Latest Abstinence Study Does Little To Quell Sex Education Debate

A recent study showing that an experimental abstinence-only sex education program was effective in delaying sexual activity among teenagers is far from the last word in the debate over sex education, the Boston Globe reports. According to the Globe, the study's results come at a "pivotal point" in the debate, as the latest data show that the U.S. teen pregnancy rate rose in 2006 for the first time in since the early 1990s. The sex education study, conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, found that sixth- and seventh-graders in Philadelphia who were enrolled in an abstinence-only program that did not include a moralistic message were less likely to become sexually active than students who completed a comprehensive program that included information about contraception.

The results of the new study have reopened the "tinderbox that is sex education" and shown that it is "as combustible as ever," the Globe reports. Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, said the debate over sex education "is a mini culture war." He added, "The reason why this is so fraught with controversy and elicits such passion is because it touches on some primal issues that people care deeply about -- education of our children, when and under what circumstances to start a family, sex."

Abstinence-only advocates claim the recent study offers "proof they were right all along," the Globe reports (Smith, Boston Globe, 2/15). The advocacy group Abstinence Clearinghouse on its Web site proclaimed that the study proved "comprehensive sex ed a big flop." However, such claims are disputed by John Jemmott, the lead author of the study, who said that the program in the study would not have qualified for federal funding under the Bush administration because it did not emphasize abstinence until marriage and included information on contraception.

Jemmott added that the study also did not prove that a more comprehensive program failed, as that approach resulted in some positive outcomes, such as reducing the number of students who reported multiple sexual partners. "On the one hand are people who are concerned that the comprehensive intervention was not significant, and on the other are those who are happy that it wasn't significant," Jemmott said, adding, "Both reactions are wrong" (Flam, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/16).














Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said that although Jemmott's study was more rigorous than those in the past, opponents of abstinence-only education have been too critical of previous studies. "When opponents just repeat the same sound bites without a real understanding of what the broad abstinence field looks like, it can cast a much different view of what these programs really are," Huber said, adding, "That's another reason I'm actually happy the conversation has been reopened as a result of this study."

The results of the study come as the Obama administration has begun to shift federal funding from abstinence-until-marriage sex education programs to reducing teen pregnancy "through science-based prevention approaches," according to a federal official. According to Albert, the program created for Jemmott's study would meet the new standard for federal funding, although it is unknown how effective the program would be in a different community or among other adolescents. "I don't think we can let the perfect be the enemy of the good," Albert said, adding, "We now have a good program that's been well-evaluated and well-tested. Let's go try it elsewhere" (Boston Globe, 2/15). He also said, "We need to buck up and move beyond politics to invest in things that work. While adults are arguing about all this, teenagers are getting pregnant" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/16).


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