Statistics released today about American teens’ sexual behavior belie the popular portrayal of American youth as permissive and careless. New data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that the majority of teens have remained abstinent. Though the proportion of teens who are sexually experienced has remained relatively unchanged since 2002, the CDC report does note that the percentage represents a significant decline since 1988. And it’s important to note that the proportion of youths who are abstinent has risen by 17 percent among teenage girls and by 47 …
It’s that time of year again, and the “safe sex” brigade is out in full force to educate your sons and daughters about their sexual and reproductive health. According to a recent study, more young people throughout the world are having unprotected sex and know less about effective contraception. Now contraception enthusiasts are using this as a call for action to increase youths’ access to contraception. The study shows that the number of young people in the U.S. having unsafe sex with new partners increased by 39 percent in the …
The Washington Post reports today that the Obama administration is entering “the politically sensitive debate” on sex education by spending $110 million on 115 programs in 38 states and the District of Columbia that “teach about the risks of specific sexual activities and the benefits of contraception and others that focus primarily on encouraging teens to delay sex.” But as the Post later reports, only five of these 110 programs are “authentic” abstinence programs and they will receive less than $5 million. So how did the Obama administration choose which …
A new study concludes that abstinence-only education had a significant and long-term effect in reducing teen sexual activity. “The abstinence-only intervention reduced sexual initiation,” reports the study, which is featured in the most recent issue of the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, published by the American Medical Association. The study found that a short eight-hour abstinence program reduced sexual activity among youth by a third. Despite the brevity of the abstinence training the effects lasted a full two years after students left the classroom. Moreover, if students …
One of the illusions about comprehensive sex education is that it is, well, a comprehensive treatment of the science of human sexuality. Dr. Miriam Grossman, who has upfront and personal knowledge of the psychological and physiological challenges of sexually involved collegians from her years as a campus psychiatrist at UCLA, does more than beg to differ with the reigning orthodoxy. She shows the difference between good science and contemporary sex education in her new book You’re Teaching My Children What? She’ll summarize her conclusions at a Heritage Foundation lecture today …
The FY10 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill heads to the House floor today. The Appropriations Committee approved this annual spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education last week. While the appropriation includes funds for programs to “help at-risk women and teens bear healthy children,” it eliminates funding for abstinence education and conspicuously disavows the very means to ensure that teens will not become pregnant in the first place. Removal of abstinence-only education funding was not entirely unexpected after Congress let the only other source of abstinence …
According to the Associated Press, in order to combat “one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe,” the British government is about to mandate sex education for all students, “including kindergarten-age children.” The AP reports: The government hasn’t detailed what the new curriculum will look like, but schools will be asked to provide lessons on relationships and contraception, topics not previously required. Lessons will become more sophisticated as kids get older. Elementary schools can offer lessons in naming body parts, preparing for puberty and relationship feelings, [Schools Minister Jim …
