Abstinence-only education does not lead to abstinent behavior, UGA researchers find

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/abstinence-only-education-does-not-lead-to-abstinent-behavior/

Abstinence-only education does not lead to abstinent behavior, UGA researchers find

November 29, 2011

Athens, Ga. - States that prescribe abstinence-only sex education programs in public schools have significantly higher teenage pregnancy and birth rates than states with more comprehensive sex education programs, researchers from the University of Georgia have determined.

The researchers looked at teen pregnancy and birth data from 48 U.S. states to evaluate the effectiveness of those states' approaches to sex education, as prescribed by local laws and policies.

"Our analysis adds to the overwhelming evidence indicating that abstinence-only education does not reduce teen pregnancy rates," said Kathrin Stanger-Hall, assistant professor of plant biology and biological sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Hall is first author on the resulting paper, which has been published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

…

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024658

[progressoid]

1. Huh. Imagine that.

[polichick]

2. They're just producing less informed and less protected kids with raging hormones...

Yippeeeeee!

[dtexdem]

3. No surprise there.

Of course, math education does not lead most teens to math behavior either. ;-)

But comprehensive sex education DOES show improved outcomes on teen pregnancy rates, while nonsense-only, I mean abstinence-only, sex ed does not.

[Vincardog]

4. However nonsense-only, I mean abstinence-only, sex ed does lead to higher rates oh STDs as well

[libinnyandia]

5. Abstinence only will work if teenagers are kept under constant

supervision and are not allowed to be together alone.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Courtship and Sexual Freedom in Eighteenth-Century America

http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/4/9.extract

…

It was not unusual for courting couples in late eighteenth-century New England to spend the night with each other—often in their parents' homes and with their parents' permission. Andrew Burnaby, a young Englishman who was traveling through the North American colonies in 1759–1760, reported as follows: “At their usual time the old couple retire to bed, leaving the young ones to settle matters as they can, who after having sat up as long as they think proper, get into bed also, but without pulling off their undergarments, in order to prevent scandal” (1). Other visitors from abroad noted with astonishment that parents generally knew about and condoned these overnight visits. The young couples in question were not necessarily even betrothed—they had sometimes known each other for only a brief time. Some parents did require that the young people remain partially clothed—bundling, in contemporary parlance. This was an attempt to prevent the couple from engaging in sexual intercourse, though the high incidence of premarital pregnancy suggests that this strategy was not entirely effective. By the late eighteenth century, between 30 and 40 percent of New England brides were pregnant (2).

…

[mindwalker_i]

7. That's not even the goal

It's like the TSA and their security theater. People feel better because "they're doing something" but that something doesn't actually increase security. Likewise, parents feel good about it because the schools are teaching their kids to be virtuous. Never mind that it has no or the opposite effect. That doesn't matter.

[WildNovember]

8. I've always thought that all those programs that are supposed to prevent sex, drug use,

drinking, etc actually have a paradoxical effect, at least for a subset of kids.

All the time wasted on that boring stuff would be better spent getting the kids involved in real-life activities that interest them and make them feel useful, competent, part of a community, etc.