reputation? Go ahead and use a condom. You’ll still be known as a slut.”
THIS IS SEX EDUCATION, Texas-style, where the only safe sex taught since 1995 is no sex outside marriage. That is when George W. Bush, who was then governor, signed a law making Texas the third state requiring schools to follow an abstinence-only sex education curriculum.
According to the article, the condom-hating instructor is giving his lesson in Lubbock, which leads TX in the rate of teen pregnancies (scroll down a bit to see the article). Nationally, numbers for teen pregnancies were last available in 1996 (one year after then Governor Bush enacted the abstinence only sex education policy in Texas). At that time Texas ranked 5th in the nation in teen pregnancies (chart at bottom). The MSNBC article claims that:
since the abstinence-only curriculum began in 1995, teen pregnancy rates have fallen in Texas generally — and Lubbock County specifically — but not as dramatically as for the nation as a whole.
In 1996, the last year for which national figures are available, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate was 38 out of every 1,000 girls; Texas’s rate was 40 per 1,000 and Lubbock County’s was 43. In subsequent years, as the national and state rates inched steadily downward, Lubbock’s figures fluctuated.
By 2000, the statewide teen pregnancy rate had dropped to 33 per 1,000; Lubbock County reported a rate of 42.4, said Jane Tustin, health services coordinator for the Lubbock Independent School District.
While abstinence-only had arguably done little to lower teen pregnancy rates, it has been successful in one arena. Since the 1995 enactment of Bush’s abstinence-only policy, STD transmission has soared in Lubbock county:
Over the last decade, as rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia have fallen nationally, Lubbock County has confronted an epidemic. In 2000, fewer than 150 cases of gonorrhea were reported nationally for every 100,000 people. Lubbock County reported double that, with the highest number of cases in people between the ages of 15 and 20.
The kids in Lubbock explain how the program has failed them to stop having sex and has warped their idea of what sex is:
We’ve got a lot of kids for whom the norm is to be a high school dropout and pregnant well before she is 18,” said Eric Benson, who coordinates HIV programs in the Lubbock area for the Texas Department of Health. “We have instances where a girl has her first child at 15, becomes a grandmother by the time she is 30 and a great-grandmother at age 45.”
Benson’s observations are based partly on experience: Fifteen years ago, at age 19, he fathered a child. “I got my sex ed from three sources-my peers, the media and my own research,” he said.
Many teenagers said that with the limits on teaching, and with parents who are uncomfortable discussing sex in detail, they learn much of what they know from experience. Some young women here, under the mistaken belief that they can get pregnant through oral sex, refer to their children as “spit babies.”
“I learned the hard way,” said Jennifer Villarreal, 19, who gave birth two years ago. “You can continue to talk about abstinence, but kids are curious and they will experiment.”
Even teenagers who have taken a virginity pledge see a community in which sexual activity — often risky, promiscuous behavior — is a routine part of growing up.
“Why so much sex in Lubbock?” said Shelby Knox, 16, who initiated the student effort to change the Lubbock curriculum. “There’s nothing to do. You can only go to the movies so many times on Friday night.”
So why am I harping so much on Lubbock County, TX? Well, because if President Bush has his way, the situation in Lubbock could be the norm throughout the US. Our president wants to make abstinence-only sex education the policy nationwide.
Now, I agree that teaching abstinence to teens is a good thing, and that complete abstinence (”complete” meaning sexual contact in all its forms) is the only 100 percent effective way of stopping pregnancy and transmission. What I don’t agree with are these right-wing religious fanatics imposing their moraily, fighting condom use, and limiting health information to public school students simply because they find sex so dirty and sinful. The truth of the matter is that all the bible-thumping and scare tactics in the world are not going to stop kids from having sex. As squeamish as these people are about tallywhackers and hoo-hoos they someday have to realize the simple fact that sex is natural and the desire to engage in it is biologically driven. If they don’t, and they get their way to abolish real sex education in schools (because parents certainly aren’t educating their children), we may end up with a teenage STD epidemic and a nationwide increase in teenage cases of HIV and AIDS.
Sometimes I get the feeling that the certain members of the Christian right are more concerned with policing the morals of “God’s children” than with protecting their lives.
i 100% agree with this page im from lubbock and today he gave us that same talk. I tottally disagree with him in that abstinance is the only way to go not based upon my own beliefs (I believe in abstanince) but upon the beliefs of teens and classmates alike. Teens are going to do it no matter what. So they might as well be educated and make their own decision.
Comment by Alias | 2/5/2003
Hi. He came to our school today.Kingwood ninth grade campus(2/19/03). Some people didnt understand what he was trying to get across. Others did…But you dont care right? What you told us today really hit us hard. We understand that there are alot of “horny boys” not “men” in Kingwood, But no one ever thought about it like that, that they are using us for their pleasures and not knowing how many other girls they have been with is a very scary thought! You mentioned that you were not there to scare us just to tell us the facts…well the facts are very scary to us…im not speaking about the whole student body im speaking about us two…no one else!!We are not afraid of boys! We just want them to love us for who we are and not what we can “do” for them! We had already had the idea that we wernt going to have sex until we were married but what you told us today really made it official! Im glad you came to our school because we knew about alot of this but we dont ask our parents about the rest of it because it makes us and our parents uncomfortable. And im not totally sure they would answer it truthfully! im not saying they are going to lie to us im just saying that they would beat around the bush a little bit! Some girls we could hear them saying that you didnt make much sense and who would do that…and i turned around and told them that they were smart and lucky and that if they knew that then you wernt there to talk to them..you were there to talk to all the other people that have been pressured into having sex. What i have been saying is that we are glad that you came to our school and addressed all the problems that are out there… Thank You!!
~Kayla & Erin~
Comment by Kayla & Erin | 2/19/2003
OOPS!! sry posted it a couple times to many!!
Comment by Kayla and Erin | 2/19/2003
Um, sorry kids, but I didn’t go to anyone’s school today.
Comment by Rob Humenik | 2/19/2003
Ed Ainsworth came to our school for the last 3 days tuesday—thursday.
I find his way of getting his “opinion” very vulger and extremily rude for anyone that had to hear it. Most of the kids in our school had never heard those repulsive terms that you used. It was quite offensive. “There is an exception to every rule”->Ed Ainsworth. Maybe there is an exception to abstinence. I believe in not going out and having sex with multiple women, but if a couple has been dating for long enough 1 year++ and the decision of sex comes along, maybe you should give information for a couple in that situation. Maybe you should say “if you are going to have sex, please get tested by a professional doctor.” Some of your opinions were dead on right, and many were based on YOUR opinion which is in no way OUR opinion.
You taught me some invaluable information but i think i could of recieved more if you wern’t so d^mn rude about it.
Comment by Conan Wall | 4/18/2003
How can you argue that pre-marital sex does not have consequences? To just chalk it up to “kids will be kids” is degenerative. How can a person who fathered a child at age 19 not see that? Would he not see it as a better life for his own daughter to not “experiment.” I agree that kids will always rebel against whatever rules are set for them. So, why shouldn’t the bar of expectation be set as high as possible? The far left has gone past the point of rational, logical thought. Ed Ainsworth is just one of the only people with enough power to get his message accross and the guts to take a stand for what is right.
Comment by Chris | 7/10/2003
I would like to discuss on the matter of Teen Pregnancy and STD’s. Do you people realize how freakin’ hard it is to get laid in Lubbock. The actual percentage of sexual intercourse amongst teens is at such a low level. I mean seriously the most common couple to have intercourse would be those who have pursued their relationships for at least 1++ years. Any of those others that have sex are doing it for the sheer enjoyment or just for the lack of judgement on their parts (alcohol is the main factor of this), but even with intoxication it’s still hard for just the “Average Joe” to get a piece of ass every once in a while. With that being said, Ed Ainsworth, continue to demonstrate your “scare tactics”, but might I suggest maybe dressing up as the Trojan Man for once and dancing around for the class; I’m sure we would all get a kick out of it.
Comment by Horn Dog | 10/13/2003
I’m 18 and from England. I recently watched a tv documentary on abstinance in Lubbock, it was calleds ‘Texas Teenage Virgins.’ I couldn’t believe how little sex ed is taught in schools, i was appalled. naivity causes pregnancy. i was stunned to learn that it is being taught that condoms aren’t a safe form of contraception, they are 99.9% safe and thet DO protect from AID’s and HIV and all other forms of sexually transmitted deseases. i also couldn’t beolieve that people thought pregnancy could occur from oral sex. Proper sex education needs to be taught! In England you are generally taught sex education from the age of nine. Having sex before marriage is not a terrible thing, it’s natural, it’s as nature intended! Please feel free to contact me if you have an opinion on what i’ve said and i hope i haven’t offended anyone.
Amy
Comment by Amy B | 1/12/2004
I believe Ed Ainsworth is probably seriously mentally ill.
Why is he telling kids in TX that condoms have holes in them? Fill them with water, see if anything leaks… he is a liar and a fraud, and the Bible is worth nothing if it is being taught by people like Ed Ainsworth.
“Oh how could you say such things about Ed?!? He’s a holy man!”
Hey - look at the facts, holy men have been abusing kids since time began - you want to die of ignorance?
Then listen to Ed Ainsworth.
You want to live a full and happy life?
Then ask questions - don’t just blindly follow anyone into something you can’t keep forever… life is too short.
Be safe but be aware of the truth, Lubbock.
Ed Ainsworth may as well be a rapist for all the “good” he is doing the young people in TX.
Comment by pandakiller | 1/12/2004
Need to do some background research on Ed. He has alot of ” sex” education experience guys He was at another church before the last one. Why is it no longer? Check with ex members.
Comment by Deb | 1/13/2004
Need to do some background research on Ed. He has alot of ” sex” education experience guys He was at another church before the last one. Why is it no longer? Check with ex members.
Comment by Deb | 1/13/2004
that ed guy came to our school the other day. I think he is full of crap!That man told us that he met a girl that got pregnate from intamate touching.i think that is the saddest thing that I have ever heard. That man stated that he was just telling the facts and not trying to scare us, well that is a bunch of bull!! Also that man needs to get a reality check. Kids will experiment no matter what, he needs to think before he tells a room full of kids that condims don’t work and that abstenance is the only way. I just don’t get him.But anyways i hope he can never talk to a group of kids ever again.
Comment by caitlin | 2/7/2004
Number One, if we’re going to post our opinion, let’s not fill it with lies. He would not have said she got ‘pregnant from intimate touching.’
Number Two, he’s not telling us anything we don’t need to know. I realize that people are going to experiment and probably not going to listen, but this man feels like he needs to get the message across that we are not safe, even when practicing “safe” sex.
Ed came to our school today, talked to the freshmen first. We’ve heard him in 6th and 8th grades, and we heard him again today. The difference is, we listen. We’re in high school now, and we’ve been hit with pressures we’ve never had to face before. Knowing the difference between what we could be doing and what we should be doing is what keeps people from being pregnant, what keeps them from dying from AIDS.
I’m not saying that he’s 100% correct, because as with anybody, opinions are not facts. However, he gave us the facts. He showed us the facts, the ads, the tactics the media uses.
“In June 2000, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), convened a workshop to evaluate the published evidence establishing the effectiveness of latex male condoms in preventing STDs, including HIV.” (http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/latex.htm)
It’s not only Ed Ainsworth who is doing studies and feeding the public information.The CDC is, the FDA is. The entire world is realizing the reality of STDs, and the practice of “safe” sex. Keep that in mind when you’re bashing on people who are trying to help us.
-Chelsie, Christina, Matt & Chui
Comment by Frenship High School | 4/1/2004
Ed Ainsworth is blinded by common misconceptions, he misrepresents facts to pump mindless propaganda into the impressionable flesh of teens and the general public; just like Hitler, he uses scare tactics and propaganda. Hail Ainsworth! Sterotypical BASTARD!
Comment by Nikki, Ben and Chris | 4/19/2004
Ed Ainsworth is blinded by common misconceptions, he misrepresents facts to pump mindless propaganda into the impressionable flesh of teens and the general public; just like Hitler, he uses scare tactics and propaganda. Hail Ainsworth! Sterotypical BASTARD!
Comment by Nikki, Ben and Chris | 4/19/2004
Why was Ed Ainsworth let go at Church on the Rock?
Does anyone know?
Comment by D.B. | 5/1/2004
Reading some of these posts shows the further decline of the morals, if there are any left, in our nation and apparently around the world. Ed Ainsworth feels compelled to go around the nation and tell students about the dangers of premarital sex, and it makes you people mad??? What scare tactics is this guy using? He tells facts. He shares statistics about STD’s, pregnancy, condoms, and many other things and you don’t like to hear it so it makes you feel better to bash him…how pathetic. We all know that there are some stubborn kids that are gonna get it on no matter what, but he’s not trying to convince you. He’s trying to reach the students who are contemplating premarital sex or doing drugs. And you know what, this might upset you hearing this, but he’s reaching countless numbers and changing students lives. Abstinence is the only sure fire way to not contract an STD or not get pregnant, duh. That isn’t the only thing he’s worried about. He focusses on other consequences of premarital sex, such as emotional pain, spiritual, mental, and financial burdens along with physical consequences. I heard Mr. Ainsworth speak today at Coronado High School and I heard him three times at Irons Jr. High, both in Lubbock, Texas. All four times I was encouraged by the message he brought. Keep up the good work.
Comment by John | 5/7/2004
Yes, i know why Sex Ed is not at Church On The Rock any more. He is traveling full time speaking in schools. Not just in America either. He has been to Mongolia this year and to Africa. He is helping teens all over the world make good decisions for themselves in the physcial, mental, emotional, spirtiual, and financial realms of their lives. His travel schedule was becoming larger and larger so the church decided to release him to travel more so they could have a youth pastor who focused on just the church stuff. I have heard that he is doing very well and getting into more and more schools and helping students. Although we do know that not all will listen, but I believe that if he helps just one he has done a good job. Saved one girl from getting pregnant or one person from getting and STD then he has helped America.
Comment by Walter | 6/7/2004
I remember when Ed Ainsworth came to my school. I was in ninth grade at O. L. Slaton, and that was about ah…three years ago.
Virtually everyone I talked to about him thought he was a real idiot, and had no idea what he was talking about. Then he went and pretty much insulted half the student body by saying something along the lines of having a kid out of wedlock is a mistake. Since my parents were never married, I sort of had to set my dad on him, and was hoping against hope that there would be some interaction between Ainsworth’s knees and a crowbar.
Whatever my dad did, it worked, and he publicly apologized for what he said.
That, however, isn’t the point.
The point is that Ainsworth flat out lied to us about half of what he said. There was no girl who got pregnant because of getting fingered. There was no girl who got pregnant over and over again who seemed to have no problem with what was going on. He made it up, because he has no case.
The LISD are morons. It’s no wonder they liked him.
Comment by Rachel | 7/19/2004
Ed Ainsworth was at our school (Kermit High School) today and will be speaking there through Wednesday. Personally, I feel that everything he is saying is true. He has done research after research in order to be able to tell us the facts. He has statistics right in his own hands showing that “safe” sex is actually unsafe. Yes, he does state his own opinion from time to time, just like any natural human being, but he also reveals his reasons for giving these opinions. He uses no scare tactics whatsoever; he is just down right honest. He may sound crude at times, but he is getting down on our level of thinking and hitting everyone right at home. I heard him speak last year as a sophomore at our school, and, personally, I don’t disagree with hardly anything he says. I agree with about 98% of the things he says, and I have my own opinions about the other 2% that I don’t agree with. But for those who think that he’s just talking up a bunch of crap…it sounds like he’s hitting home with you more than you want him to and you can’t handle that. Well, step up and take it. Because I did. And I know it’s not the best feeling in the world, and I’m a junior in high school. He’s not trying to make our decisions for us; he’s just giving us outright facts so that hopefully, in the future, we will make the best decisions for ourselves. But he knows that teenagers will give in to temptations at times, so he’s not telling us that we have to do what he says. He just hopes that we will listen to him and the statistics and take precautions in our futures. At least he’s man enough to step up and talk about STD’s and teen pregnancies; we sure could use a lot more people like him. No one hiding things, someone just being down right honest about the one subject that many of us find awkward to talk to our parents about. He is someone you can go to if you have any questions, and he isn’t embarrassed to answer. I completely appreciate his efforts. –Erinn
Comment by Erinn | 10/18/2004
I came across this page because I am doing a huge program proposal project for one of my social work classes at Texas Tech. I STRONGLY believe that LISD is not helping the teen pregnancy rate and std rate by teaching abstinence only. Just look at the rates compared to other schooling that teaches Sex Education. Look at other countries. England has a very low rate because their society accepts that people of all ages will have sex if they are married or not, so they teach about safe sex. I grew up in Tarrant County and we learned about safe sex every year since 6th grade, and I can count the number of people I personally knew who got pregnant on both hands. (I lived in a very large area also) Might I mention they were all out of high school when they got pregnant also. Safe sex prepares students to make the right decisions about sex, it doesnt promote it. That is the misconception that Lubbock seems to think. The safest sex is for both partners wait until marriage, but obviously that does not always happen so it is the EDUCATIONAL system’s job to EDUCATE the students on how to properly protect themselves if they do decide to have sex. You have to also look at the families that are mainly getting pregnant in Lubbock. It is a trend on who gets pregnant, what their socioeconomic status is plays a large part. That is why the schooling needs to pick up where the parents left off. Not every parent is going to agree with everything the school does. But who am I to say that someone else’s child should not learn about safe sex? You can always keep your own child out of the classroom that day, but you should not make the decision for someone else. I will be doing a vast amount of research on this topic and actually making a proposal hoping to get somewhere with the school board. Just look at the numbers, they don’t lie. What they are teaching now isn’t working and hasn’t been for a while, so get your head out of your ass and work with the problem NOT against it.
Comment by Emily | 10/22/2004