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Abstinence Includes Sexual Activity Says Maryland Middle School

By Hilary White

POTOMAC, November 24, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Maryland Gazette reports today that the eighth-grade health class at Herbert Hoover Middle School identifies two types of sexual intercourse as “abstinence.”

It would seem that even after decades of sex ed, saturation of sexual imagery in the media and the virtual abolition of sexual mores since the 1960’s that educators still cannot effectively identify the sexual act.

Webster’s College dictionary defines the verb “to abstain” as “to refrain voluntarily, especially from something regarded as improper or unhealthy.” A chart showing different forms of contraception in the Herbert Hoover health class, however, includes three types of “abstinence” : “no intercourse,” “withdrawal” (ejaculation outside of the body) and “rhythm” (no intercourse during ovulation).

Parents have complained to the school saying that their children were being put at risk by the misinformation. Cindy Richards said, “Since when did the term abstinence change to include the two most ineffective forms of birth control possible?”

“Here we have been teaching our kids that abstinence means not having sex, period. What kind of message is this sending?” Richards added.

Another mother, after complaining to her child’s sex education teacher, was told that the definition applied because the couple is “refraining from what they want to do.”

To those who have been studying the advance of the sexual revolution, this confusion of terms and meaning does not come as a surprise. The redefinition of pregnancy by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology to mean the moment of implantation instead of fertilization in order to legitimize the Pill, is a case in point. The manipulation of language and deliberate obfuscation of definitions has been a key tool in the hands of the social revolutionaries.

The eradication of normal sexual rules since the 1960’s has led to many young people living in situations or profound confusion and internal contradiction. Researchers have found real links between the collapse of traditional sexual mores and the social, psychological and economic failure of many young people. Widespread divorce, sexual license and the breakdown of family bonds have created a chaotic social environment that has had long-term repercussions for all of society.

Mary Beth Bonacci, the well-known writer and lecturer on sexual morality said in an interview on Ignatius Insight, the website of Ignatius Publishing, that the mass confusion has led to great difficulties for young people today. When asked what is the biggest problem facing them, Bonacci said succinctly, “Popular culture.”

Bonacci said, “The messages bombarding teens every hour of every day from music, television, movies and the Internet all glamorize values that are absolutely antithetical to the Christian message.”

Bonacci warned parents to be vigilant in the schools saying, “Parents of kids in public schools need to keep close tabs on what their kids are learning, and be ready to pull them out if the school is doing things that are objectionable.”

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