Should we just say no to "just say no"?
In a lively comments thread (!), Judith indicates STDs are indeed on the rise among young people, prompting Doug to lament "I guess we can't assume pregnancies are down because of responsible condom use."

I guess not, but do you know who's responsible for much of that? The crack staff at Article 19 has identified a primary culprit to be social conservatives, of course.

"Bearman (co-author of the study) said that telling teens to "'just say no,' without understanding risk or how to protect oneself from risk, turns out to create greater risk." "After they break their pledge, the gates are open, and they catch up." Bearman said, "These [virginity pledge] movements that are ignorant of social science research defeat the purpose they set out to solve." He also said, "It's difficult to simultaneously prepare for sex and say you're not going to have sex," adding, "It is the combination of hidden sex and unsafe sex that creates a world where people underestimate the risk of STDs."

On the other hand, apparently whatever they're getting, it's not Herpes. Somebody's doing something right. I don't pretend to know who or what. I know they are getting better at treating that one (I mean, uh, that's what I've heard). So maybe it's because of that.