Abstinence-Only Fails To Protect Many Teens

The report card has come home on the nation’s “abstinence-only” sex education, and it’s dismal enough to make many parents want to go see the teacher.

The $176 million-a-year program has demonstrated no success in delaying teenage sexual activity, according to a congressionally mandated study. The birth rate among teenagers aged 15 to 19 rose 3 percent in 2006, the first significant increase since 1991.

Fourteen states have decided to give up millions of federal program dollars and gain the freedom to teach teens about sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, safe sex and contraceptives in addition to encouraging abstinence. New Mexico plans to drop its abstinenceonly program — and $471,000 in federal money — as well, according to Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil.

With the highest teen birth rate in the nation in 2005, New Mexico urgently needs effective sex education. Abstinence-only works for some young people, but it is failing too many others. And the consequences of that failure can be severe: sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

Giving young people practical information about sex is not the same as giving them permission to become sexually active. Abstinence is still the best path to a healthy, emotionally stable adulthood. But it is not the only path.

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.