Proponents of abstinence-only sex education were gloating recently when studies cited by the Heritage Foundation showed that several new abstinence-only programs in the country have effectively lowered teen pregnancy. They took it as proof that teaching teens about safer sex is unnecessary.
We disagree.
The notion that an abstinence-only approach is widely effective is defied by the facts: A 1994 poll on adult sexual behavior, the largest ever taken, found that 93 percent of American men and 79 percent of American women had sexual relations before marriage. In a 1999 youth risk-behavior survey by the Centers for Disease Control, 49.9 percent of high-school students reported that they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
Somehow, the $135 million "just say no" campaign being pushed by the Bush Administration looks a little out of step with the American public — and dangerously deluded when it comes to protecting teens from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
There is some faulty reasoning in the argument that the success of abstinence-only education — especially in areas of the country where there previously was no sex-ed whatsoever — somehow justifies not providing kids information about contraception. Abstinence, the only 100 percent effective way to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases, is a fundamental component of comprehensive sex education. And while the evidence that promoting abstinence decreases pregnancy is hardly a revelation, abstinence-only proponents have been unable to prove the second component of their argument — that denying information about contraceptives to teens, instead of providing it, will reduce unwanted pregnancies.
The effectiveness of programs that teach both abstinence and contraception has been documented by the CDC, the National Institute of Health, the American Society of Pediatrics and the Institute of Medicine.
On an average day, 50 teens in the United States contract HIV, nearly 2,500 become pregnant, and 8,500 more contract a sexually transmitted disease. Some kids will avoid sex, but many won’t. The United States has the industrialized world’s highest pregnancy and STD rates among teens. A balanced approach that supports abstinence but also faces reality and teaches sexually-active teens how to protect themselves in a potentially life-and-death situation just makes sense.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
