Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as 12

[Penta]

Re: Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as

Marc: ....There are some questions you'll never get a straight answer on, and the success rate of abstinence-only sex ed is one of them.

You'll never get a straight answer from either side. Nobody has really tried to do studies - and to be honest, I do not blame them, because controlling for every possible variable would be absolutely insane. Worthwhile, maybe, but insanely hard. And expensive.

The federal funding has been in the millions per year, though.

My whole view on this:

Condoms for 12-year-olds? Uhhh. I think of my cousins when they were 12 (I'm disabled, so me when I was 12 is not a useful measuring stick), and....I don't know whether to laugh or cry. 12 is too young for kids to be playing with fire like having sex inevitably is, IMHO. 14 isn't much better, but at least you're getting there. 16, to my mind, is the real minimum age where people of average cognitive development can really be said to consent knowledgably to sex.

And besides all that, did anyone spot the lengths they were quoting? 6 inches is the length of a fully-grown average guy. Where did they get their data from?

Actually, let me emphasize that. In order for them to make an "extra-small condom" to specs, they would have had to have gotten measurements.

In what non-squick way did they get measurements from 12-year-old boys?

 

[Marc]

Re: Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as

Marc: ....There are some questions you'll never get a straight answer on, and the success rate of abstinence-only sex ed is one of them.

You'll never get a straight answer from either side. Nobody has really tried to do studies - and to be honest, I do not blame them, because controlling for every possible variable would be absolutely insane. Worthwhile, maybe, but insanely hard. And expensive.

The federal funding has been in the millions per year, though.

I think you'll find it's higher - it was reported at one point that the U.S was giving billions in aid to African nations and a very large percentage of that was required to go on abistence programs.

My belief is that much like the war on the drugs, abstince programs take a huge amount of money and piss it against the wall for no apparent gain.

You're asking people to resist one of the most primeval urges in humanity.

Some kids are going to screw around anyway so I think putting money in safe sex programs is a much better education. Despite what some people are going, not everyone is going to screw around during puberty.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Re: Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as

Nobody said abstinence would be easy, but you simply cannot dismiss it or downplay the importance of abstinence programs for teenagers. You'd be surprised at the number of people (teens and adults) who are virgin by choice, not by chance. Not everyone who's a virgin is unattractive, socially inept, or a loser. And I agree with Pentha about the more appropriate age for teens to start having sex, i.e., 16 instead of 15.

This discussion is becoming more and more like, "This approach is right; yours is wrong." Truth is, there's no easy way to quantify whether one approach is better than the other. As a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, or guardian, all you could do is pray your kids will listen to you and that they're smart enough to exercise good judgment.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as

I don't think we need 'abstinence programs' as many abstinence programs concentrate on abstinence only without giving children all the facts that they need on sex which includes how contraceptive works, which are the best to use, how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, the disadvantages of having sex too early, how to avoid being pressured into sex (how to say no) etc.

What kids needs are complete sex education programs.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Re: Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as

Sex ed for sure.

 

[Marc]

Re: Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as

Nobody said abstinence would be easy, but you simply cannot dismiss it or downplay the importance of abstinence programs for teenagers. You'd be surprised at the number of people (teens and adults) who are virgin by choice, not by chance. Not everyone who's a virgin is unattractive, socially inept, or a loser. And I agree with Pentha about the more appropriate age for teens to start having sex, i.e., 16 instead of 15.

I never said that - and I'll also wager that the speeding 10s of millions on abistence programs had sweet fanny adams to do with their decision (not to mention those programs are frequently run from a religious view point).