Very minor point: the withdrawal method (can&#x27;t believe I&#x27;m actually talking about this on HN...) is actually pretty okay, and about as effective (comparing both perfect use, and imperfect use) as condoms: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Comparison_of_birth_control_methods" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Comparison_of_birth_control_me...</a> 
With a caveat: If you&#x27;re a teenage boy with poor self control and an even poorer sense of how your own body works, it&#x27;s probably not for you. If you&#x27;re a woman who doesn&#x27;t completely trust her partner and his ability to do this correctly, it&#x27;s probably not for you. And, obviously, it doesn&#x27;t prevent STDs in the same way that a condom would (although it likely decreases HIV transmission).<p>That&#x27;s the big reason that, if it is mentioned at all in an educational context, it&#x27;s to tell people not to do it, and play up the dangers. Scare the kids (who are at higher risk of the method failing) into no using it. Obviously, there are much better methods of birth control, but the withdrawal method gets a lot more flak than it deserves, IMO