Abstinence Only Not Effective in Killing Teen Lust!

Report Underscores Need for Comprehensive Sex Ed
By Deb Price, Creators Syndicate
Posted on April 23, 2007, Printed on April 24, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/50957/

True or False?

Adolescents who've participated in school programs advocating sexual abstinence until marriage -- and teaching nothing about ways for sexually active people to avoid AIDS and unwanted pregnancies -- are less likely to have sex than other teenagers.

Well, after paying a whopping $1.5 billion for "abstinence only" programs, we taxpayers finally have a conclusive answer: False.

A congressionally mandated study that tracked 2,057 kids for several years -- until, on average, they were almost 17 years old -- found that most (51 percent) started having sex, regardless of whether they'd been taught "abstinence only."

"Youth in the (abstinence) program group were no more likely than control group youth to have abstained from sex and, among those who reported having had sex, they had similar numbers of sexual partners," concludes the new report by Mathematica Policy Research Inc. (Find it by Googling "Impacts of Four Abstinence Education Programs.")

Just 49 percent of each teen group remained abstinent. Of those having sex, equal numbers always used a condom (just 23 percent). And the sexually active in both groups, on average, first had intercourse at 14.9 years old.

What else is true? Sexually active teens aren't doing nearly enough to protect themselves. Each year, one-quarter of them contracts a sexually transmitted disease. And about 800,000 teenage girls a year get pregnant.

What's also true is that although some adults like to believe in the no-sex-before-marriage fairy tale, the reality is that 95 percent of Americans eventually have unmarried sex, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which studies sexuality.

So, we adults are miserably failing our nation's children by allowing Uncle Sam to tell states that it won't help pay for sex education other than "abstinence only" courses that either don't mention condoms and other ways to make sex safer or mention them only to stress failure rates.

As U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, says, "We need to get real about sex education." She advocates a common-sense approach: Federal support for comprehensive, potentially lifesaving sex ed -- what she calls "abstinence plus."

She's introduced the Responsible Education About Life Act, which would give states money to educate kids about pregnancy prevention and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, not merely about just saying no to sex. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has introduced the companion bill.

Lee points out, "We should absolutely be teaching young people about abstinence, but we shouldn't be holding back information that can save lives and prevent unwanted pregnancies."

Children tend to hit puberty around 13. By 15, most are having sex. So, we need to arm them early with accurate information.

Adults often think kids know everything about sex. It's not true. Mathematic found 28 percent in "abstinence only" programs either think birth control pills can at least sometimes prevent HIV or aren't sure. (They can't.) And 35 percent didn't know that condoms can prevent HIV.

Every year, nearly 20,000 young Americans, ages 13 to 24, contract HIV. A heartbreaking 73 percent are African-American.

In getting real about sex, the federal government should push states to recognize the needs of gay youth, who tragically are usually left out. The American Journal of Public Health reported in 2001 that gay adolescents take fewer risks if they receive "gay-sensitive" instruction about HIV.

It's time to scrap wasteful, ineffective abstinence-only programs. Let's replace them with comprehensive sex education that benefits all kids.

Deb Price of The Detroit News writes the first nationally syndicated column on gay issues.