Sex Education: Does Abstinence-Only Education Really Work? (VIDEO)

If we are not exposed to facts about sex from a young age, we are bound to develop our own personal fictions. Children engage in sexual play and exploration long before they know what sex is. It is both normal and natural for kids to explore their own bodies. It is also normal and natural for them to experience sexual urges, even before puberty.

Here's what we know based on rigorous scientific investigation:

Explicit and comprehensive sex education has not been shown to increase sexual activity in young people or affect the age at which kids start having sex. On the other hand, abstinence-only education does absolutely nothing to decrease the rate of sexually transmitted infections or teen pregnancy.

And yet, federally-funded abstinence programs have been heavily advocated and enforced for the last thirty years, and there is not a shred of evidence to support their efficacy. They simply do not work. In fact, many studies have shown that abstinence-only education is correlated with an increase in teen pregnancy. What do we expect? Teach a child that sex is never okay until he or she is married and then when hormones trump promise rings, guess who is unaware of how or why a condom is so important?

What’s the result? A nation of teens who have sex equally as often as their counterparts in Canada, Great Britain, France, and Sweden, but they get pregnant twice as often. This is such a common problem that it is no longer even seen as controversial. I mean, there’s a show on MTV called "Teen Mom." I’m surprised there’s not one called "Teen With An STD," because sexually transmitted infections are even more common than teen pregnancy. One fourth of teenage girls in this country have a sexually transmitted infection. One in four. That’s your daughter, your sister, your best friend, your girlfriend. That may be you.

Science illuminates sexuality. And that is why it is so important that we learn about our bodies at an early age. Sex is not evil. Sex is not scary, even though data like this makes it feel like it is. The truth is, sex does not always lead to pregnancy or disease. Not when the appropriate measures are taken to prevent them, like condoms, birth control pills, and perhaps the most important oral contraceptive of all: communication. We must not be afraid to talk about sex, to our friends, our children, our parents, our teachers, or our partners.

For more information, hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, or leave your comments on my blog. Come on, Talk Nerdy To Me!

(Please see my posts, The Science of Sex Education and Condom Effectiveness: Fact Vs. Fiction, for more information and links.)

See all Talk Nerdy to Me posts: www.huffingtonpost.com/news/talk-nerdy-to-me
Like Cara Santa Maria on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Cara-Santa-Maria
Follow Cara Santa Maria on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CaraSantaMaria

Comments

[sologos1]

09:31 PM on 08/25/2012

One more try:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102628.html

[sologos1]

09:23 PM on 08/25/2012

Not a shred of evidence?

www.washingtonpost.com › Nation

Science illuminates.

[meganmarieborn]

01:50 PM on 01/02/2012

Teenagers are going to have sex is they want to have sex. Telling them not to will not make them change their minds, if anything it will fuel the fire. What they need is someone to tell them about effective birth control methods and the negative outcomes, such as STDS, a ruined reputation, and unwanted pregnancy, that can occur with teen sex. Parents need to talk and talk often. Sex isn't something that should be some kinda of taboo. Then teenagers will feel like they need to sneak around and they won't feel comfortable asking questions about birth control, etc. The media is obsessed with sex. Teens need to prepared on how to handle it. Teenagers are going to be sexually active and they need to have the knowledge on how to prevent pregnancy, STDS, and how to emotionally handle it.

[holynight700]

02:56 PM on 01/02/2012

I was talking about "children". They are “innocence” defined, meaning they are innocent in all they do.

[meganmarieborn]

04:04 PM on 01/02/2012

True, but this article also mentions teen pregnancy and teenagers do have strong urges.

[darrienramp]

08:47 PM on 12/15/2011

teaching it doesnt work. you tell a teen not to do something they become curious and want to try it out.. in other countries they are open about sex, which is why STD's arent as common over seas

[holynight700]

12:22 AM on 12/16/2011

Innocent curiosity/observation is and defines the natural habit of a child perfectly. All children are innocent in all they do. They don’t need to be defined as having “urges” because it is unnecessary. Science is ignorant when it comes to principle and virtue.

[Samantha Knapp]

09:01 PM on 11/21/2011

Talking about sex is the absolute best thing you can do. If you expose your children it is necessary... If you don't talk about it you will more likely have a teen with a child... If you think the Bible will save your child from sex, you are wrong about that too, is possible but highly unlikely, most of the teen moms I knew in school where "Christians" or "Catholic".

[wallymundo]

03:51 PM on 11/21/2011

Having been a counselor at a special diseases clinic, I was asked how to be safe? My rather crude and to the point answer was, Do NOT let anyone or anything inside you without a condom. And a very celibrated Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders recommended an alternative to abstinence, for which she was force to resign. In my opinion, Elders gave the best advice that focused on a non guilt reality of life. So here we are today, young people ignorant and laughing at us adults, doing the very things that put them at risk we are trying to protect them from, why the mystery, young people understand common sense.

[Cara Santa Maria]

04:56 AM on 11/23/2011

Hear hear!

[ajcook3]

02:02 PM on 11/21/2011

We need more people like you that is getting the word out that abstinence does not work. As a matter of fact, I would not be surprised if abstinence is not the reason more teens have sex, just because they hear not to. I thinking teaching sex to teens is the best idea some has ever came up with in preventing teen pregnancy and STD. There is nothing wrong with sex and no teen should be lead to believe that there is. The most important thing to teach is responsibility.

[Syllogizer]

03:57 PM on 11/21/2011

Why yes, "the most important thing to teach is responsibi­lity." But you miss the point. there are a lot of people in this world, including those with a lot more political power than you, who believe you are NOT being responsible by " teaching sex to teens". Especially when you say things like "There is nothing wrong with sex and no teen should be lead to believe that there is".

[fivepetal]

01:51 PM on 11/21/2011

Abstinence education may not work, but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea. I don't want anyone teaching my kids when it's okay to have sex but their Dad & I. That said, we can teach facts about human sexuality in our schools. Basing the guidelines on what's been researched & accepted by U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services is reasonable. CDC reports are good also. Teaching about abstinence is essential. Also essential is teaching about pregnancy and contraception of all kinds.Parents can understand that it's our own responsibility to teach our kids about "when, where, how", etc. We really can accomplish this in a way that respects all families' integrity.

[ajcook3]

02:09 PM on 11/21/2011

I don't believe there is anyone teaching your kids when to have sex. Teaching is designed to help them make the correct decisions and take reponsibilty when they DO have sex even if you have not taught them yet "when" to have sex. That is what the problem is with parents. You think you know when the right time is but the hormones of the kid is telling them when and if you have not taught them the responsibilty yet, well, that's when we have a pregnant teen.

[fivepetal]

02:26 PM on 11/21/2011

Got it. What I meant by "what, when, where" is that no matter what thay learn at school, parents are still free & responsible for teaching what their family thinks is best. I don't think education about drinking & driving causes kids to want to drive drunk. I don't think learning the facts about sex, hygiene, birth control, & pregnancy is what causes kids to become sexually active. I just wish that the people who want Abstinence-Only taught in school could realize that that they don't have to give up their home values & beliefs. I wish they weren't scared of the rest of us.

[edeword]

01:29 PM on 11/21/2011

Abstinence works 100 percent of the time, but our kids need to know the truth about the possibility of all these diseases in order to stress the importance of being abstinent. Condoms do not protect 100 percent of the time against disease or pregnancy.

[Cheshire13]

01:59 PM on 11/21/2011

So the goal is to frighten our children into not having sex because of all "these diseases"?

And is being pregnant as a young teenager considered to be part of the punishment for having premarital sex?

The point of the article is that abstinence-only education isn't working because human beings seem to be hard-wried to NOT be abstinent. The human drive to reproduce is overriding all the irrational desire to convince teenagers that having sex is BAD.

They listen, and then promise you they will be good little boys and girls and then they find out that having sex is SO MUCH MORE FUN than being good little boys and girls.

Abstinence-only education works great, right up until the time the youngsters stop being abstinent. Abstinence-only leaves our young people unprepared to deal with real issues in a real world.

If YOU don't teach your children about being "safe" with sex, I can almost guarantee that someone else will teach them about sex, and that person probably won't care much about safety. Think real hard about that.

[fivepetal]

02:12 PM on 11/21/2011

Excellent point. We can still teach our own values to our kids. Ignorance doesn't protect them in any way.

[libbyejansen]

01:27 PM on 11/21/2011

ok I have a question just where do these disease's originate, if the kids are healthy to begin with? It seems to me that either the kids aren't as healthy as they should be or they are having sex with much older partners then is being admitted to. A healthy population should have teens getting diseases from each other at that age. There is something missing here they are not telling people.

[fivepetal]

01:56 PM on 11/21/2011

Kids are getting these diseases from other kids. Being healthy only goes so far when they don't know what causes what. If they know one person who has had sex & didn't get a disease (yet), they think we're lying about how dangerous it is.

[libbyejansen]

02:41 PM on 11/21/2011

and where are these other kids getting them, they don't spring from nothing, we both know you can't get something from nothing. who or what is giving sexual diseases to these other kids where did it ORIGINATE

[huntingtreasures]

01:27 PM on 11/21/2011

Most of the ones that say they are practicing Abstinence are so ugly no one would touch them.

[kympathy]

12:34 PM on 11/21/2011

C'mon! We watched J Lo on the AMA's last night strip down to a gstring and pasties, then bump and grind and roll around on the floor! Then it becomes a HuffPost headline, and we're supposed to tell our kids "That's just for entertainment, it's not real...yes I know she divorced her husband and is seeing a guy half her age...but you stay married..yes I know your principal set up a porn site, but you don't, yes I know the people who are supposed to be role models, and everything on TV says to have sex, I know they advertise lube on primetime, but don't have sex". Parents try, but you're fighting an avalanche, trying to dig out of the sand with a spoon, and there are SO FEW examples of "don't" that's it is difficult to combat. I mean, even our government reps and our preachers are invoilved in sex scandals. What are kids to think? Sadly, my agreement with this article comes from desperation - I don't want a diseased, preganat teen. The school I last taught at had 77 kids come back HIV positive after the blood drive. I'd rather my kids learn safety first - we'll discuss morality in the face of the immoral as it comes up. Kind of like putting on a seatbelt before you start the car or learn to drive. You can't help what others will do, so practice safety first.

[Bob Macfarlane]

12:41 PM on 11/21/2011

You might have watched but as for me and my family we will serve the Lord.

[holynight700]

01:22 PM on 11/21/2011

Amen : )

[ajcook3]

02:17 PM on 11/21/2011

Yes, but you always have to remember that there is also the devil. And if you know the LORD real well, you also know that satan will do everything in his power to entice you or someone into doing something that they should not be doing. We call it temptation and then we ask the LORD for forgiveness. Some even promise to never do it again but one thing still remain, you have already done it and I pray to my LORD that your kid was well informed on the correct way to protect themselves when having sex!

[libbyejansen]

01:32 PM on 11/21/2011

wow bizarre just where did the HIV come from is the question to my mind are they all getting the same partner ? Even if teens are sexually active they don't all have the same tastes in partners. Is it possible that at least one of the teens was having sex with an older person then spreading it too others in the school?

[kympathy]

02:18 PM on 11/21/2011

Don't know where it came from - I know the blood bank informs and they try to trace, but we were not informed because the actual parties involved were confidential - we were only given the statistics. HIV is the fastest spreading disease in the 15-24 age range, and HPV the most prevalent. Sad. Scary. What are we going to do about it? Planned Parenthood and others like them believe in education and condoms, others believe in abstinence education...I believe in both. Preach abstinence, practice discretion, and educate with enough lurid and scary stories that they will maybe think twice. Let kids know that the media is not reality. I know that the scary pictures of syphillis ridden people and the results of gonorrhea scared me enough to make me thibk twice as a teen...maybe some scary statistics and reality checks (instead of glamorizing it like on teen mom) will make a difference.

[kympathy]

12:20 PM on 11/21/2011

I don't think the answer to the teen sex issue is to preach abstinence - it doesn't work, especially in a society that glorifies sex - from the "twilight" movies, with Bella "unable to control her need for Edward" to shows like I carly, where prepubescent kids are "going out" and kissing, we push sex at our children as totally acceptable, then are shocked when we find out they are doing it. Until the ADULTS clean up their acts - from celebrities and congressmen having affairs, to teachers and principals sexting and having porn sites, to TV shows glorifying sex in our society - we won't be able to stop it. Marriage is a 72 day throw away, with mama and daddy dating someone new two weeks later and shaking their rears on stage to celebrate. Do we bow to the inevitable and hand out condoms? While that may reduce STDs and pregnancy, it doesn't stop the kids from having sex, doesn't teach them to wait until they're ready. That has to be a lesson that's not coming JUST from parents, who are battling media images that push promiscuity, but from our society as a whole. Since society won't stop, since "free speech" means displays of sexual promiscuity, quickie divorce, and extreme sexual images, then the best we can do is what is suggested in the article - put a bandaid on it and hope for the best, educate the kids and hand out condoms.

[libbyejansen]

01:36 PM on 11/21/2011

I have to say I agree with you and add that we must somehow stop adults from having sex with young people, I suspect most of the disease are coming from older partners passing it on to their younger sex partners.Why some "people" find it so "hot" to have "sex" with what is a child is just beyond me. ICK

[Bob Macfarlane]

12:19 PM on 11/21/2011

Abstinence prevents STDs 100% of the time.

[Paul Co]

01:25 PM on 11/21/2011

With AIDs as well.

[edeword]

01:26 PM on 11/21/2011

Absolutely correct...it works, when it is practiced.

[crackerwcu13]

11:58 AM on 11/21/2011

Well said Cara.

Being a Christian, a father, and a health teacher, I can only stress the importance of teaching the truth. Kids will ask questions and they want to know the truth. Even if this truth may not "support" my personal opinions, they deserve to know it - like contraceptives, abstinence, boundaries, abortion, etc. In knowing the truth they will know the risks/consequences that come with each. When they know the truth, they can make the best informed decision for themselves, whatever that might be - and since we can not make the decision for them, this is the best we can do/hope for them.

[Bob Macfarlane]

12:44 PM on 11/21/2011

We can pray for them and keep them drugged.

Drugged to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and anyother time their is an activity at the church.

[obamich44]

12:55 PM on 11/21/2011

Well said!