2008 Woodie Awards
It's OK, I'm on the Pill
Fair and Unbalanced
Matthew Adair
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Opinions
People around the United States, and particularly Tennessee, are weighing two different, but still related, changes on the horizon of sexuality. Both will most likely affect how we think of sex and birth for generations to come.
The first was the announcement Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control that the birth rate has climbed to its highest level since 1971. Most notably, was the fact that the teen birth rate, the number of births per 1000 from girls ages 15 to 19, rose for the first time since 1991.
This should come as a wake-up call to supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs. The current administration has made it its mission to rapidly expand support for such programs, much to the dismay of the states, which have consistently demonstrated that abstinence-only programs do not have a track record of consistent long-term results.
That's not mentioning the half-truths, misrepresentations and blatant lies these programs often spread in the name of health. They apparently can't even describe the process of pregnancy correctly: one pamphlet said that each parent supplies 24 chromosomes during conception.
I would urge anyone who agrees with that statement to open an anatomy textbook sometime.
Meanwhile, at the University of Tennessee, researchers are making what is not so much a scientific breakthrough as a social one. Duane Miller, a UT professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, led the creation of a drug known a C-31. The drug has been shown to be completely effective in stopping sperm production in rats, without destroying that ability once they've been taken off C-31.
Miller, as well as GTx, the Memphis-based company that's been supporting the research efforts, are excited, and with good reason. A male-oriented contraceptive pill would give men an option for preventing unwanted pregnancies without losing sensation from a condom or having to undergo surgery. In other words, there would be no excuse for a man not to do something constructive about preventing a birth for which he and his partner may not be ready.
The development of C-31 couldn't have come at a better time. It is abundantly clear that the current attitude towards sex education in this country is flawed, and is doing more harm to than good. Not only has it been shown to fail at preventing pregnancies among teens, but it also promotes the spread of ideologically-motivated nonsense as fact, giving young men and women a horribly flawed understanding of their own bodies. Surely, they deserve better than this.
Instead of promoting unproductive and unsafe abstinence-only programs, our government should invest more of its money in research like that being done with C-31 and in initiatives that teach teens the truth about sex and how best to protect themselves from disease and from throwing away both their own lives and those of any children they may bring into the world.
This is not to say that abstinence is a bad idea, but to solely teach it as the proper behavior for young people without giving them any other information, is both morally contemptible and foolish. A society that practices such a policy, and is later shocked by a sudden rise in pregnancy rates, ought to be ashamed of itself for forgetting the simple fact that when you deny a teenager knowledge or access to something they're interested in, they will look for it anyway behind your back, regardless of the risk.
Will C-31 change the world? That remains to be seen. However, any step that encourages people to take control of their own sexuality and promotes safe, responsible sex is a good one. A simple-to-use method for men to prevent pregnancy will be as radical as the original Pill was almost half a century ago. However it may happen, whether by C-31 or another drug, old attitudes about sex, and hopefully abstinence-only initiatives, will get swept out the door.
Matthew Adair is a senior art education major and can be reached at matt.adair@gmail.com.
The first was the announcement Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control that the birth rate has climbed to its highest level since 1971. Most notably, was the fact that the teen birth rate, the number of births per 1000 from girls ages 15 to 19, rose for the first time since 1991.
This should come as a wake-up call to supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs. The current administration has made it its mission to rapidly expand support for such programs, much to the dismay of the states, which have consistently demonstrated that abstinence-only programs do not have a track record of consistent long-term results.
That's not mentioning the half-truths, misrepresentations and blatant lies these programs often spread in the name of health. They apparently can't even describe the process of pregnancy correctly: one pamphlet said that each parent supplies 24 chromosomes during conception.
I would urge anyone who agrees with that statement to open an anatomy textbook sometime.
Meanwhile, at the University of Tennessee, researchers are making what is not so much a scientific breakthrough as a social one. Duane Miller, a UT professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, led the creation of a drug known a C-31. The drug has been shown to be completely effective in stopping sperm production in rats, without destroying that ability once they've been taken off C-31.
Miller, as well as GTx, the Memphis-based company that's been supporting the research efforts, are excited, and with good reason. A male-oriented contraceptive pill would give men an option for preventing unwanted pregnancies without losing sensation from a condom or having to undergo surgery. In other words, there would be no excuse for a man not to do something constructive about preventing a birth for which he and his partner may not be ready.
The development of C-31 couldn't have come at a better time. It is abundantly clear that the current attitude towards sex education in this country is flawed, and is doing more harm to than good. Not only has it been shown to fail at preventing pregnancies among teens, but it also promotes the spread of ideologically-motivated nonsense as fact, giving young men and women a horribly flawed understanding of their own bodies. Surely, they deserve better than this.
Instead of promoting unproductive and unsafe abstinence-only programs, our government should invest more of its money in research like that being done with C-31 and in initiatives that teach teens the truth about sex and how best to protect themselves from disease and from throwing away both their own lives and those of any children they may bring into the world.
This is not to say that abstinence is a bad idea, but to solely teach it as the proper behavior for young people without giving them any other information, is both morally contemptible and foolish. A society that practices such a policy, and is later shocked by a sudden rise in pregnancy rates, ought to be ashamed of itself for forgetting the simple fact that when you deny a teenager knowledge or access to something they're interested in, they will look for it anyway behind your back, regardless of the risk.
Will C-31 change the world? That remains to be seen. However, any step that encourages people to take control of their own sexuality and promotes safe, responsible sex is a good one. A simple-to-use method for men to prevent pregnancy will be as radical as the original Pill was almost half a century ago. However it may happen, whether by C-31 or another drug, old attitudes about sex, and hopefully abstinence-only initiatives, will get swept out the door.
Matthew Adair is a senior art education major and can be reached at matt.adair@gmail.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brian Elliott
posted 12/06/07 @ 2:44 AM CST
An excellent and well thought out response to the governments irresposible treatment of sex education in this country. The NeoCons won't look at it as the data supplies, but will make up reasons that the democrats caused it to happen before they stepped up. (Continued…)
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