Gratitude - 12/18/18

I am so grateful for a few things today.

I am really grateful for my sister in law today. She sent me a message letting me know how much she cares about me and that I have a heart of gold. That message really meant a lot to me and has helped me to smile over the week. It has also brought a thought to mind... what am I doing with that heart of gold? Am I helping others? How am I using that heart and generosity to help others? I am grateful to the joy and wonderment she brought into my life this week.

I love John Oliver. I learn so much from him and appreciate the research and work his team accomplishes to educate his viewers and it makes a difference in my life. One of my final school papers before I graduated was on sexual education - I got the idea for the paper and started my research using one of his episodes. (See link here) I have been able to rest some days this week and go over some of his older episodes and enjoy and relearn. I am glad to have the opportunity to re-watch them through Youtube and think over the information contained in them.

I got two Christmas cards today. One of them is from my brother and his family and the pictures and the joy contained in them are so obvious and wonderful. I put it on my fridge and I look at it every time I walk by. One of my nieces looks a lot like me and I look in awe of genetics and how genes can be turned on in different pieces of different families. Bug doesn't look much like me at all if I think about it. The other card is from a good friend who sent me the newest noise Christmas album that he put together with music from lots of groups. I can't wait to listen to it tomorrow when I'm trying to get a good walk in. I'm not going to do Christmas cards this year so I am very grateful for every card that I get. They give me a lot of joy.

I discovered a new author today- B.B. Haywood. I have started the author's first book ("Town in a Blueberry Jam") and I am enjoying it in my free time very much.


I had a gluten exposure recently and I have been fighting the pain and exhaustion that comes with it. It hasn't been that bad this time and I am so glad that I am spending less time just fighting my body to get it to move and do what needs to be done. I am thankful for my treadmill because I can walk slowly and intermittently in a warm place... Maine sure is cold right now. Being able to try and keep my health up in a warm safe place is not something I take for granted.

I am grateful for my very best friend. She keeps me sane, less lonely, thoughtful, and as self sufficient as I can be right now. She is supportive and I can't thank her enough.

I am grateful for my ex. He really does a lot of things for me and I appreciate it very much. I am very grateful.

What are you grateful for today?

Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: Sources

This post is just the full list of sources including some sources that I didn't use. It is not fully comprehensive of all potential sources, but it is mostly complete. So for those readers who want to do some research of their own, here is a good start. Also here is a link to a show that gave me the idea to do the research to begin with: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver- Sexual Education.


Works Cited

1. Blount, J. M. (2016). Controlling Sex: Modern Histories of Sex Education. Reviews in American History, 44(4), 611-62.

2. Denny, G., & Young, M. (2006). An Evaluation of an Abstinence‐Only Sex Education Curriculum: An 18‐Month Follow‐up. Journal of School Health, 76(8), 414-422.

3. Denny, G., Young, M., Rausch, S., & Spear, C. (2002). An Evaluation of an Abstinence Education Curriculum Series: Sex Can Wait. American Journal Of Health Behavior. 26(5), 366-377.

4. Frieden, T., Jaffe, H., Cono, J. et al. (2015) Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health- Related Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12- United States and Selected Sites, 2015. MMWR Surveill Summ 2016; 65, p.19-22, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/pdfs/ss6509.pdf

5. Gates, G. (2017) Vermont Leads States LGBT Identification, Gallop, retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/203513/vermont-leads-states-lgbt-identification.aspx

6. Hess, A. (2010). Hold the Sex, Please: the Discursive Politics between National and Local Abstinence Education Providers. Sex Education, 10(3), 251-266. doi:10.1080/14681811.2010.491632

7. Jackson, J. (2007) Unmasking Identities: An Exploration of the Lives of Gay and Lesbian Teachers. Lanham, Maryland. Lexington Books

8. Jeffries, W. L., Dodge, B., Bandiera, F. C., & Reece, M. (2010). Beyond abstinence-only: relationships between abstinence education and comprehensive topic instruction. Sex Education, 10(2), 171-185. doi:10.1080/14681811003666317

9. Jennings, K. (2005) One Teacher In 10. Los Angeles, California. Alyson Books
10. Kirby, D., Short, L., Collins, J., Rugg, D., Kolbe, L., Howard, M., … Zabin, L. S. (1994). School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports, 109(3), 339–360.

11. Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2008). Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344-351.

12. Luker, K. (2006). When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex- and Sex Education- Since the Sixties. New York, W.W. Norton and Company.

13. Macapagal, K., Coventry, R., Arbeit, M., Fisher, C., and Mustanski, B. (2017) “I won’t out myself just to do a survey”: Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents’ Perspectives on the Risks and Benefits of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 46, Issue 5, pp 1393–1409.

14. no author. (2017) LGBT Youth. CDC, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm

15. no author. (2017). Sex and HIV Education. Guttmacher Institute, retrieved https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

16. no author. (2013) Statistical Data- Clark County School District, retrieved on http://www.ccsd.net/resources/budget-finance-department/pdf/publications/cabr/2013/statistical-data.pdf

17. no author. (2017). Sexual Behaviors : HIV, STD, & Teen Pregnancy Prevention. CDC : information gleaned from Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/sexualbehaviors/

18. no author. (2017). Teen Pregnancy in the United States. CDC : information gleaned from Division of Reproductive Health and National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm

19. Rubenstein, R. (2017). Sex Education: Funding Facts, Not Fear. Health Matrix: Journal Of Law-Medicine, 27525-554.

20. Segal, C. (2017). Eight States Censor LGBTQ Topics in School. Now, a Lawsuit is Challenging That. PBS, retrieved http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/lgbtq-issues-class-lawsuit-utah/

21. Silva, M. (2002). The effectiveness of school-based sex education programs in the promotion of abstinent behavior: a meta-analysis. Health Education Research, 17(4), 471-48.

22. Shtarkshall, R., Santilli, J., and Hirsch, J., (2007). Sex Education and Sexual Socialization: Roles for Educators and Parents. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 166-119.

23. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the US. PLoS One, 6(10), e24658.

24. Valenti, J. (2009) The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. Berkeley, California, Seal Press.

25. Weed, S. E., Ericksen, I. H., Lewis, A., Grant, G. E., & Wibberly, K. H. (2008). An abstinence program's impact on cognitive mediators and sexual initiation. American Journal of Health Behavior, 32(1), 60-73.
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26. Zimmerman, J. (2015). Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.

Other Sources not quoted.....


https://mic.com/articles/123634/john-oliver-laverne-cox-and-nick-offerman-just-gave-us-the-sex-ed-psa-america-needs#.llodWwE3h

Guttmacher Institute, Sex and STD/HIV education, State Policies in Brief, October 2011,, accessed Oct. 19, 2011.

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-domitrz/the-conversation-we-need-_b_7968198.html

http://www.thejournal.ie/john-oliver-sex-ed-2263891-Aug2015/

https://www.thecut.com/2015/08/john-oliver-made-a-very-helpful-sex-ed-video.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-oliver-eviscerates-american-sex-ed-but-the-reality-is-even-worse-20150813

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-john-oliver-blast-subpar-sex-education-in-u-s-schools-20150810

http://www.agreenroadjournal.com/2015/08/sex-education-last-week-tonight-with.html

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/john-oliver-sex-ed-psa-laverne-cox-jonathan-banks-nick-offerman-1201566669/

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex

https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2012/sex-education-linked-delay-first-sex

https://thinkprogress.org/teen-pregnancies-highest-in-states-with-abstinence-only-policies-8aa0deeebb41

http://www.ibtimes.com/states-reconsider-abstinence-only-sex-ed-programs-obama-congress-battle-over-teen-1804460

https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

Zombie Debt

There are many different ways to discuss and label debt- student, credit, medical, etc... One form of debt that isn't talked about much is Zombie debt. I ended up spending a few hours on the phone today between hospitals and insurances and have found myself the new and proud owner of medical debt... from 2015. So two months ago it didn't exist... and now it does. It certainly messes with your budget to have to reconfigure how you spend money based on information that you couldn't have had when you made it. Learning that more of these unknown expenses are probably headed my way as my health insurance *still* hasn't paid on these bills for the last two years doesn't really feel great. And while I thought about it and what choices I need to make, I thought about the term 'zombie debt' and how I originally had heard it. So here is a clip to the show "Last Week Tonight" discussing medical debt and debt buying organizations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c

Paying off my 'new' medical debt won't be fun, but it could certainly be worse. I could have the experience of many of the people mentioned in this episode. I guess it might be a valuable thing for everyone to remember- even if you have insurance and they should pay the bill.... if they don't, you are still on the hook. There are no exceptions. Medical debt also is treated as bad debt by credit reporting companies even though people can not help becoming sick in the vast majority of cases. I wish I had fewer health problems and I confess... even though I have insurance now (and had at the time of my 'new' debt) my gut reaction is to stop going to the doctor because I have no idea if in two years I will have to pay for the visit, procedure, etc... I dearly hope for single payer/ universal healthcare for the next generation. It is needed for so many reasons.

Sigh... maybe someday.