Abstinence Education Is the Key
by Moira Gaul
July 14, 2009
After 30 years of implementation and evaluation, there is no compelling evidence of contraceptive distribution and instruction programs having had a sustained and meaningful effect on “protective” behaviors-that is, “consistent and correct condom use” in classroom-type settings. As a public health intervention method, contraceptive programs have simply failed American youth: An STD epidemic currently exists amongst young people. One in four teenage girls nationwide has an STD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the U.S. continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world; and the toll from the negative psychological sequelae associated with adolescent sex is having an impact on mental health and the pursuit of life-goals.
Decreasing teen sexual activity is key to decreasing poverty, since single parenting is strongly linked to poverty. Research shows that the younger a teen starts having sex, the greater risk of pregnancy. A 2002 study from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that slmost half of all girls who have sex before age 15 get pregnant, The distribution of contraceptives does nothing to promote healthy relationships, healthy family formation, and marriage, where a greater probability for economic stability exists.
As well as increased risk of non-marital pregnancy, substance abuse and poor academic achievement are associated with teen sexual activity and can affect school drop-out rates. According to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, those who were sexually active were three times more likely to be depressed than those who were abstinent. By contrast, teens who abstain from sex enhance their abilities to achieve short-term and long-term life goals.
Young people deserve a whole-person approach, including physical, emotional, and psychological dimensions. The primary prevention strategy, or risk-avoidance abstinence approach, provides for a health paradigm in which youth are better able to develop during adolescent years and from which society will benefit.
Moira Gaul is the Director of Women’s and Reproductive Health at the Family Research Council.
This article originally appeared in Business Week on July 6, 2009.
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Comments
There is a very interesting case-study for abstinence as the key to preventing STDs in Uganda. This is the only African country that has not only stopped their AIDS rate growth, but actually decreased it, by implementing a campaign that focused on abstinence rather than the use of condoms. I think it is time to completely revise our approach, not only to sex in particular, but to our humanity in general. To propose abstinence as a viable way of behavior we have to first establish that the “sexual drive” teenagers (and people in general) feel is only an impulse, and not an irresistible instinct. If we can liberate the minds of our children, we can liberate their bodies, and save their lives.
No compelling evidence? During the years of a comprehensive sex-ed program that included both abstinence and prophylaxis in the curricula, we had lower abortion rates than afterwards, when George W. Bush advocated an abstinence-only sex-ed policy.
I don’t think ignorance of other options in the hopes that kids will just not have sex is really the right option here. It seems fairly clear that when we educated them more, abortion rates dropped.
I went to a private Christian high school, where neither they nor my parents explained the appropriate and effective use of any contraceptives whatsoever. Now even if we assume the attempts to encourage abstinence were 100% effective—which they weren’t given six pregnancies out of a class of 84—we ignore the fact that it is abstinence until marriage that we are advocating. If a young person gets married and doesn’t know what non-abortive contraceptive options are available to them, aren’t we still being irresponsible in not providing that information?
On top of that, not everyone’s value systems or religions place abstinence on an altar, so forcing that particular view on people who may not share it is something I am especially uncomfortable with. It only further justifies other attempts to force other worldviews into an educational curriculum that is already contaminated with too much opinion and not enough education. It’s like the lady said about religion in public schools: “Yes Mr. Superintendent, I would be thrilled to have religion brought into our school. And since I’m sure we’re in complete agreement, you’ll have no problem if the religion we teach is mine.”
By: thinker33 | July 14, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Great article! Why can’t we get a piece like this printed in the mainstream news?
The facts are being hidden from the general public. More facts and stats are on abstinence are on the site from the NAEA – http://www.abstinenceworks.org. Keep up the good work! The facts and truth will win!