Sex Education Works

An article from the Seattle Times:

UW researchers say comprehensive sex ed cuts teen pregnancies

Oh really? And what about Abstinence Only education?

Students who receive comprehensive sex education are half as likely to become teen parents as those who get none or abstinence-only sex education, according to researchers at the University of Washington.

Well what do you know? But surely those those sex-educated kids are having more sex, right?

What's more, teens who had comprehensive education, which typically discusses condoms and birth-control methods as well as abstinence, were no more likely to engage in intercourse than peers who were taught just to say no to sex before marriage, researchers said.

Indeed.

Carole Miller, vice president of education for Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, argues that abstinence supporters are putting their cultural values above the health of young people.

Compared with other developed nations, Americans have higher rates of teen pregnancy, abortion rates and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. The evidence is compelling, Miller believes, that more and accurate information about sex for teens is the most effective approach.

Abstinence messages are "not working and we've got to stop it," Miller said. "There are kids getting hurt by this."

I've always said teenagers are crazy but I know most are not stupid. Telling them 'just say no' is not good enough; hormones, peer pressure, and not-fully-mature brains means many will choose to have sex despite the best intentions. Give them the information to protect themselves if they do make that choice, give them knowledge.

Hat Tip Pesky Apostrophe