Abstinence Education

The Abstinence Challenge: Infect or Inoculate?

Will your abstinence efforts infect or inoculate? It’s a matter of dosage.

Infecting means they have it. All the symptoms and behaviors are present and observable. The patient tests positive for a case of abstinence and is contagious.

Inoculate means they got a little bit, enough to be resistant to a complete case, avoiding symptoms and never being contagious.

We dare not inoculate by too light a dosage. The next generation has to be so infected that they live the message and pass it on. It will take intense exposure. Exposure accompanied by continual reinforcements and in-depth skill training. Beware of those who used to call abstinence unrealistic. Their tactic today is to limit the dosage so the infection can’t have permanent effects.

Abstinence- only is a Misnomer

Abstinence-only is a misnomer. True abstinence until marriage and fidelity (AUM/F) education presents information and skills for successful relationships and someday, a monogamous or married relationship. (AUM/F) presents reproductive system information, fetal development, consequences of out of wedlock pregnancy, child support and how infections are sexually transmitted.

Good programs explore sociological information on gender, families and parenting. The skills include making quality friends, communication, knowing who you are so you can be honest with yourself and others, setting boundaries, tactfully refusing because you have goals and know you have a future.

Uganda tapped into these future intentions and the romance of actually having a spouse who found you to be enough. Research confirms that parents and teens want this. Condom use promises “safer sex” yet failures happen. Once trust is developed, the condom isn’t used. Abstinence and monogamous marriages have a virtually 100% effectiveness rate in preventing STDs. Both contractive promotion and the contraceptives cost. All methods have a cumulative failure. (AUM/F) is the most cost effective and practical solution.