Joy Prior
REL A 304
Section 003
Extra Credit
I invited my parents to come to the symbolism in the scriptures with me. First they took me to dinner (so really it was a great deal for me) and afterwards we went to listen to the lectures. We listened to the last two lectures, so we were there for two hours. The first was about Baptism as a sign of obedience verses the concept that Baptism washes away our sins. Personally, I enjoyed the second lecture the most. In the second lecture the orator talked about the parable of the trend of two son parables in the Bible, namely the prodigal son, the man with two sons He asked to work in the field, Cain and Able, Ishmael and Isaac, and Lamanites and Nephites. Most of the lecture was spent developing the parable of the two sons working in the vineyard and the Prodigal son.
I have attached the copy of my notes from the lecture of the Prodigal Son… I would like to have my notes back. The speaker took away my paradigm of what the Prodigal Son is about. Most of his observations were centered around mistranslation or I guess more appropriately translation difficulties in the King James version of the Bible. It was remarkable to see how a single word made all of the difference in the sentence. The speaker used the translations in the Greek version of the Bible. For example when the Prodigal son chooses to leave the pigs and go home he says, “I will arise,” but in the Greek translation the word used more translates more closely to “resurrection.” The parable was littered with translation variations. What I appreciated though was that the speaker did not state, “this is what it means, and this is right,” but He left the parable open for translation and personal revelation.
My favorite part about the lecture was learning how to understand parables. Like I said before the speaker was very clear to not state, “this is what it means.” Instead He helped me learn how to receive personal understanding to parables. The secret He said was to discover why Jesus would use a specific parable in each situation. It had never been pointed out to me that Jesus was answering specific questions, and not just giving good stories to make the congregation more moral. This is something that I hope to be able to apply to my future scripture study, and it was by far my favorite thing that I learned while attending the lecture.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Joy Marie Prior
347 East Southfield Road
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
(801) 921-3348
Fecha de nacimiento
12 de diciembre 1990
Objetivo Profesional
Una maestra por los niños
Preparación académica
2009 Universidad de Brigham Young, Provo, Utah
Maestría: Child development
2009 graduarme a la escuela secundario de Spanish Fork, Utah
Experiencia Profesional
2010 soy una secretaria en la oficina de la Universidad de Brigham Young
2009 pasantía en la infantil Acorns to Oaks
Experiencia adicional
2010 Billo en el grupo de Remembran Nos Cultura (ROC)
2009 Servir en el grupo de Abopt a Grandparent
Preparación Adicional
Mecanografía 60 palabras en 1 minuto
Dominio de inglés y entiendo español
Becas y premios
2009 Venturing Scout Silver en la programa de Boy Scouts of America
Intereses
Sin que o baile, o comida, o libros soy morir.
347 East Southfield Road
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
(801) 921-3348
Fecha de nacimiento
12 de diciembre 1990
Objetivo Profesional
Una maestra por los niños
Preparación académica
2009 Universidad de Brigham Young, Provo, Utah
Maestría: Child development
2009 graduarme a la escuela secundario de Spanish Fork, Utah
Experiencia Profesional
2010 soy una secretaria en la oficina de la Universidad de Brigham Young
2009 pasantía en la infantil Acorns to Oaks
Experiencia adicional
2010 Billo en el grupo de Remembran Nos Cultura (ROC)
2009 Servir en el grupo de Abopt a Grandparent
Preparación Adicional
Mecanografía 60 palabras en 1 minuto
Dominio de inglés y entiendo español
Becas y premios
2009 Venturing Scout Silver en la programa de Boy Scouts of America
Intereses
Sin que o baile, o comida, o libros soy morir.
Provo Utah, 28 de septiembre 2010
Sr. Lee Wakefield
Directora de Biale
Richards Building, 246
La Universidad de Brigham Young
Provo, Utah 84660
Estimada Senor:
Atentamente me dirijo a usted para comunicarle me interés en el puesto de maestra de baile en la Universidad de Brigham Young. Para enviarle copia de mi currículo.
El reciente estudio a la Universidad de Brigham Young en Provo Utah. Durante mi tiempo en la Universidad tiene la oportunidad tocar muchos clases de baile. Me encanta el programa de baile en la universidad y me gustan los profesores. Espero que trabaje con ellos.
En cuanto a mi competencia a baile me gusta la baile de contemperado y cultura. Me prefiero que tenga la puesto de contemperado porque contemperado es el tiempo de baile conozco mas. Tengo experiencia en contemperado. Mi profesor Audrie dijo que baile muy bien. Me interesa este puesto con tal de que darme o los beneficios de los días feriados, o la licencia por enfermedad.
Le agradecería que me diera la oportunidad de visitar sus en la Universidad. Si tienes preguntas siempre y cuando que hablemos en personaje una vece tengo respuesta.
Atentamente,
Joy Marie Prior
347 East Southfield Road
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
(801) 921-3348
Sr. Lee Wakefield
Directora de Biale
Richards Building, 246
La Universidad de Brigham Young
Provo, Utah 84660
Estimada Senor:
Atentamente me dirijo a usted para comunicarle me interés en el puesto de maestra de baile en la Universidad de Brigham Young. Para enviarle copia de mi currículo.
El reciente estudio a la Universidad de Brigham Young en Provo Utah. Durante mi tiempo en la Universidad tiene la oportunidad tocar muchos clases de baile. Me encanta el programa de baile en la universidad y me gustan los profesores. Espero que trabaje con ellos.
En cuanto a mi competencia a baile me gusta la baile de contemperado y cultura. Me prefiero que tenga la puesto de contemperado porque contemperado es el tiempo de baile conozco mas. Tengo experiencia en contemperado. Mi profesor Audrie dijo que baile muy bien. Me interesa este puesto con tal de que darme o los beneficios de los días feriados, o la licencia por enfermedad.
Le agradecería que me diera la oportunidad de visitar sus en la Universidad. Si tienes preguntas siempre y cuando que hablemos en personaje una vece tengo respuesta.
Atentamente,
Joy Marie Prior
347 East Southfield Road
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
(801) 921-3348
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Introduction
I stared at my high-pony-tailed-teacher as she repeated, “Nebo School District policy is abstinence, and that will be the base of our sexual education,” I thought Abstinence, what a big word and then the rollercoaster formally called sexual education began. My mind would never have fathomed that the material presented to me while I sat in my orange plastic chair had been debated across that nation for decades. The purpose of this paper is critique and analyze the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson. In the article the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations of findings; after taking the article in to consideration abstinence should be taught in schools to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s comprehensive sexual education.
Summary
The Article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education advocates for an abstinent-only sexual education program versus a comprehensive sexual education program. The author Kerby Anderson starts by defaming a study correlating the introduction of a student-based health clinic into a High school with the sudden decline in the number of student pregnancies. Then comprehensive sex education is defined as the philosophy that: children are sexual and sexually mis-educated, and that if mis-education is the problem sex education is the solution (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). Anderson goes on to address the unreliability of condoms against preventing Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Pregnancy. The article finishes with four reasons-complemented by various studies- that conclude implementing an abstinence sexual education program is the solution to the teenage pregnancy problem in the United States.
Critical Analysis
Cited in Text
Kerby Anderson cited his sources through out the text. The article mentioned what studies were, and who was responsible for the studies. It was convenient to be read the article and have so much information readily available about the presented information.
Outdated Studies
Many of the studies used in the School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education article were out dated. The most recent study mentioned in the article was from the early 90s and there was a studies from the 70s. Thirty years is a enough time to introduce cell phones, the internet, and change the statistics of teenage pregnancy. The two studies prevalently outdated were the students in DuSable High School and the study from Science Medicine journal.
Michael Schwartz Study
Michael Schwartz conducted a study from 1977 to 1979 to report the number of births in DuSable High School after the student clinic was opened (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). It was the first major study done on a school-based health clinic, and received national attention. Today the comprehensive sexual education program may no longer even supports school-based-clinks. The specific curriculum may also have been modified over the past thirty years to better teach the material. The outdated information used in the article does not inform the reader about the current comprehension sexual program and if it has any correlation to teenage pregnancy.
Social Science Medicine Condom Study
The study taken from Social Science Medicine mentioned in the article states that all research published prior to 1990 indicated condoms were 87 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and 69 percent effective in reducing the risk of contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (Anderson, 1998, p. 354). The outdated information assumes the brands and styles of condoms used today are comparable to condoms used 20 years ago; some of the brands and styles commonly used today could not have even been invented in the 90s. Also, the study stated it had compiled research published prior to 1990. The article left me wondering if the research compiled was taken from studies done eighty years or only two years prior to 1990. Because the article did not specify how far back the prior research went from 1990 I had no idea how much research was actually compiled in the study.
Overgeneralized Results
The author overgeneralized throughout the article by implying that cultural and area specific studies represent all teenagers, all Americans, or all girls. It would be impossible to question everyone so scientists use samples to represent the general population. Consequently scientist use randomly samples that can more accurately depict the general population than a biased sample. Kerby Anderson biased sample of the Southern Baptist convention pledging to be abstinent does not accurately depict the entire American population.
Southern Baptist Convention
It is an overgeneralization to assume that because in Washington Mall on July 1993 approximately 200,000 students signed “True Love Waits” pledge cards during the Southern Baptist Convention campaign for abstinence that Americans today want to learn about abstinence (Anderson, 1998, p. 357). Three things that made this claim an overgeneralization. First, it can not be assumed that because Americans wanted abstinence in the early 1990s Americans want to hear about abstinence now. Second, the author does not clarify were the student who signed the cards are from. The reader is unaware if students were from the United States or students attending Brigham Young University. Third, the campaign was done by the Southern Baptist Convention. Many of the “I pledge cards” were logically filled out and collected by members of the Southern Baptist Convention. The possibility that the Southern Baptist community had a biased sample selection needs to be considered while examining the data. Anderson ignores time, area, and culture biased in the sample selection and then makes an overgenerlization that because members of the Southern Baptist Convention campaign support abstinance all Americans support abstinence.
Dismissal of Explanations
The most prevalent flaw through out the article was lack of consideration to possible alternate explanations in a studies findings. Ironically, Kerby Anderson criticizes the media for assuming at DuSable High School the decline in students giving birth was due to the introduction of the new student-health-clinic without considering the possibility that the decline in the number of students giving birth was due to the decrease in overall student enrollment (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). The same critiques Anderson used against the DuSable High School articles could also be used against the San Marcos California Junior High, the Washington, D.C., and the Nathan Hale Middle School studies Anderson used later in School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education to imply that the decline in student births was due to the introduction of the abstinence program in the above mentioned schools. The article fails to look at the studies that suggest a correlation between abstinence-only programs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy with the same magnifying glass that found problems (decline in student enrolment, abortions, and unrecorded data prior to applying the program) in the study that suggested a correlation between comprehensive sexual education and a decrease in students giving birth.
Opinion
Although I agreed with and started to analyze School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education criticizing the data caused me to question my impulsive opinion: abstinence is good, and anything that says sex before marriage is bad. I came to the distinct realization that when it comes to comprehensive or abstinent sexual education programs I know nothing except for what questions I want to ask. I formulated my opinion on the idea that the abstinence program protects teachers, and a set curriculum should determine if an adolescent is prepared for the responsibility of sexual knowledge, but I would like to further explore both perspectives before I concrete my opinion.
Teacher Responsibility
Considering the two extreme sexual education programs an abstinence sexual education appears to be a safe program for teachers. By teaching abstinence the teacher has only taught their students one way (a guarantied way) to decrease the likelihood of pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. If a student does become pregnant the student did not listen to their teacher, and no one can blame the teacher for misinforming the student on how to avoid pregnancy. The focus topic of sexual education is on the students, but the teacher is also important. The teacher must have confidence in their ability to teach fourteen-year-olds how to use a condom. A teacher is required to take on an unreasonable amount of responsibilities while teaching students a comprehensive sexual education system.
Curriculum Confinements
To teach sexual education within the confidents of a curriculum is also making the assumptions that every student in the classroom is responsible enough to handle the information. Briefly, the Information Processing Theory is the idea that the human brain works like a computer; once information is presented it is stored and when that information is needed it is pulled from the memory. If the input learned during adolescents is that when sexual desires are presented the correct out put is to remain abstinent until marriage then the out put will be abstinence until marriage. The principle is the same for comprehensive sexual education. If the input is that there are multiple ways to act on sexual desires including condoms, abstinence, positioning, or pills the adolescent has to make the choice as to what the out put will be. A set curriculum may not be the appropriate method for determining when to teach adolescents the multiple out puts to sexual desires there are. Parents, or guardians (even the adolescent themselves) should be responsible for determining the time and place to take on the responsibility that comes with sexual knowledge, not the settled school board curriculum.
Conclusion
In the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations; abstinence-only curriculums are still supported to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s sexual education. There does not seem to be nearly this extensive of a debate concerning the math curriculum, because deciding on sexual education feels like a moral choice. It is important when analyzing a situation to sort out the moral dilemma from evidence by critically thinking through articles, data, and studies.
I stared at my high-pony-tailed-teacher as she repeated, “Nebo School District policy is abstinence, and that will be the base of our sexual education,” I thought Abstinence, what a big word and then the rollercoaster formally called sexual education began. My mind would never have fathomed that the material presented to me while I sat in my orange plastic chair had been debated across that nation for decades. The purpose of this paper is critique and analyze the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson. In the article the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations of findings; after taking the article in to consideration abstinence should be taught in schools to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s comprehensive sexual education.
Summary
The Article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education advocates for an abstinent-only sexual education program versus a comprehensive sexual education program. The author Kerby Anderson starts by defaming a study correlating the introduction of a student-based health clinic into a High school with the sudden decline in the number of student pregnancies. Then comprehensive sex education is defined as the philosophy that: children are sexual and sexually mis-educated, and that if mis-education is the problem sex education is the solution (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). Anderson goes on to address the unreliability of condoms against preventing Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Pregnancy. The article finishes with four reasons-complemented by various studies- that conclude implementing an abstinence sexual education program is the solution to the teenage pregnancy problem in the United States.
Critical Analysis
Cited in Text
Kerby Anderson cited his sources through out the text. The article mentioned what studies were, and who was responsible for the studies. It was convenient to be read the article and have so much information readily available about the presented information.
Outdated Studies
Many of the studies used in the School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education article were out dated. The most recent study mentioned in the article was from the early 90s and there was a studies from the 70s. Thirty years is a enough time to introduce cell phones, the internet, and change the statistics of teenage pregnancy. The two studies prevalently outdated were the students in DuSable High School and the study from Science Medicine journal.
Michael Schwartz Study
Michael Schwartz conducted a study from 1977 to 1979 to report the number of births in DuSable High School after the student clinic was opened (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). It was the first major study done on a school-based health clinic, and received national attention. Today the comprehensive sexual education program may no longer even supports school-based-clinks. The specific curriculum may also have been modified over the past thirty years to better teach the material. The outdated information used in the article does not inform the reader about the current comprehension sexual program and if it has any correlation to teenage pregnancy.
Social Science Medicine Condom Study
The study taken from Social Science Medicine mentioned in the article states that all research published prior to 1990 indicated condoms were 87 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and 69 percent effective in reducing the risk of contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (Anderson, 1998, p. 354). The outdated information assumes the brands and styles of condoms used today are comparable to condoms used 20 years ago; some of the brands and styles commonly used today could not have even been invented in the 90s. Also, the study stated it had compiled research published prior to 1990. The article left me wondering if the research compiled was taken from studies done eighty years or only two years prior to 1990. Because the article did not specify how far back the prior research went from 1990 I had no idea how much research was actually compiled in the study.
Overgeneralized Results
The author overgeneralized throughout the article by implying that cultural and area specific studies represent all teenagers, all Americans, or all girls. It would be impossible to question everyone so scientists use samples to represent the general population. Consequently scientist use randomly samples that can more accurately depict the general population than a biased sample. Kerby Anderson biased sample of the Southern Baptist convention pledging to be abstinent does not accurately depict the entire American population.
Southern Baptist Convention
It is an overgeneralization to assume that because in Washington Mall on July 1993 approximately 200,000 students signed “True Love Waits” pledge cards during the Southern Baptist Convention campaign for abstinence that Americans today want to learn about abstinence (Anderson, 1998, p. 357). Three things that made this claim an overgeneralization. First, it can not be assumed that because Americans wanted abstinence in the early 1990s Americans want to hear about abstinence now. Second, the author does not clarify were the student who signed the cards are from. The reader is unaware if students were from the United States or students attending Brigham Young University. Third, the campaign was done by the Southern Baptist Convention. Many of the “I pledge cards” were logically filled out and collected by members of the Southern Baptist Convention. The possibility that the Southern Baptist community had a biased sample selection needs to be considered while examining the data. Anderson ignores time, area, and culture biased in the sample selection and then makes an overgenerlization that because members of the Southern Baptist Convention campaign support abstinance all Americans support abstinence.
Dismissal of Explanations
The most prevalent flaw through out the article was lack of consideration to possible alternate explanations in a studies findings. Ironically, Kerby Anderson criticizes the media for assuming at DuSable High School the decline in students giving birth was due to the introduction of the new student-health-clinic without considering the possibility that the decline in the number of students giving birth was due to the decrease in overall student enrollment (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). The same critiques Anderson used against the DuSable High School articles could also be used against the San Marcos California Junior High, the Washington, D.C., and the Nathan Hale Middle School studies Anderson used later in School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education to imply that the decline in student births was due to the introduction of the abstinence program in the above mentioned schools. The article fails to look at the studies that suggest a correlation between abstinence-only programs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy with the same magnifying glass that found problems (decline in student enrolment, abortions, and unrecorded data prior to applying the program) in the study that suggested a correlation between comprehensive sexual education and a decrease in students giving birth.
Opinion
Although I agreed with and started to analyze School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education criticizing the data caused me to question my impulsive opinion: abstinence is good, and anything that says sex before marriage is bad. I came to the distinct realization that when it comes to comprehensive or abstinent sexual education programs I know nothing except for what questions I want to ask. I formulated my opinion on the idea that the abstinence program protects teachers, and a set curriculum should determine if an adolescent is prepared for the responsibility of sexual knowledge, but I would like to further explore both perspectives before I concrete my opinion.
Teacher Responsibility
Considering the two extreme sexual education programs an abstinence sexual education appears to be a safe program for teachers. By teaching abstinence the teacher has only taught their students one way (a guarantied way) to decrease the likelihood of pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. If a student does become pregnant the student did not listen to their teacher, and no one can blame the teacher for misinforming the student on how to avoid pregnancy. The focus topic of sexual education is on the students, but the teacher is also important. The teacher must have confidence in their ability to teach fourteen-year-olds how to use a condom. A teacher is required to take on an unreasonable amount of responsibilities while teaching students a comprehensive sexual education system.
Curriculum Confinements
To teach sexual education within the confidents of a curriculum is also making the assumptions that every student in the classroom is responsible enough to handle the information. Briefly, the Information Processing Theory is the idea that the human brain works like a computer; once information is presented it is stored and when that information is needed it is pulled from the memory. If the input learned during adolescents is that when sexual desires are presented the correct out put is to remain abstinent until marriage then the out put will be abstinence until marriage. The principle is the same for comprehensive sexual education. If the input is that there are multiple ways to act on sexual desires including condoms, abstinence, positioning, or pills the adolescent has to make the choice as to what the out put will be. A set curriculum may not be the appropriate method for determining when to teach adolescents the multiple out puts to sexual desires there are. Parents, or guardians (even the adolescent themselves) should be responsible for determining the time and place to take on the responsibility that comes with sexual knowledge, not the settled school board curriculum.
Conclusion
In the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations; abstinence-only curriculums are still supported to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s sexual education. There does not seem to be nearly this extensive of a debate concerning the math curriculum, because deciding on sexual education feels like a moral choice. It is important when analyzing a situation to sort out the moral dilemma from evidence by critically thinking through articles, data, and studies.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
first draft
Introduction
I stared at my high-pony-tailed-teacher as she repeated, “Nebo School District policy is abstinence, and that will be the base of our sexual education,” I thought Abstinence, what a big word and then the rollercoaster formally called sexual education began. My mind would never have fathomed that the material presented to me while I sat in my orange plastic chair had been debated across that nation for decades. The purpose of this paper is critique and analyze the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson. In the article the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations of findings; after taking the article in to consideration abstinence should be taught in schools to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s comprehensive sexual education.
Summary
The Article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education advocates for an abstinent-only sexual education program versus a comprehensive sexual education program. The author Kerby Anderson starts by defaming a study correlating the introduction of a student-based health clinic into a High school with the sudden decline in the number of student pregnancies. Then comprehensive sex education is defined as the philosophy that: children are sexual and sexually mis-educated, and that if mis-education is the problem sex education is the solution (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). Anderson goes on to address the unreliability of condoms against preventing Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Pregnancy. The article finishes with four reasons-complemented by various studies- that conclude implementing an abstinence sexual education program is the solution to the teenage pregnancy problem in the United States.
Critical Analysis
Cited in Text
Kerby Anderson cited his sources through out the text. The article mentioned what studies were, and who was responsible for the studies. It was convenient to be read the article and have so much information readily available about the presented information.
Outdated Studies
Many of the studies used in the School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education article were out dated. The most recent study mentioned in the article was from the early 90s and there was a studies from the 70s. Thirty years is a enough time to introduce cell phones, the internet, and change the statistics of teenage pregnancy. The two studies prevalently outdated were the students in DuSable High School and the study from Science Medicine journal.
Michael Schwartz Study
Michael Schwartz conducted a study from 1977 to 1979 to report the number of births in DuSable High School after the student clinic was opened (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). It was the first major study done on a school-based health clinic, and received national attention. Today the comprehensive sexual education program may no longer even supports school-based-clinks. The specific curriculum may also have been modified over the past thirty years to better teach the material. The outdated information used in the article does not inform the reader about the current comprehension sexual program and if it has any correlation to teenage pregnancy.
Social Science Medicine Condom Study
The study taken from Social Science Medicine mentioned in the article states that all research published prior to 1990 indicated condoms were 87 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and 69 percent effective in reducing the risk of contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (Anderson, 1998, p. 354). The outdated information assumes the brands and styles of condoms used today are comparable to condoms used 20 years ago; some of the brands and styles commonly used today could not have even been invented in the 90s. Also, the study stated it had compiled research published prior to 1990. The article left me wondering if the research compiled was taken from studies done eighty years or only two years prior to 1990. Because the article did not specify how far back the prior research went from 1990 I had no idea how much research was actually compiled in the study.
Overgeneralized Results
The author overgeneralized throughout the article by implying that cultural and area specific studies represent all teenagers, all Americans, or all girls. It would be impossible to question everyone so scientists use samples to represent the general population. Consequently scientist use randomly samples that can more accurately depict the general population than a biased sample. Kerby Anderson biased sample of the Southern Baptist convention pledging to be abstinent does not accurately depict the entire American population.
Southern Baptist Convention
It is an overgeneralization to assume that because in Washington Mall on July 1993 approximately 200,000 students signed “True Love Waits” pledge cards during the Southern Baptist Convention campaign for abstinence that Americans today want to learn about abstinence (Anderson, 1998, p. 357). Three things that made this claim an overgeneralization. First, it can not be assumed that because Americans wanted abstinence in the early 1990s Americans want to hear about abstinence now. Second, the author does not clarify were the student who signed the cards are from. The reader is unaware if students were from the United States or students attending Brigham Young University. Third, the campaign was done by the Southern Baptist Convention. Many of the “I pledge cards” were logically filled out and collected by members of the Southern Baptist Convention. The possibility that the Southern Baptist community had a biased sample selection needs to be considered while examining the data. Anderson ignores time, area, and culture biased in the sample selection and then makes an overgenerlization that because members of the Southern Baptist Convention campaign support abstinance all Americans support abstinence.
Dismissal of Explanations
The most prevalent flaw through out the article was lack of consideration to possible alternate explanations in a studies findings. Ironically, Kerby Anderson criticizes the media for assuming at DuSable High School the decline in students giving birth was due to the introduction of the new student-health-clinic without considering the possibility that the decline in the number of students giving birth was due to the decrease in overall student enrollment (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). The same critiques Anderson used against the DuSable High School articles could also be used against the San Marcos California Junior High, the Washington, D.C., and the Nathan Hale Middle School studies Anderson used later in School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education to imply that the decline in student births was due to the introduction of the abstinence program in the above mentioned schools. The article fails to look at the studies that suggest a correlation between abstinence-only programs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy with the same magnifying glass that found problems (decline in student enrolment, abortions, and unrecorded data prior to applying the program) in the study that suggested a correlation between comprehensive sexual education and a decrease in students giving birth.
Opinion
Although I agreed with and started to analyze School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education criticizing the data caused me to question my impulsive opinion: abstinence is good, and anything that says sex before marriage is bad. I came to the distinct realization that when it comes to comprehensive or abstinent sexual education programs I know nothing except for what questions I want to ask. I formulated my opinion on the idea that the abstinence program protects teachers, and a set curriculum should determine if an adolescent is prepared for the responsibility of sexual knowledge, but I would like to further explore both perspectives before I concrete my opinion.
Teacher Responsibility
Considering the two extreme sexual education programs an abstinence sexual education appears to be a safe program for teachers. By teaching abstinence the teacher has only taught their students one way (a guarantied way) to decrease the likelihood of pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. If a student does become pregnant the student did not listen to their teacher, and no one can blame the teacher for misinforming the student on how to avoid pregnancy. The focus topic of sexual education is on the students, but the teacher is also important. The teacher must have confidence in their ability to teach fourteen-year-olds how to use a condom. A teacher is required to take on an unreasonable amount of responsibilities while teaching students a comprehensive sexual education system.
Curriculum Confinements
To teach sexual education within the confidents of a curriculum is also making the assumptions that every student in the classroom is responsible enough to handle the information. Briefly, the Information Processing Theory is the idea that the human brain works like a computer; once information is presented it is stored and when that information is needed it is pulled from the memory. If the input learned during adolescents is that when sexual desires are presented the correct out put is to remain abstinent until marriage then the out put will be abstinence until marriage. The principle is the same for comprehensive sexual education. If the input is that there are multiple ways to act on sexual desires including condoms, abstinence, positioning, or pills the adolescent has to make the choice as to what the out put will be. A set curriculum may not be the appropriate method for determining when to teach adolescents the multiple out puts to sexual desires there are. Parents, or guardians (even the adolescent themselves) should be responsible for determining the time and place to take on the responsibility that comes with sexual knowledge, not the settled school board curriculum.
Conclusion
In the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations; abstinence-only curriculums are still supported to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s sexual education. There does not seem to be nearly this extensive of a debate concerning the math curriculum, because deciding on sexual education feels like a moral choice. It is important when analyzing a situation to sort out the moral dilemma from evidence by critically thinking through articles, data, and studies.
I stared at my high-pony-tailed-teacher as she repeated, “Nebo School District policy is abstinence, and that will be the base of our sexual education,” I thought Abstinence, what a big word and then the rollercoaster formally called sexual education began. My mind would never have fathomed that the material presented to me while I sat in my orange plastic chair had been debated across that nation for decades. The purpose of this paper is critique and analyze the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson. In the article the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations of findings; after taking the article in to consideration abstinence should be taught in schools to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s comprehensive sexual education.
Summary
The Article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education advocates for an abstinent-only sexual education program versus a comprehensive sexual education program. The author Kerby Anderson starts by defaming a study correlating the introduction of a student-based health clinic into a High school with the sudden decline in the number of student pregnancies. Then comprehensive sex education is defined as the philosophy that: children are sexual and sexually mis-educated, and that if mis-education is the problem sex education is the solution (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). Anderson goes on to address the unreliability of condoms against preventing Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Pregnancy. The article finishes with four reasons-complemented by various studies- that conclude implementing an abstinence sexual education program is the solution to the teenage pregnancy problem in the United States.
Critical Analysis
Cited in Text
Kerby Anderson cited his sources through out the text. The article mentioned what studies were, and who was responsible for the studies. It was convenient to be read the article and have so much information readily available about the presented information.
Outdated Studies
Many of the studies used in the School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education article were out dated. The most recent study mentioned in the article was from the early 90s and there was a studies from the 70s. Thirty years is a enough time to introduce cell phones, the internet, and change the statistics of teenage pregnancy. The two studies prevalently outdated were the students in DuSable High School and the study from Science Medicine journal.
Michael Schwartz Study
Michael Schwartz conducted a study from 1977 to 1979 to report the number of births in DuSable High School after the student clinic was opened (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). It was the first major study done on a school-based health clinic, and received national attention. Today the comprehensive sexual education program may no longer even supports school-based-clinks. The specific curriculum may also have been modified over the past thirty years to better teach the material. The outdated information used in the article does not inform the reader about the current comprehension sexual program and if it has any correlation to teenage pregnancy.
Social Science Medicine Condom Study
The study taken from Social Science Medicine mentioned in the article states that all research published prior to 1990 indicated condoms were 87 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and 69 percent effective in reducing the risk of contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (Anderson, 1998, p. 354). The outdated information assumes the brands and styles of condoms used today are comparable to condoms used 20 years ago; some of the brands and styles commonly used today could not have even been invented in the 90s. Also, the study stated it had compiled research published prior to 1990. The article left me wondering if the research compiled was taken from studies done eighty years or only two years prior to 1990. Because the article did not specify how far back the prior research went from 1990 I had no idea how much research was actually compiled in the study.
Overgeneralized Results
The author overgeneralized throughout the article by implying that cultural and area specific studies represent all teenagers, all Americans, or all girls. It would be impossible to question everyone so scientists use samples to represent the general population. Consequently scientist use randomly samples that can more accurately depict the general population than a biased sample. Kerby Anderson biased sample of the Southern Baptist convention pledging to be abstinent does not accurately depict the entire American population.
Southern Baptist Convention
It is an overgeneralization to assume that because in Washington Mall on July 1993 approximately 200,000 students signed “True Love Waits” pledge cards during the Southern Baptist Convention campaign for abstinence that Americans today want to learn about abstinence (Anderson, 1998, p. 357). Three things that made this claim an overgeneralization. First, it can not be assumed that because Americans wanted abstinence in the early 1990s Americans want to hear about abstinence now. Second, the author does not clarify were the student who signed the cards are from. The reader is unaware if students were from the United States or students attending Brigham Young University. Third, the campaign was done by the Southern Baptist Convention. Many of the “I pledge cards” were logically filled out and collected by members of the Southern Baptist Convention. The possibility that the Southern Baptist community had a biased sample selection needs to be considered while examining the data. Anderson ignores time, area, and culture biased in the sample selection and then makes an overgenerlization that because members of the Southern Baptist Convention campaign support abstinance all Americans support abstinence.
Dismissal of Explanations
The most prevalent flaw through out the article was lack of consideration to possible alternate explanations in a studies findings. Ironically, Kerby Anderson criticizes the media for assuming at DuSable High School the decline in students giving birth was due to the introduction of the new student-health-clinic without considering the possibility that the decline in the number of students giving birth was due to the decrease in overall student enrollment (Anderson, 1998, p. 352). The same critiques Anderson used against the DuSable High School articles could also be used against the San Marcos California Junior High, the Washington, D.C., and the Nathan Hale Middle School studies Anderson used later in School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education to imply that the decline in student births was due to the introduction of the abstinence program in the above mentioned schools. The article fails to look at the studies that suggest a correlation between abstinence-only programs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy with the same magnifying glass that found problems (decline in student enrolment, abortions, and unrecorded data prior to applying the program) in the study that suggested a correlation between comprehensive sexual education and a decrease in students giving birth.
Opinion
Although I agreed with and started to analyze School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education criticizing the data caused me to question my impulsive opinion: abstinence is good, and anything that says sex before marriage is bad. I came to the distinct realization that when it comes to comprehensive or abstinent sexual education programs I know nothing except for what questions I want to ask. I formulated my opinion on the idea that the abstinence program protects teachers, and a set curriculum should determine if an adolescent is prepared for the responsibility of sexual knowledge, but I would like to further explore both perspectives before I concrete my opinion.
Teacher Responsibility
Considering the two extreme sexual education programs an abstinence sexual education appears to be a safe program for teachers. By teaching abstinence the teacher has only taught their students one way (a guarantied way) to decrease the likelihood of pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. If a student does become pregnant the student did not listen to their teacher, and no one can blame the teacher for misinforming the student on how to avoid pregnancy. The focus topic of sexual education is on the students, but the teacher is also important. The teacher must have confidence in their ability to teach fourteen-year-olds how to use a condom. A teacher is required to take on an unreasonable amount of responsibilities while teaching students a comprehensive sexual education system.
Curriculum Confinements
To teach sexual education within the confidents of a curriculum is also making the assumptions that every student in the classroom is responsible enough to handle the information. Briefly, the Information Processing Theory is the idea that the human brain works like a computer; once information is presented it is stored and when that information is needed it is pulled from the memory. If the input learned during adolescents is that when sexual desires are presented the correct out put is to remain abstinent until marriage then the out put will be abstinence until marriage. The principle is the same for comprehensive sexual education. If the input is that there are multiple ways to act on sexual desires including condoms, abstinence, positioning, or pills the adolescent has to make the choice as to what the out put will be. A set curriculum may not be the appropriate method for determining when to teach adolescents the multiple out puts to sexual desires there are. Parents, or guardians (even the adolescent themselves) should be responsible for determining the time and place to take on the responsibility that comes with sexual knowledge, not the settled school board curriculum.
Conclusion
In the article School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education written by Kerby Anderson the sources were cited in the text but the article used outdated studies, overgeneralized results, and dismissed alternate explanations; abstinence-only curriculums are still supported to protect teachers, and to personalize the timing of an adolescent’s sexual education. There does not seem to be nearly this extensive of a debate concerning the math curriculum, because deciding on sexual education feels like a moral choice. It is important when analyzing a situation to sort out the moral dilemma from evidence by critically thinking through articles, data, and studies.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
interview
I interviewed my friend Enos Ledezma. He is currently a in the advertising program at Brigham Young University. I believe that he was a good person for me to interview because his focus is advertisements for children, and families. While I am working as a teacher with children I will be aware of what media and advertisements have on children. I also thought that he would be a good person to interview because we are both interested in child development; his focus being child development through advertising, and mine in the cognitive development.
Joy: Hi, Enos. How are you doing?
Enos: I am good, and how about you Joy?
Joy: I am doing well.
Enos: Are you having a good day?
Joy: Yep
Enos: Were did you go today?
Joy: I had my child development class. I like that class. You like Children?
Enos: I love children! My favorites are my nieces and nephews. I have a lot of nieces and nephews.
Joy: I agree nieces and nephews are the best. They are so cute. Are all of your nieces and nephews little?
Enos: All of them are really young, and I love it because in their eyes I am like the perfect person. When they are getting to fussy I just hand them over to their Mom or Dad and say, “Here you go.”
Joy: Is all of your family here in the United States?
Enos: Most of them are. I went to one of my nieces birthday parties this weekend, and a lot of my family was there. I have lived in the US for a long time now. My English accent was better before I went on my mission, but what can you do?
Joy: I have never noticed your accent, so don’t worry about it.
Enos: Well thanks, but it is all about emersion.
Joy: what do you mean emersion?
Enos: You know that program that takes children who have emigrated to the United States out of the classroom and into that special class. Well it is no good. For starters it takes the child out of emersion which is how you learn a language any way, by speaking and hearing it. Then it makes the child feel like they are more of an out cast because they are not with their other friends.
Joy: I can see what you are say. Were you in the emersion program? Or did you have a special class when you first came to the US?
Enos: I was in the class, but I did this internship in High School in the elementary schools and well that was when I wanted to be a sycologist before I wanted to go into advertising. Any way there was this little girl in the class and she was in first grade reading at a fifth grade reading level, but she was reading in Spanish. The teacher had no idea what to do with her. So I just kept on talking to her in English and telling her to go and talk to her friends. By Christmas she was not only caught up with the class, but even ahead. It’s emersion! Just living and being forced to talk in that language helps.
Joy: If you like children so much what got you interested in advertising?
Enos: Well that is what got me interested in adverting? You see kids need to see good shows, and there are good things out there, but they just have really sucky advertising. I want to make people want to buy those good things. So that they have an actual choice: something good and wholesome or something not. That is what we need to give people is choices, and that is what advertising can do.
Joy: Wow! I have never thought of it that way. That is really true. Well, thanks for sharing.
Joy: Hi, Enos. How are you doing?
Enos: I am good, and how about you Joy?
Joy: I am doing well.
Enos: Are you having a good day?
Joy: Yep
Enos: Were did you go today?
Joy: I had my child development class. I like that class. You like Children?
Enos: I love children! My favorites are my nieces and nephews. I have a lot of nieces and nephews.
Joy: I agree nieces and nephews are the best. They are so cute. Are all of your nieces and nephews little?
Enos: All of them are really young, and I love it because in their eyes I am like the perfect person. When they are getting to fussy I just hand them over to their Mom or Dad and say, “Here you go.”
Joy: Is all of your family here in the United States?
Enos: Most of them are. I went to one of my nieces birthday parties this weekend, and a lot of my family was there. I have lived in the US for a long time now. My English accent was better before I went on my mission, but what can you do?
Joy: I have never noticed your accent, so don’t worry about it.
Enos: Well thanks, but it is all about emersion.
Joy: what do you mean emersion?
Enos: You know that program that takes children who have emigrated to the United States out of the classroom and into that special class. Well it is no good. For starters it takes the child out of emersion which is how you learn a language any way, by speaking and hearing it. Then it makes the child feel like they are more of an out cast because they are not with their other friends.
Joy: I can see what you are say. Were you in the emersion program? Or did you have a special class when you first came to the US?
Enos: I was in the class, but I did this internship in High School in the elementary schools and well that was when I wanted to be a sycologist before I wanted to go into advertising. Any way there was this little girl in the class and she was in first grade reading at a fifth grade reading level, but she was reading in Spanish. The teacher had no idea what to do with her. So I just kept on talking to her in English and telling her to go and talk to her friends. By Christmas she was not only caught up with the class, but even ahead. It’s emersion! Just living and being forced to talk in that language helps.
Joy: If you like children so much what got you interested in advertising?
Enos: Well that is what got me interested in adverting? You see kids need to see good shows, and there are good things out there, but they just have really sucky advertising. I want to make people want to buy those good things. So that they have an actual choice: something good and wholesome or something not. That is what we need to give people is choices, and that is what advertising can do.
Joy: Wow! I have never thought of it that way. That is really true. Well, thanks for sharing.
Monday, September 20, 2010
reaction #3
Reaction Note #3 Positive Parenting
Wednesday; in class we acted out situations and then parenting methods of how to deal with those situations. My group was in charge of physical punishment and non-physical punishment. The former style of punishment was composed of mostly reasoning and sitting down with the child to explain why and what behavior is expected. I could not help but to think about how frightening physically punishment can be.
Our group skit (although poorly preformed) included a two identical situations with the children “drawing on the white board” i.e. two college students imitating toddlers and drawing on the white board. I would like to think about the second situation first; the mother (other college student acting) came into the room and explained that until they were old enough to know how to use markers they could not use them, and that she would like to have them give her back the markers. While we were walking out of class a group of students and I made our way down the hall laughing at all of the things we remember being too young to know how to use: glue guns, paint brushes, and knives just to name a few. At the same time we laughed at the specific times and days that we were finally, finally old enough to use those items.
The first mother on the contrary came in screaming and yelling and told her daughter that she was going to have to give her, “like five spankings” because she was drawing on the wall. When the first mother said “like five spankings” the entire class started to laugh. It sounded so odd. The group of students I walked out with commented on how ridiculous this all sounded.
The ironic thing was that in our little mock skit both of the stage parents were reacting to the same situation, but all of us viewed the one mother’s response as ridiculous and the other mother’s response as practical. It really did get me thinking about adult relationships. The idea of how I would feel if another adult who I trusted came up and started beating me.
Questions like: what would church be like if the Bishop beat all of those members who confessed to him their sins? What would the testing center look like if every time you failed a test someone was just waiting at the bottom of the stairs to pound some sense into you? The truth of the matter is that if I know the Bishop was going to beat me after I confessed something to him I would just not confess, and you can forget about taking the stairs out of the testing center I would just jump out that little window on the second floor. There are lots of things that I would do to avoid someone beating me up, and more over I would avoid that person who I thought was beating me up. There is no way you would catch me walking right up to my bishop with a question about Isaiah if I know that the last kid who went into his office came out with a black eye. I imagine that children do the same, and that they would avoid their parents if they felt threatened by them.
I also started to think about proportions. Imagine how large a parent’s hand is to a child’s hand. Personally I am not a very aggressive person, and it is hard enough for me to imagine myself fighting with someone my own size, but I cannot even begin to imagine how frightening it would be to get in a fight with someone three times my height and four times my weight. Let’s see I am about five feet and six inches and I weigh about 135 pounds… that puts me getting beat up by someone who would be sixteen feet and six inches tall; they would weigh 540 pounds. That is huge! If I saw someone walking down the street that was that big I think that I would automatically be in the fight or flight mood and they would not even have to do anything.
The somewhat ridiculous skit that we did in class really did get me thinking about the actual fright that physically punishment can have on a child. In sharp contrast as mad as I was at my parents when they took the scissors from me and told me that I could not use them until I was older I can still remember when I was considered old enough to handle the scissors by myself; I felt so grown up and mature because I knew that only big-kids could use the scissors. The “punishment” of taking the scissors away with an explanation was naturally followed by the “reward” of becoming mature enough to use scissors.
Wednesday; in class we acted out situations and then parenting methods of how to deal with those situations. My group was in charge of physical punishment and non-physical punishment. The former style of punishment was composed of mostly reasoning and sitting down with the child to explain why and what behavior is expected. I could not help but to think about how frightening physically punishment can be.
Our group skit (although poorly preformed) included a two identical situations with the children “drawing on the white board” i.e. two college students imitating toddlers and drawing on the white board. I would like to think about the second situation first; the mother (other college student acting) came into the room and explained that until they were old enough to know how to use markers they could not use them, and that she would like to have them give her back the markers. While we were walking out of class a group of students and I made our way down the hall laughing at all of the things we remember being too young to know how to use: glue guns, paint brushes, and knives just to name a few. At the same time we laughed at the specific times and days that we were finally, finally old enough to use those items.
The first mother on the contrary came in screaming and yelling and told her daughter that she was going to have to give her, “like five spankings” because she was drawing on the wall. When the first mother said “like five spankings” the entire class started to laugh. It sounded so odd. The group of students I walked out with commented on how ridiculous this all sounded.
The ironic thing was that in our little mock skit both of the stage parents were reacting to the same situation, but all of us viewed the one mother’s response as ridiculous and the other mother’s response as practical. It really did get me thinking about adult relationships. The idea of how I would feel if another adult who I trusted came up and started beating me.
Questions like: what would church be like if the Bishop beat all of those members who confessed to him their sins? What would the testing center look like if every time you failed a test someone was just waiting at the bottom of the stairs to pound some sense into you? The truth of the matter is that if I know the Bishop was going to beat me after I confessed something to him I would just not confess, and you can forget about taking the stairs out of the testing center I would just jump out that little window on the second floor. There are lots of things that I would do to avoid someone beating me up, and more over I would avoid that person who I thought was beating me up. There is no way you would catch me walking right up to my bishop with a question about Isaiah if I know that the last kid who went into his office came out with a black eye. I imagine that children do the same, and that they would avoid their parents if they felt threatened by them.
I also started to think about proportions. Imagine how large a parent’s hand is to a child’s hand. Personally I am not a very aggressive person, and it is hard enough for me to imagine myself fighting with someone my own size, but I cannot even begin to imagine how frightening it would be to get in a fight with someone three times my height and four times my weight. Let’s see I am about five feet and six inches and I weigh about 135 pounds… that puts me getting beat up by someone who would be sixteen feet and six inches tall; they would weigh 540 pounds. That is huge! If I saw someone walking down the street that was that big I think that I would automatically be in the fight or flight mood and they would not even have to do anything.
The somewhat ridiculous skit that we did in class really did get me thinking about the actual fright that physically punishment can have on a child. In sharp contrast as mad as I was at my parents when they took the scissors from me and told me that I could not use them until I was older I can still remember when I was considered old enough to handle the scissors by myself; I felt so grown up and mature because I knew that only big-kids could use the scissors. The “punishment” of taking the scissors away with an explanation was naturally followed by the “reward” of becoming mature enough to use scissors.
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