"When it comes to affordable and low-income housing in Tehachapi..."

Did anyone else think it was funny over half the votes went to the "criminals and undesireables" option? I laughed, but then again, that's the option I picked...

To go further, isn't that what happened in Lancaster when they introduced low-income housing; L.A. decided to move it's section 8 out there to lower crime rate in the city, and it kind of made Lancaster's crime rate baloon?

I have LASD cop friends who talk about it all the time. I really, really, REALLY hope Tehachapi doesn't become the new Lancaster...

I had so much fun with my last post that I decided it was time for another edition of Controversial Topics with CountMeIn. Today, I will be discussing sexual education in schools.

Now, as a 20 year old, it's safe to say that no, I currently am not a parent. However, this topic interests me nonetheless, given my experiences with the high teen pregnancy rate and STDs/STIs that ran rampant through my high school. 

To go into detail, I grew up in a tiny little town in North Carolina, and I will go further as to say this town was well rooted in its religion. Church was the backbone of this community. This piece of information may or may not have anything to do with the rate teens were having sex in this town, but I will note that anyways.  Sexual education was an iffy subject. I remember in the 5th grade, parents had to sign consent forms for their child, and I was one of the kids whose mom opposed sex ed. No matter, I got the information from my fellow classmates. The girls and boys were separated, and from what I gathered,  were instructed on the joys of puberty.

Later on, in the 6th grade, consent forms were sent out again, and this time my mother graciously  allowed me to attended. Again, boys and girls were separated. I was curious about this topic because it was so forbidden to talk about. When I would question my mom, she'd say, "I'll tell you when you're older." At 20, I am still waiting for that "talk". So my information about sex was derived right from the T.V. Needless to say, I was excited about being able to attend this class. Well, this ended as soon as the speaker got into her lesson. She started off by saying, "Sex is a beautiful thing,” but she did not defend this statement at all, save for that opening segment. We were taught that sex was dirty. Boys only wanted girls for their body, and were willing to do whatever it took to get that, be it overpowering us or slipping us GHB (a form of date-rape drug). Then after that, it was straight into STDs/STIs. We were shown gruesome pictures and told that condoms had a 50% fail rate, based on new studies. Abstinence was the only way to go.

By the time this class was finished, I was way too scared to ask any of my burning questions. I thought the boys were taken off to learn just how to slip us date-rape drugs, or moves that would render a girl helpless so he could enjoy her body. I stayed as far away from them as I could.

Fast-forward a few years to high school. In the entire state of North Carolina, our high school proudly held the highest teen pregnancy rate (and I say proudly because to this day, I don't think anything has been done to lower it), and along with it, the highest rate of syphilis cases in the state. In fact, I don't remember going a single day where a pregnant girl wasn't part of the high school backdrop.

Now, I said earlier how I could see the religious influence of the town relating to why those numbers were so high. In theory, I'm going to relate the two now. Abstinence was stressed during all the sex ed classes I had. We were not told "Hey, if you're gonna do it, be smart and use a condom. Here's how to use it properly." I think most kids in the school had their first expierences with condoms in a dimly lit room durning the heat of passion, which probably isn't the best time to be concerned about getting it on correctly. 

Don't get me wrong. I think abstinence is good, and should be brought up in these classes. But I think the way my school system went about it was horribly, horribly wrong. Telling us that condoms had a 50% fail rate isn't going to scare us out of sex. It's going to give us the idea of, "Well, if it fails anyway, what's the use of bothering?" In fact, that study isn't even backed by scientific proof. Here's another thing to chew on:

A study showed that America has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed country on earth (a.k.a.: the western world). In fact, it went in to further say that our teens were not more sexually active than Swedish, Canadian, or British teens. Why are our rates so high, then? It is attributed to the fact that these countries aren't as "anti-birth control for teens" as America. They showcase birth control methods in media, on billboards, give teens adequate access to it, and talk about it unabashedly in their sexual health classes. Many people believe that in doing this we send the wrong message to our youth about sex. But 5 studies have shown that no, talking about birth control as opposed to not has no effect on the age most teens have their first taste of sexual intercourse. It does, however, effect the decision to be safe about it.

Here are some more facts I found interesting:

• The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of all developed countries.
• About 1 million teenagers become pregnant each year; 95% of those pregnancies are unintended, and almost one third end in abortion.
• Public costs from teenage childbearing totaled $120 billion from 1985 -- 1990; $48 billion could have been saved if each birth had been postponed until the mother was at least 20 years old.
• Birth rates during 1991 -- 1996 declined for teenagers in all racial and ethnic groups.
• Birth rates among teenagers vary substantially from state to state; some states have rates almost three times higher than those of the states with the lowest rates.
• 13 community partnerships in 11 states are implementing comprehensive, integrated youth programs to prevent teenage pregnancies and related problems.
• 8 non-governmental organizations are supported to assist states to develop and implement strategies to prevent pregnancy among teenagers.

(Statistics from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC's Reproductive Health Information Source)

In essence, it is said that we should start our children out as early as the age of 2 with sexual education. This is the whole "good touch-bad touch" lesson. I believe as long as sexual education is age-appropriate, we should teach our youth as much as we can about it, with the hopes that if they do intend to have sex, they do so with enough information to be safe and smart about it. Besides, their going to see most of it on the web, anyways.

I would also like to hear anyone's opinion on this, either for or against, and as I have no idea how this topic is handled in Tehachapi's school system, let alone California's, it would be great if someone could fill me in. Thanks!

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For some reason, I've been having trouble posting this. I'm giving it another shot now. Let's hope it works.

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful god, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes." - Gene Roddenberry

I'm writing this blog as a response to davesalyers's post, "This is What Happens When You Disagree with the Religious Right" which, according to said blogger, was a response to an ad ran in the Antelope Valley Press. My reply to this initial post turned out to be very long, at least for a comment, so I've turned it into a blog. On Atheism.

I find that act very despicable. This is the land of freedom of expression, and people are trying to stifle other's views with acts of vandalism. But it's not just what's happening in Antelope Valley. An escalated version has been going on in the Middle East for ages. Even before that was the Dark Ages of Christianity.

As an atheist, I find most supporters of religion to resemble the lower animals in George Orwell's book, "Animal Farm". I'm not saying they suffer from stupidity, just the unwillingness or inability, or WANT, to question what they follow.

When I was in high school, my interest was studying the various religions of the world. Seems like a silly thing for a teen to study, right? My reasoning was simple: I wanted a belief system that I felt comfortable in. I was raised Christian, Lutheran to be exact, and I was pretty fanatical in that particular religion as a child. But starting at about 13, I felt like the holy deity that I prayed to didn't care about me. I was a kid suffering from an eating disorder, bi-polar disorder, suicidal thoughts, and the hardships that go hand-in-hand with being on the verge of high school. Why wouldn’t some all-loving being at least want to set one of those things right with me? Then the rest of the world started going crazy that year (2001), and I concluded that it wasn't only me it didn't care about; it didn't care about the entire world.

So I studied religions. Countless religions. In my life, I’ve claimed to follow seven of them. I searched for a religion I felt comfortable with. Nothing felt right to me. Then along came a little gem. Atheism. And here I am today, a stanch Atheist, with the knowledge of those previous religions under my belt as ammo for those who tell me I’m wrong and which also reminds me why most belief systems are, well, bad.

It’s not my job to sit here and attack a person solely for their religious beliefs, so I’m not going to go into my Religion-Bashing Mode. Believe in what you want to. What I believe in is knowledge. Knowing all I can before I die.  Religion, to me, is just a way for people to justify violence, prejudice, and hate. On the flip side, it’s also a way to force the populace into complying with laws and standards acceptable to those in control. I speak for myself when I say Atheism is not a way of life that promotes lawlessness and hate towards those with religion. Me personally, I have a good set of morals, and the way I see it, if a religious deity does exist, and I make it up to the proverbial “judgment”, I think I’ve led my life in a wholesome and adequate manner that I will be accepted into paradise. If not? Well, I wouldn’t want to spend eternity with some spirit who believes children should be abused by those they trust, and that murderers should get pardons while babies are dying all over the world, anyways.

If you want further information on Atheism, I suggest the following sites:

• American Atheists
• Atheist Alliance International
• God Is Imaginary
• The Rejection of Pascal's Wager

 WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS POSSIBLE TRIGGERS. IF YOU SUFFER FROM ANOREXIA/BULIMIA, I SUGGEST YOU DON'T VIEW IT!

Being thin is pretty much the American female's top priority. And why not? We're taught from a young age that thin = beauty and beauty = happiness. If you don't fit in to that mold, you're not beautiful. TV, magazines, movies, and billboards. It's everywhere. And we're taught that beauty is pretty much all a woman has going for her in today's society.

 I'm writing this because I've suffered from the diseases, and it's kind of disturbing to see them valued as the perfect "get slim" plan.  I've since overcome my negative dieting ways and adopted healthier methods; however, I don't think many teens, more so girls, today understand that Anorexia and Bulimia are not satisfactory ways to lose pounds. Both diseases are being glorified in underground webrings, given cutesy names like "Ana" and "Mia", making them more appealing, like girlfriends, almost. The rise of the Internet has made it even easier to access "Thinspiration" for those seeking a little extra push to look like their idols. Thinspiration consists of pictures of stick thin, emaciated girls, models and actresses, stories, poems, and quotes like the following:

"Hunger hurts but starving works."

"Like a plant, surely the body can be trained to exist on nothing, to take it's nourishment from the air."

"You've made a decision: you will NOT stop. The pain is necessary, especially the pain of hunger. It reassures you that you are strong, can withstand anything. "

A secret code has been created to recognize fellow Ana/Mia girls: a red bracelet is worn for Anorexia, purple for Bulimia. The sad thing? The girls who follow this movement believe that they aren't suffering from a mental illness.

When you suffer from these diseases, it's common to feel completely and utterly alone. These communities are set up to help girls achieve their weight loss goals, and they offer a sort of safe haven, where people welcome the illnesses and uphold them religiously. They have a cult-like appeal. There are even "Thin Commandments" provided on some of these sites. And these websites won't go away; most aren't censored because that violates the freedom of expression.  

I've been sucked in to the madness of being thin. In a way, I still kind of am there. So I can see why so many find it appeasing to take on the lifestyle of Anorexia and Bulimia. If you have the disease, it's hard not to resist the nagging voice that rises every time you sit down to a plate of food.

Young girls need to understand that the way to health and harmony inside is not through wrecking your body with these diseases. Trust me; you create more distress doing it that way than if you diet the right way. Some medical problems associated with these diseases include:

Thermoregulatory Problems
Insomnia
Anemia
Dental Erosion
Acidosis
Osteoporosis
Bradycardia
Edema
Ulcers
Amenorrhea

Parents, teach your kids healthy eating habits. Moms especially, don't stand in front of a mirror nit-picking your body while your child is in plain sight. It will teach her bad body image. Don't emphasize so much on Hollywood starlets that weigh 85 pounds. And don't degrade other women for being overweight. Seriously, you may not realize it, but instilling bad body image in a child is pretty easy to do.

Lastly, if you suspect your child or a friend is suffering from one of these illnesses, get them help. It's going to be difficult, and they may resist treatment, but it's important they get it.

It's time this country learns upholding the standard of beauty that we have today, really affects our society in a big, negative way.