Comment 9 by Peter Grant

Whether or not one abstains from sex should be a personal choice. Educators are there to teach the facts, not to promote their own personal values or any sort of "message". I agree but I don't think teaching the fact that abstinence is the best way to not get pregnant is a personal value or specific message. It is just a fact.

Of course, and unmentioned in my previous post, I am all for a full and complete education about the facts of sexual reproduction, the human body and all that goes with it. I want sexually active children to be in the best position (no pun) to engage in safe sexual activity. I also want children to know and feel comfortable with the fact that abstinence is a fully acceptable and respectable solution to much of what makes sex unsafe… and not the only one.

But to say screw abstinence is like saying screw steel toe boots on the assembly line because there are other measures to prevent injury. Abstinence and abstinence education are not the problems, abstinence only education is the problem because we know kids are going to have sex whether we like it or not. Trust me, I know a lot of girls who practiced abstinence in high school and not because they were religious but because they were smart.