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Abstinence ed minus morals. It can work.
Or so a new study says. The research, released Monday in the February edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, suggests an abstinence-based approach can be successful.
The study was different than past abstinence only programs in that it avoided a moralistic tone, about the importance of saving sex for marriage, for example.
Instead, the approach was designed to help sixth and seventh graders better identify the drawbacks to sexual activity at their age. The students were asked, for instance, to list the pros and cons themselves, an exercise in which they saw the list of cons was far longer than the pros.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the study, the students were broken into four groups. One group received safe-sex classes, one got abstinence-only classes, one group received classes incorporating both approaches, and the fourth group had classes in just general health behavior. Researchers assessed success by the number of students who said they had had sex in the two years following the classes. About a third of the abstinence-only students said they had sex, but that compares to nearly half of the students in the other three classes.
The program, based on social psychology theory about what motivates behavior, encouraged abstinence as a way to prevent STDs and avoid pregnancy (though pregnancy and STD rates were not recorded). The approach was designed to be relatively focused on these issues.
The lead author of the study, John Jemmott III, is a psychologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has worked extensively with efforts to reduce risky behavior among inner-city youths. He said the single focus may have made the difference, versus the other three approaches. “The message was not mixed with any other messages,” he said.
Source: MSNBC
Image Source: National Post
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13 Comments
Sara commented on Feb 04 10 at 7:56 amAbstinence ed ignores the fact that someday EVERYONE is going to have sex. Even if kids delay sex till they’re married or they’re 30 they still need to know about birth control so there aren’t unintended pregnancies because an untended pregnancy for a married couple is still detrimental to society.
Comstock commented on Feb 04 10 at 8:38 amThe thing that I find a bit alarming and sad, frankly, about this study is that so many kids (as many as half in some of the groups) reported having sex even though they are in grades 8 and 9. I don’t have a problem with older teens having sex as long as they are being responsible. But I think abstinence is an important message to include when we’re talking about 13 year olds.
Eric commented on Feb 04 10 at 9:09 amThat’s what struck me too, Comstock. Seriously 50% by 9th grade?
jenny tries too hard commented on Feb 04 10 at 9:14 amI’m shocked at the ages of these kids, too. Classes that teach not only abstinence but other aspects of good decision-making and self-respect ought to be the norm in the sixth and seventh grades, with a more comprehensive class on reproduction and birth control/STI prevention to follow in high school.
Sara commented on Feb 04 10 at 9:37 amAgreed, focusing on waiting till they’re ready (and not when they’re 13) should be the push for those middle schoolers.
However, there is still a large number of those kids that are having sex and although a seventh grader having sex is tragic, it’s not as tragic as a pregnant seventh or eighth grader. The focus should be on waiting, but BC should always be mentioned.
GP commented on Feb 04 10 at 9:38 amwhy would kids that young be unsupervised long enough to have sex? and why aren’t they being occupied with other things? I was a *bad girl* and even I didn’t have sex til I was 16 or 17…
GP commented on Feb 04 10 at 9:39 amI guess times have changed…I am hoping for a pendulum swing back in the other direction by the time my kid is a teen!
GirlyMama commented on Feb 04 10 at 10:10 amI’m with GP! I have a few years for that pendulum swing to take effect, but if it doesn’t my girls may never leave the house! ;)
a's mom commented on Feb 04 10 at 5:10 pmi think that the pro’s and con’s list is a good idea, and that there should also be a lesson in birth control and condoms after really drilling it in to their heads how negative sex at such a young age can be. i really don’t think abstinence only needs to be about morals, it just needs to focus on the very serious consequences of sex. in the 9th grade our science teacher showed us pictures of genitals with herpes and really explained in depth what different sexually transmitted disease do to your body, it was enough to keep me a virgin until i was almost out of college.
Maggie commented on Feb 04 10 at 5:49 pmDoes anybody notice that they judged the effectiveness of the study by self-reported sexual behavior (or not)? So, let’s see, the kids who were given abstinence-only education certainly knew the right answer to the question, no?
I don’t know much about 7th and 8th grade today, since my grandkids are just a bit younger … but I wonder if genital-to-genial sexual intercourse is getting lumped with oral sex and handjobs? And I wonder if anyone has measured the pregnancy rates among the three groups, say from the time the class starts until age 18?
GP commented on Feb 04 10 at 9:29 pmA real problem I have with kids so young having sex is you know the girls aren’t getting anything out of it. Boys that age don’t know how to give girls pleasure. You just know the boys are getting BJs and maybe getting to penetrate and the girls get zilch. I’m going to teach my daughter that she should masturbate first for a while before she gives her precious bod up to a boy and to wait til she’s in a relationship where they can learn together what to do and work on it…and to not give a BJ unless he’s willing to return the favor!
PlumbLucky commented on Feb 05 10 at 8:27 amHey GP, I think your last comment explains how they’re being unsupervised long enough to have sex in the first place ::wink::. I think that there’s a lot of denial involved, parent-wise. Only explanation I have. That, and kids are, well, devious may not be the correct word, but my parents thought they had me pretty well under their thumb and that they knew where I was and who I was with and what I was doing all the time. Even under their own roof. And sometimes, they were sorely mistaken.
Interestingly enough, my 9th grade health teacher was into the whole “shock and awe” thing (you know, show ‘em picks of gross infected genitals, videos of childbirth, that type of thing) so that we GOT it. There were three girls total from my class who had that teacher for health who got pregnant in HS – and all three sets of their parents had opted them out of the six week sex ed portion of health. Telling.
PlumbLucky commented on Feb 05 10 at 8:28 amClarification – 3 girls out of the roughly 125 in my class that had that particular teacher. The other roughly 125 had the other teacher. There were around 20 girls in my class who were pregnant in HS.
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