NEXT YEAR'S MORALITY MEME 2
Abstinence plan lacks evidence

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

The Bush administration is proposing to double spending on sexual abstinence programs that bar any discussion of birth control or condoms to prevent pregnancy or AIDS despite a lack of evidence that such programs work.

A study by researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of declining birth and pregnancy rates among teenagers concludes that prevention programs should emphasize abstinence and contraception.

"Both are important," said Dr. John Santelli, the lead author of the study, which has not been published.

In Minnesota, a study found that sexual activity doubled among junior high school students taking part in an abstinence-only program.

The independent study, commissioned by the state's health department, recommended broadening the program to include more information about contraception.

Independent researchers who are studying abstinence-only programs for the federal government said in their first report two years ago that no reliable evidence exists whether the programs work. They are expected to issue an update soon.

Click here for more.

I forget who said it, someone writing in the Nation a while back I think: believing that teaching kids about condoms causes them to have sex is like believing that teaching about seatbelts causes people to drive.

Here and here are a couple of posts I made last May about "abstinence based" sex-ed.

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