Teaching abstinence is the only solution

In response to the recent article, "Students' risky sex trend is given urgency at forum," some input for the school district. First, when looking to reduce promiscuous behavior, do not consult Planned Parenthood. Second, start addressing premarital sexuality as being as unacceptable as smoking.
Planned Parenthood's advice is quoted in the article. Its most lucrative services include abortion and birth control. Its profit in 2009-10 was reported at $18.5 million. It would be the agency's financial death to influence a large-scale reduction in risky sexual behavior.
In 2010, the poverty rate was its highest since 1993 - up 27.4 percent for blacks, and 26.6 percent for Hispanics. The Brookings Institution recently outlined three predictors of poverty avoidance: graduating from high school; marrying after 21 and having children after marrying; and having a full-time job. Extramarital teen sexuality means a high risk of violating these predictors. Anything less than an attitude of forbidding the behavior equates to promoting teen future failure and a 76 percent chance of poverty.
Encouraging contraception and protection is tantamount to buying filters for your smoking teen. What teen wouldn't run with that implicit permission? Contraception and condoms increase risky behavior by creating a false safety net that does consistently fail. That's good for Planned Parenthood, but horrible for society. The only sure answer is abstinence, which is best taught and enforced by a teen's parents.
Liz Zilbauer
Grand Island