My Soapbox, Please

Dear Planned Parenthood:
As a concerned parent I would like to make my voice heard regarding sexual health, teenagers, and sex education in the classroom. Although I do not have a child that is even 5 years old I must confess that your agenda to indoctinate in our children the lie that "teenagers are just unable to wait" to have sex concerns me greatly. It concerns me for a number of reasons.
1) It bothers me that people seem to jump on your ideas and believe them to be truth, even if it is an insult to them, their character, their integrity, and their ability to practice self control. I am unsure when we decided to set the bar extremely low for today's youth in regards to their sexuality. I do know though that it is a far cry from how we should be directing our kids. We should be empowering them to do and be the best they can be. We should be encouraging them to not put themselves at risk for all of the consequences early exposure to sexual intimacy can bring.
2) You say your hope would be that a teenager would wait to have sex, but since they "can't" wait it is best to teach them about condoms...and about foreplay.
Several years ago I worked for Healthy Choices, an abstinence based organization that went and spoke to teenagers about the benefits of saving sex for marriage. While I was there I did research on comprehensive sex education curricula. Some of the topics that were taught in the classroom were appauling! In an effort to keep kids from having sex some groups were giving teenagers other ideas to "have fun and explore." Ideas that were given to teenagers in a classroom were, and not limited to: heavy "petting", rolling around without clothing, taking a bath together, etc. It is no wonder a teenager can't wait to have sex. If we are telling them it is okay to put themselves in situations where they are vulnerable to the possibility of sex they WILL most likely have it. Why? Because the very things you are telling them to do is foreplay...which is designed to lead to sex!
I do not doubt that you believe you want what is best for young adults and their sexuality. I believe you are extremely deceived though in your efforts to curb the current trend of escalationg STI's and teen pregnancy.
Comprehensive sex education has been taught since the 1970's. Teen pregnancy and STI's contuied to climb during this time. During the 1990's abstinence-based education began to be taught in classrooms as well. Teen pregnancy at this time began to decrease. I am not saying that it decreased because of abstinence-only education. Nor am I saying that the only reason teen pregnancy began to rise is because of comprehensive sex education. What I am saying though is that no one way is going to generate all of the results we want. We are fooling ourselves if we think that we have the power to influence 100% of young adults 100% of the time to make responsible decisions regarding their lives. Therefore, as parents and educators that are on the frontlines of teen sexuality we need to stop attacking one another and work together to help our teenagers become the best they can be both now, and in the future.
Clearly, abstinence is the only way to guarantee that a young adult will not suffer one or many of the consequences that come form having sex before you are married. However, if you are inclined to persecute all that abstinence education has to offer then atleast acknowledge that there ARE benefits to waiting, waiting is ultimately what is best, and it is possible. And let's stop pointing fingers at who is to blame for the insane rise in STI's (18.9 million new infections per year), the rise in teen pregnancy and the rise in abortions. Because honestly, we live in a "me centered" and MTV world. Hook-ups are glorified, no one accepts responsibility for their actions, and instant gratification is common place. Many parents are embarrassed to talk to their kids about sex, so many things are sadly left unsaid. Therefore, just because someone says, "There may be reasons to wait that could benefit you both now and in the future," does not mean that abstinence eduation is what is causing all of these catastrpphic things to happen to teens...so stop blaming!
Concerned,
The Joyful and Tired Mom