A new study that indicates that abstinence-only education accomplishes something has generated interest from abstinence-only curriculum advocates, as well as the feminist community advocating for thorough, meaningful sex education designed to provide tools for safe, consensual sex to young people.
The study found that an abstinence-only curriculum delayed sexual initiation, and did not reduce condom use. "The classes also did not portray sex negatively or suggest that condoms are ineffective, and contained only medically accurate information," according to the New York Times. Medical News Today explained that "the abstinence-only curriculum included in the study differed greatly from current abstinence-only programs" actively in use in schools.
Even with these alleged benefits to dropping a comprehensive sex education program, Feministing rightly said, "We still have a moral responsibility to teach young people about contraception. Teenagers deserve the truth about sexual health - and as much information as we can possibly provide." The Guttmacher Institute points out some of the truths here.
This study comes on the heels of findings that "the nation's teen-pregnancy rate increased by three percent in 2006. The Guttmacher study is the latest evidence that our nation is facing an adolescent-reproductive health crisis, with one in four teenage girls having a sexually transmitted disease and one-third of teenage girls becoming pregnant before reaching the age of 20," according to Naral Pro-Choice. To knowingly pull away from comprehensive sex education in an environment like this would compromise the long term reproductive health of young men and women. -TLF
Friday, February 5, 2010
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