Sunday, November 7, 2010

Hooking Up Is Bad for Your GPA

Does abstinence education produce greater abstinence? Is it an exercise in futility to encourage children to abstain from sex?

Framing the questions in these terms tends to ignore the more salient question: is it better or worse for a child, that is, a high school student, to abstain from sex.

And, how can you measure the advantages or disadvantages of an early introduction to sex?

Today, the New York Times reports on a study that proved, unambiguously, that children are better off if they abstain: “A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a decided link between celibacy and good grades. Among high school students who earn mostly A’s, 32 percent have had intercourse, compared with 69 percent of their peers with D’s and F’s.” Link here.

The study also shows that children who get higher grades are significantly less likely to lubricate their hookups with alcohol or drugs.

Of course, it may be that smart children are smart enough to work harder on their studies, to gain more satisfaction from their schoolwork, and therefore have less time or need for hookups.

The Times also emphasizes another study that does not just limit itself to a comparison between abstinence and hooking up, but that extends the question to include children who are sexually active within relationships.

And here, the answer is unsurprising: “Another cautionary tale — a new study called ‘Sex and School: Adolescent Sexual Intercourse and Education,’ from sociologists at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Minnesota — concludes that while teenagers who hook up have lower grades and college aspirations, sex within a romantic relationship is generally ‘academically harmless.’ Romance, it seems, prevails: committed lovers and abstainers were statistically alike.”

The next time a sex positive feminist tells you that hooking up is   therapeutic, as we debated a while back on this blog, send her to these studies. Of course, that assumes that she will be swayed by the facts.

8 comments:

Chuck Pelto said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chuck Pelto said...

TO: Dr. Schneiderman, et al.
RE: What Was It....

Of course, it may be that smart children are smart enough to work harder on their studies, to gain more satisfaction from their schoolwork, and therefore have less time or need for hookups. -- Stuart Schneiderman

...that book was about??!??!

Oh. Yeah....

Written around 1951, this is a story about the future (from their standpoint) and how those of lesser intelligence bred like rabbits, while the smarter people refrained, and how this led to the population having an average IQ of 40.

Another piece of the 'puzzle' of the NEA, falls into place. And the picture isn't very nice.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[The future isn't what it used to be. -- Yogi Berra]

Chuck Pelto said...

P.S. Has anyone done a study on the correlation of low grades in high school vs. teenage pregnancy?

Three guesses....

....first two don't count.

And yet the NEA, for some 'odd reason' insists on teaching these kids how to have sex. Earlier and earlier, by my take.

Another 'key indicator' as we would say in the military.

David Foster said...

Very hard to prove anything "unambiguously" by means of statistical correlation, because of the difficulty in untangling networks of cause-and-effect. You can try to hold various common factors constant, but you can never be sure you've got 'em all.

Cane Caldo said...

"Very hard to prove anything "unambiguously" by means of statistical correlation, because of the difficulty in untangling networks of cause-and-effect. You can try to hold various common factors constant, but you can never be sure you've got 'em all."

Fine. But in the meantime, wouldn't avoiding correlated activities of a bad consequence be smart? Besides, "hooking up" has its own (temporary) rewards. It doesn't need to be defended.

Chuck Pelto said...

TO: David
RE: What Was It....

You can try to hold various common factors constant, but you can never be sure you've got 'em all. -- David

...we touched on in this blog about 'common sense'?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. Your argument is what the NEA hides behind.

Meanwhile, the vaunted American public education system keeps destroying the future of our children AND the nation.

Chuck Pelto said...

TO: All
RE: How 'Timely'....

Can You Get?

But it's not just people of 'color'. I suspect it has more to do with the vaunted American public education system. And perhaps this is all part of the 'Plan'.

Pardon my 'paranoia', but there are just too many 'indicators' showing up to ignore.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[If you aren't getting paranoid, you're not paying attention.]

Chuck Pelto said...

P.S. Either that or you're in 'denial'.....