When "Abstinence" Is Overrated

I am a young person who knows how it feels to be in love. That means I also know what it is like to be stuck between rational thought and the urgencies of desire.

I was only five when I lost my mom to HIV/AIDS. Half orphaned as a result of risky sexual behavior, I should be a number-one advocate for abstinence-only education. Yet, I am stopped in my tracks by statistics that show purity contracts and pledges of no-sex-until-marriage are often forgotten in a few months or years.

Of course I have seen the reports of runaway teen pregnancy rates and the inability of contraception to protect people from sexually transmitted diseases -- and of course I want to protect myself.

But I also have emotions and in a world that does not always seem fair or rational, I need to be able to protect myself from the consequences of irrational decisions.

Abstinence only education campaigns have shifted from religious scare tactics to pop culture subliminal messages. Every day, my younger sister, age 9, and her friends are bombarded with images of purity rings, virginity pledges, and the importance of having wholesome values-and that's just while they are watching the Disney Channel.

But will these messages work? For some they will. Everything works for someone, but what do we do for those who will fall victim to hopeless love?

While no one can agree on what the answer to that question is, popular consensus seems to agree that abstinence only education is not it. Statistics are screaming that telling youth to simply not have sex is neither constructive nor realistic.

In a survey published in the January 2009 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Professor Janet Rosenbaum found that "purity pledges" were no more effective than their advocates make out contraceptives to be. Her five-year study of two teen groups with similar religious views found that most of the abstinence pledgers were not less sexually active than non-pledgers -- but they were less likely to use condoms.

Last week the House voted to enact President Obama's request to replace funding for abstinence-only education with money for comprehensive "evidence-based" pregnancy and STD prevention programs. Obama plans to shift federal spending to conventional comprehensive sex education programs, community programs, and new innovative programs. That's wise. Recent studies show the United States leads all other industrialized nations except for some in the former Soviet Union. Teen birth rates spiked up again in 2006 and 2007, a new federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study reports, after 14 years of decline.

Pregnancy reduction has "stalled, and may even have reversed among certain groups of teens," according to a report by Columbia University and the Guttmacher Institute, not because rates of teen sexual activity have increased, but because the use of contraceptives declined.

Why has the "abstinence-only" flame fizzled so quickly? Advocates say we need to give it even more of a chance. But I don't hold out much hope. It is not that teaching abstinence is a bad thing. One of the most accurate messages we learn in school is that "the only safe sex is no sex." But young people want choices. We need to be able to make informed choices.

In theory, abstinence-only education is an ideal; in practice, emotions are real. In a tug-of-war of sexual tension, emotions often win. When they do, it is better for us to be able to comprehend the risks we are taking and to minimize the harms.

It is not fair that my mom was taken from me before either of our lives could truly begin. She contracted HIV before she was married. She made a decision. I don't want my life to follow that path, nor do I want that for my sister or my peers. But I understand the desire, the pleasure, and the pain that come along with sex, and ignoring those realities is not protecting me from anything.

Comments

[Alice12]

Abstinence isn’t the “bad” word that today’s culture makes it out to be. It’s actually the exact opposite – it’s a positive choice that teens can make to ensure a brighter and healthier future. Teens who choose abstinence don’t have to worry about STD’s or STI’s, and they don’t have to carry the emotional baggage that having sex brings. An abstinent teen can keep a clear mind to help make positive, healthy choices for their future. And most importantly, being abstinent means that you never have to live with regrets.

“Game Plan” is a great abstinence-based curriculum that many schools across the United States are using. To learn more about “Game Plan”, visit www.justsayyes.org

[mercury613]

"And most importantly, being abstinent means that you never have to live with regrets."

So does being properly educated about sex and birth-control use.

[CJWebber]

Abstinence-only education is a recipe for disaster. Unplanned pregnancies are the least of your worries. It is irresponsible, and somewhat criminal, of adults not to inform young people about protection against STD's.

The main difference between Canadian and American societies is religion. The U.S. has an enormous amount of religion, yet teen pregnancies are rampant in the U.S. You would think that those 'Christian Values' would result in LESS teenage pregnancies than in Canada, but it doesn't.

Maybe 'Christian Values' aren't as good as just plain 'Values'?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vanessa-richmond/why-canadas-on-top-in-tee_b_178734.html

[JillBond]

Great article, Tracy. Clarence is proud. Keep up the studies and good work.

[noaxe397]

Some research (I don't remember where) said girls who take virginity/­abstinence pledges were 6 times more likely to engage in oral sex and 4 times more likely to engage in anal sex because they belived they were still technically virgins. They may not get pregnant but they certainly can end up like this young author's poor mother.

What about this bit of Rovian circular logic: No issue in this country, not guns, gays, war, has put Americans at each other more than abortion. AO and the lack of use/availability of contraception increases risk of unwanted pregnancies. Number one cause of abortion is pregnancy. Eliminate (through sex ed, contraception) unwanted pregnancies, you eliminate abortion and eliminate culture war over it, which is bad for Republicans who've come to depend on culture wars to win elections.

So, is AO a round about way of increaseing chances of Republicans winning elections? Hhhhmmm.

[larry278]

Virginity is easy to treated condition. When you are cured of virginity you will never again have another episode of virginity.

[GearRatio]

Plenty of empirical evidence on the subject. WW1, US Army in Europe depended on abstinence indoctrination for VD control... and had the highest STD infection rates of any of the war's combatants, until they changed to a medically based approach.

Experiment was repeated in WW2, Korea, and Viet Nam, with consistent results. Is there some data deficit at this point that mandates we should try again with High School students as guinea pigs?

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

Self-rightous B1ble thumpers relying upon old wives tales to figure out morality go to the easy target, confused teens. They'll kill to keep their daughters from learning the truth.

[Usama]

When should sociological guidance come from teens and twentiers when their hormones are still firing on all cylinders?


The real issue is America is loosing its moral path in social relations much like its loosing its moral intelligence in business, health care, war, foreign relations, and so forth.

Youth cannot be trusted to have the answer because they r raised by forces which we have formed- ie. MTV, Hollywood, internet- and by ideas which are propagated for profit- individualism materialism, consumerism, etc.

America chose to mix the sexes in every public environment, decriminalize sex outside of marriage, made divorce easier, and has continually weakened the family by granting its powers to the state instead. The effects are becoming more obvious in certain 'canary in a coalmine' examples.

In the African American community, 60% of homes are single parent led. 90% in many urban areas. The high school graduation rate for AA males is less than 50% nationwide, closer to 60% for AA females. AA males are 100 times per 1000 to have spent time in prison compared to European American/white males. HIV is growing fastest in America amongst gay males in urban areas, and AA females who contract HIV from AA males who have contracted it in prison.

Latin Americans are following close behind.
The effects are devastating. Sex outside of marriage and the collapse of the family are the pivotal factors. They destined to fragment and collapse the family structure in a society, period.

[S1m0n]

No, the US is losing YOUR moral path, and that shouldn't be a problem for anyone but you.

[been2there]

There are no guarantees with teens. My son, while he stayed abstinent for well beyond the average, became a father in his teens. He also knew about contraception, but tried to use rythym--don't ask me why.
Still, it was not a one-night stand for either of them; they are now married and expecting number 2.
The point is that some problems will persist, but knowledge is the power to reduce them.

[HST]

"The point is that some problems will persist, but knowledge is the power to reduce them."

A very good point indeed. I cannot understand why people are so against freely imparting the knowledge of how to protect themselves to teenagers. True they may noy make good use of the knowledge in all cases, but why hide the truth? I always thought education was about spreading information and "just say no" isn't information at all.

[JIzin]

Abstinence is a joke. Even their spokesman Palin's daughter has admitted it is LoL
Grow up, sex is a part of life. I hate how we are so prudish as a society about anything sexual (except to sell consumer products- if you pay for sexual gratification it is ok ;) yet have no problem letting youngsters watch violence in and out and all about.
Those two need to switch, it should be easier for a thirteen year old to see boobs, penises, and sex, than it is for them to see gory scenes of people being mutilated and killed and inflicted with terror.

[MNKen]

Thank you for the last sentence. Not sure at this point if I agree, but it is thought provoking.

[mellow yellow]

As a teen myself i can safely say that expecting teens to wait untill they're married to have sex is like expecting americans to stop driving cars

[kanester]

There's also another emotional mechanism that takes place that may account for the "stall" you mention (I believe that recent study also pointed out this finding): The "abstinence-only" meme only carries power for teens and pre-teens as long as being a member of that group puts them in a relatively small minority. I believe the researchers found that once a highschool hit the magic number of students pledged to AO (the number was, unfailingly, 31%), the entire local movement loses steam and starts to unravel.

I do have to say, though, that AO is rather shortsighted for the masses of conservative pervs out there -- if they win, they eliminate their potential cheating partners.

[Jaywalkker]

My alma mater high school routinely makes local news or is held up as a flag for what lack of sex education does. Somewhere around the time I graduated ('96), a teacher said, TX is no. 1 in pregnant teens and that in our state, my high school had the highest ratio of pregnant teens. Some of that was because the other 5 high schools in my town often dumped their pregnant girls on my school because we had the facilities (a child development/young mothers hallway we called the maternity ward) to better assist them.

Sickeningly, my old Jr High, built a day care for its student's kids.

[bannorhill]

Those 4 years in 5th grade can be hard on Texans.

[calicopaisley]

"But young people want choices. We need to be able to make informed choices."

Boy is that the understatement of the century!

More to the point: It's human nature. We cannot stop sex from happening. That's the nature of chaos! Our biggest problem is ignorance, and our greatest weapon, education.

We have to stop being mistrustful of our kids, stop condescending to them, and, in short, treat them like adults!

[billyfromphilly]

I think the problem is not that abstinence is a bad thing, but it's taught like it's the only thing. Abstinence only is quite foolish. If you're a parent and you want to teach your child about sex and tell them that it's preferable to be abstinent, that's fine. Yeah it's true that not a lot of people contract herpes that are sitting around not having sex, but using that logic, not a lot of people get hit by buses if they never go outside. It's not a good reason to never go outside. The world is dangerous and we can't protect our kids by lying to them about everything.