Hey, I’m all for freelance writing. You may know I’m also for NFP.
However, I’m not for learning NFP from an article, let alone an article that’s 600 words.
While I admire this writer’s courage and innovation in writing about NFP in a secular venue (we need all the promotion we can get), I’m don’t think it’s a great idea to give a drive-by instruction (especially one that’s very incomplete!) in an article about NFP. It gives people who are new to NFP the impression that *this* is NFP, it’s that simple, and you’re ready to rock with fertility awareness.
Yikes! This certainly begs another post on learning through a book vs. learning from an instructor, but as you can see from the article, her description of NFP, while well intentioned, is really incomplete at best, and misleading at worst. There’s a lot of people looking for information on NFP on the web, and if this article was among the first things they found, they may have the impression they’re ready to go, which–depending on their intention and outlook–could be quite a negative experience.
So, would you jump on over to Suite101, and (kindly, charitably) invite this well-intentioned writer to THINK AGAIN on her approach to promoting NFP? Be sure to affirm and support her pro-NFP outlook, including your thoughts on a better way to begin.
(Please Note: if you want your comment to be posted, you need to register with Suite101. I didn’t join, and my comment, which is being moderated, still hasn’t been posted.)
8 Responses to ThAT 8: Learn NFP from an article!
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Sent in a comment. I didn’t join, so it’s being moderated… we’ll see if it actually gets posted.
I agree with you… too often people think they can read something in about 5 mins and they are covered with understanding the process. Its so much more… which is where the beauty is too.
Yeah, I’m not sure what the deal is with Suite101.com, but it was such an off approach to introducing NFP, I couldn’t help myself…had to blog about it. I looked for direct contact info for the author to see what the hold up with the comment moderation was, but couldn’t find any. We’ll see…
Amen, sister.
Hi Jess,
I have to say that as much as the article was brief, yes, and a highly inadequate mode of instruction, I wouldn’t have felt confident trying it based on a basic outline like that! However, being a technically-minded person, explanations like that are interesting and without basic explanations like that the online world of NFP can be a bit hard to get – kind of like if everyone kept saying “chocolate is wonderful!” without telling you what “chocolate”was made up of – If you had no real-world experience of it, how would you know it wasn’t a nickname for a drug like amphetamines or produced from a plant like marijuana?
Added to that she does actually say at the bottom of the article “take a class or consult a health professional” so i’m not sure she’s aiming to give more than a brief overview for people who are curious-but-want-more-info to help decide whether it’s worth pursuing.
I’m liking the ThAT series, i just don’t think this one’s a problem
Alison
Was that last line there before? The one about “take a class or consult a health or fertility professional”? I really don’t remember that being there this morning when I read the article. When I submitted my comment this morning I said that if all she was going to give was basic information that she needed to point people in the direction of further information, such as an NFP instructor. Is this progress? – because I really don’t remember that being there before.
Nearly 12 hours later, there are still no comments posted.
Yeah, I think you’re right, Angela. Alison, she didn’t have that line there before, which is why I was a little perturbed. I’m further perturbed that’s she’s not posted the comments. What’s a comment box for then? It’s not called the “self-aggrandizement” box.
Also, Alison, I have strong feelings about this because, although you wouldn’t feel confident trying NFP like this (you’re also NFP-aware), many people somehow *do* feel confident by learning with minimal instructions. I can’t tell you how many women’s comments I’ve seen on NFP Chat Boards/ Fora saying things like “I don’t have egg-white mucus so I’m not fertile,” “Ovulation takes place on day 14,” and other erroneous notions about NFP. Where did they learn this? It’s usually online web sites purporting to “teach” NFP, “a friend told me,” or “I read it in a pamphlet.” As helpful as those sources can be, they’re not a substitute for learning. We know this, but it’s amazing how many people don’t.
I do appreciate your honesty, Alison, though, and I’m glad you stopped by. Thanks for being a faithful ThAT reader! Keep me posted if you see a more worthy piece/ article for future posts!
No, no, Jess. I think we all learned from our good friend Rachel that the combox is only for positive comments or non-sequitor replies to invisible comments. You just need to learn to be more obsequious. Repeat with me: “Yes, ma’am. Everything you say is correct.”
Unfortunately (and here comes my comment that should be shown because I’m agreeing
), since the beginning of time people have taken a little tiny bit of information and extrapolated it until they believed themselves an expert, then told everyone else about it. It’s just a bit easier now with the internet. The only thing we can do is keep informing people like we do here, and hope that the few will be willing to acknowledge how little they do know. Bravo for another ThAT that made a small difference!