Ethics

Another Study Shows Failure of Abstinence-Only Sex Ed

By Ed Brayton

Here's yet another study that shows that abstinence-only sex ed and virginity pledges does nothing to reduce teen sex but does significantly reduce the use of contraception by those who take them.

Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today.

The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge," but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on January 05, 2009 (boomark / email).