Today's Diane Rehm show addressed the recent change of status of Plan B birth control from a prescription medication to over-the-counter availability. Bob Knight who, oddly enough, is the director of Culture and Family Institute for Concerned Women of America, argued that this was a detrimental development because it will encourage promiscuity - the same argument that comes up for free condoms, sex ed, the vaccine for HPV and more. Of course the research he's seen supports his view while alternate research supports the opposite - such is research: fallible because the humans conducting the research are also fallible.
What really bothers me about this argument is the underlying theme - the same underlying theme that comes up every time music or video games are blamed for kids' behavior - which is that these people seem to be expecting legislation to take the place of parenting.
My usual disclaimer: I don't have children. That said, isn't knowledge power? What would happen if we taught kids to respect their bodies, the pros and cons of sex including the potential for venereal diseases and the chance for pregnancy, and gave them real data - not trumped up scare tactics but the honest truth? Teens are young and inexperienced - not stupid.
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I see your point, but I see another theme that is more troubling, that those who are promiscuous should be punished with disease and pregnancy. In other words, some people seem to object to contraceptives and sex education because they want there to be harmful consequences for behavior of which they don't approve.
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