In case you haven’t heard the news, an abstinence-only sex education program was found to be effective. This is the first time a rigorous study has found any abstinence-only program to have long-lasting, measurable effects. The authors were quick to point out that this is only one study and no policies should be based on it, but I have a feeling that the abstinence-only folks are jumping up and down with joy.
Before they hurt themselves, however, it’s important to take a closer look at the curriculum used in this research. Besides advocating waiting to have sex, this curriculum couldn’t be farther from what most abstinence-only curriculum teaches. Sarah Brown of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy pointed out that this curriculum, as opposed to most abstinence-only curriculum “did not advocate abstinence until marriage. The classes also did not portray sex negatively or suggest that condoms are ineffective, and contained only medically accurate information”.
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