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Comment by yetanotherphd | Hacker News Reader

>I've only sees "only abstinence is 100% effective" mocked from a policy perspective. It is true that abstinence is 100% effective on a personal level, but teaching it is remarkably ineffective at a population level.

The phrase "only abstinence is 100% effective" is a slogan for teens, not a claim that only abstinence only sex education is 100% effective (which is clearly false).

>There is room to mock it on a personal level, by pointing out that we are willing to engage in far more dangerous activities without 100% guarantees on safety. 'Seatbelts fail, only not driving is 100% effective'.

It depends on how much a person wants to avoid having an abortion or unplanned pregnancy, and how much value they get out of sex.

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> The phrase "only abstinence is 100% effective" is a slogan for teens, not a claim that only abstinence only sex education is 100% effective

You don't have to claim that a stupid course of action is perfect to deserve mockery. Following the stupid course of action will suffice.

> It depends on how much a person...

No, the success of abstincence-only education as public policy does not depend on a single person's wants, desires, and incentives. It depends on the wants, desires, and incentives of an existing imperfect population.

Claiming that "our policy would work if only people were moral and rational in X, Y, and Z ways" is irrelevant if people are known to not be moral and rational in X, Y, and Z ways, which is indeed the case with respect to sex-ed. At the end of the day it either works to reduce teen pregnancy or it doesn't, and in this sense abstinence-only education doesn't work.

>> The phrase "only abstinence is 100% effective" is a slogan for teens, not a claim that only abstinence only sex education is 100% effective (which is clearly false).

It's a slogan associated with a moralistic, backwards, prude, stupid and failed sex-ed program. It deserves to be mocked.

>> It depends on how much a person wants to avoid having an abortion or unplanned pregnancy, and how much value they get out of sex.

Hmm, one of the more important drives, if not the primary hard-wired drive in a human animal, gee, I wonder how much value people get out of it?

> The phrase "only abstinence is 100% effective" is a slogan for teens, not a claim that only abstinence only sex education is 100% effective (which is clearly false).

You're misunderstanding the point -- "only abstinence is 100% effective" is mocked precisely because it is a remarkably bad way to get kids not to have premarital sex.

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