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FrankRep
02-06-2010, 08:29 AM
A study released February 1 by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is giving proponents of abstinence-only sex education programs reason to cheer. By Dave Bohon


Abstinence Education Effective, Study Finds (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/education/2890-abstinence-education-effective-study-finds)


Dave Bohon | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
05 February 2010


A study released February 1 by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is giving proponents of abstinence-only sex education programs reason to cheer. The federally funded project, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, found that abstinence education models are more effective than their comprehensive sex education counterparts in encouraging pre-teens from having sex.

In the study, 662 African-American sixth and seventh grade students were split into random groups for participation in Saturday “interventions” programs, with one group attending a session that promoted an abstinence-only message, another attending a session that focused on a “safer sex” message, another attending a session that combined a message of abstinence and safer-sex, and a control group that received a health promotion message.

Results of the study appear to confirm that when kids receive a message focused on abstinence, a majority are more likely to say no to sex. Researchers found that within two years after the programs, only one-third of the students participating in the abstinence-only program reported having sexual intercourse, while more than half of those participating in programs with the safer-sex message (which promoted condom use) said they had sexual intercourse. And more than 40 percent of those students participating in the program that combined abstinence and safer-sex messages reported having sex within the two-year period.

While the abstinence intervention program did not eliminate sexual activity completely, the study did demonstrate that such a program can successfully reduce the number of adolescents having sex.

Leslee Unruh of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, an organization promoting abstinence education programs nationwide, said that the study proves “what those of us who have been teaching abstinence have known for years,” which is that abstinence-based sex education programs “help develop self control and self esteem, teaching kids they do not need to fall prey to the game of Russian Roulette with condoms.”

Unruh argued that the abstinence message is one that today’s young people are open to. “This study shows youth are making healthier choices and changing their behavior in response to this refreshing message,” she said.

Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the 16,000-member Christian Medical Association, said the study shows that “science has finally caught up with logic and what parents have known for centuries by empirically demonstrating that equipping teens to abstain from sexual activity is an effective way to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”

Ironically, at the same time the results of the study were appearing in the February 2010 issue of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, published by the American Medical Association, officials at the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of the pro-abortion Planned Parenthood Federation of America, were touting their own study, which they said demonstrates the ineffectiveness of abstinence-based sex education (Click here to read more about the Guttmacher study (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/component/content/article/41-rotator-news/2844-why-the-rise-in-teen-pregnancy-rates)).

But with no apparent axe to grind in the debate over which sex-education model is the best, Dr. John B. Jemmott III, the University of Pennsylvania professor who led the federally funded study, admitted, “I think we’ve written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence.”

Noted Dr. Stevens of the Christian Medical Association, “Many groups and individuals up until yesterday had relentlessly railed against abstinence programs as totally ineffective, even counterproductive. They had used their own studies to convince many legislators, including President Obama, to eliminate federal funding for abstinence programs altogether, in the process depriving teens and their parents from a potent resource that can mean a lifesaving difference.”

A survey from Zogby International found that when parents understand the difference between abstinence education and comprehensive sex education, their support for abstinence programs jumps from 40 percent to 60 percent, while their support for comprehensive sex-ed programs drops from 50 percent to 30 percent.

Concluded Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association, “If we are serious about reaching teens with the skills they need to resist sexual activity, the findings supporting the effectiveness of abstinence education should not be ignored.”


SOURCE:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/education/2890-abstinence-education-effective-study-finds

ChaosControl
02-06-2010, 09:51 AM
Abstinence is the only 100% guarantee against STDs and pregnancy. It is the only responsible choice if you aren't ready to raise a child.

Really they should even wait to marriage, but at the very least they should wait until they can afford the possibility of a child.

But teaching children about responsibility is parent's job, not the school. Although I guess I do not have any problems with the school also teaching abstinence.

tangent4ronpaul
02-06-2010, 01:04 PM
This is interesting, but what is it really saying?

We've got 3 groups of 220 students each - lets call it 200 each to make the math more clear. so:

Abstinence only - 66 of them had sex anyway
Abstinence + safe sex - 80 of them had sex anyway
Just safe sex - 100 of them had sex.

These are 6th and 7th graders, so 12 and 13 years old. 2 years later they were surveyed when they would have been 14 and 15. It's pretty common for teenagers to become sexually active between the ages of 14 and 16 +/- so we would expect that at least a third of them wouldn't have had sex anyway at the time the survey was done. The results would have been more interesting if they had waited another year or two to get results.

But yes, abstinence education does seem to be effective in delaying the onset of sexual activity.

The 2 looming questions beyond that are:

1) as all students were african americans, do the results apply to other ethnic groups.

2) of the 66 in the abstinence only group that had sex anyway, how many got pregnant because they didn't get the safe sex part?

-t

Goldhunter27
02-06-2010, 01:11 PM
They don't know what their missing out on:p

Slutter McGee
02-06-2010, 02:32 PM
So less are having sex. I bet more are getting pregnant.

Abstinence education is nothing more than scare tactics.

Sincerely,

Slutter McGee

nate895
02-06-2010, 02:43 PM
This is interesting, but what is it really saying?

We've got 3 groups of 220 students each - lets call it 200 each to make the math more clear. so:

Abstinence only - 66 of them had sex anyway
Abstinence + safe sex - 80 of them had sex anyway
Just safe sex - 100 of them had sex.

These are 6th and 7th graders, so 12 and 13 years old. 2 years later they were surveyed when they would have been 14 and 15. It's pretty common for teenagers to become sexually active between the ages of 14 and 16 +/- so we would expect that at least a third of them wouldn't have had sex anyway at the time the survey was done. The results would have been more interesting if they had waited another year or two to get results.

But yes, abstinence education does seem to be effective in delaying the onset of sexual activity.

The 2 looming questions beyond that are:

1) as all students were african americans, do the results apply to other ethnic groups.

2) of the 66 in the abstinence only group that had sex anyway, how many got pregnant because they didn't get the safe sex part?

-t

Of course, this is all the is-ought problem anyway. Just because more or less are having sex/getting pregnant due to abstinence-only education or "safe-sex" education doesn't make either right or wrong. That is a question of what is the ultimate moral authority for determining what right or wrong is.

RM918
02-06-2010, 02:54 PM
In the study, 662 African-American sixth and seventh grade students were split into random groups for participation in Saturday “interventions” programs, with one group attending a session that promoted an abstinence-only message, another attending a session that focused on a “safer sex” message, another attending a session that combined a message of abstinence and safer-sex, and a control group that received a health promotion message.

Results of the study appear to confirm that when kids receive a message focused on abstinence, a majority are more likely to say no to sex. Researchers found that within two years after the programs, only one-third of the students participating in the abstinence-only program reported having sexual intercourse, while more than half of those participating in programs with the safer-sex message (which promoted condom use) said they had sexual intercourse. And more than 40 percent of those students participating in the program that combined abstinence and safer-sex messages reported having sex within the two-year period.

Wow. Half of all eighth graders? I don't think I even started dating until I was in high school, and I was 13 when I was in eighth grade. When I was in middle school, I think my attentions were more thoroughly focused on Pokemon rather than getting laid.

Zippyjuan
02-06-2010, 06:34 PM
It is fine and good to encourage kids not to have sex before they are ready but I think they should also be taught what to do or not do in the event that they do try it such as using protection.

http://www.openeducation.net/2009/01/05/abstinence-only-sex-education-statistics-final-nail-in-the-coffin/

Effectiveness of Program
Previously, when discussing abstinence-only education, most people would reference a recent summary by the Cochrane Collaboration. The Cochrane folks studied 13 abstinence-only education programs – they could not find one that showed an “enduring effect” on teen’s sexual behavior.

In addition to the Cochrane study, another federally funded study of four abstinence-only programs by the Mathematica Policy Research Inc., published in April of 2007, revealed similar results. The research group found that “participants had just as many sexual partners as nonparticipants and had sex at the same median age as nonparticipants.” In other words, abstinence education programs did nothing favorable – the result was the same as if there were no program being offered at all.

Now a third study, this by Janet E. Rosenbaum of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, revealed some of the most troubling data of all. A national longitudinal study of adolescents, specifically 934 high school students, examined one of the factors used as a measurement of success for abstinence-only education programs, the virginity pledge.

Final Nail in the Coffin
In the most recent study, researchers compared teens who had taken the virginity pledge to those who had not taken a pledge. The researchers found results similar to the aforementioned studies.

First, the rate of the teens taking part in sex was the same. Those taking the virginity pledge were just as likely to have intercourse. The only positive, statistically small, was that those taking the pledge had 0.1 fewer sex partners over the five year study than did those who did not take such a pledge.

However, two other findings were most damning. First, those taking the virginity pledge were less likely to protect themselves. Pledge takers were found to be less frequent users of condoms and other forms of birth control.

Therefore, those youngsters who took the virginity pledge were not only just as likely to have intercourse, they ultimately were more likely to take part in sex in an unsafe manner. This has led experts to conclude that the lessons students take from their abstinence-only education programs is a negative and/or faulty view of contraception.

So over a few years time, those in abstinence programs were averaging just as much sex but were less likely to be protected- leading to more pregnancy and STDs. Basically they learned not to not have sex but not to use things like condoms.

tangent4ronpaul
02-06-2010, 08:23 PM
This thread was linked to from one on an increase in teen pregnancies. It was fairly recent. Link anyone?

Anyway, on Stossel tonight, it was mentioned that teen pregnancy rates have been going down for 20 years, and while it is technically true that there is a SLIGHT rise in teen pregnancy - it's very minor, and overall the general trend has been a MASSIVE decline.

-t

sevin
02-06-2010, 08:46 PM
Researchers found that within two years after the programs, only one-third of the students participating in the abstinence-only program reported having sexual intercourse, while more than half of those participating in programs with the safer-sex message (which promoted condom use) said they had sexual intercourse.

Kids who go to abstinence programs and take their little abstinence pledges tend to lie about whether they have sex. Also, at least the kids in the second group are probably wearing condoms. I think a more accurate study would be to check the pregnancy rate 5 years later.