Sex Myth Laid to Rest (finally)

The debate has raged for years. Is sex-ed a useful tool or a gateway to sin? (At least that’s how the argument went in my town) Finally, after years of searching, there is an answer, and, go figure, the results are not really surprising. As it turns out there is a correlation between teen pregnancy and sex-ed. Teens who received abstinence only education were just as likely to wind up preggers as those with contraceptive education. Shocking huh? Ready for another shocker? Teens educated with contraceptive use and safe sex practices do not have more sex, start earlier, or have higher STD levels than those taught abstinence only!

Naturally, as unsurprising and obvious as this may seem to anyone who has had to sit through a health class, this is big news to most schools and the government. “Currently, the federal government champions the abstinence-only approach, giving around $170 million each year to states and community groups to teach kids to say no to sex. This funding precludes mention of birth control and condoms, unless it is to emphasize their failure rates” <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080324/hl_nm/teen_pregnancies_dc;_ylt=Ag0yklQJcEshjSV.Cv49_ZnVJRIF> .

So now that you know this breaking and pressing news doesn’t it leave you to wonder a bit? I know as a psych major I often find myself shaking my head at many recent ‘groundbreaking’ studies. Is it necessary to waste research funding on things that are a bit obvious or is it really that crucial that we have the facts on record as scientific evidence? Oh well, maybe now more schools will be open to sex-ed that is actually educational as opposed to dogmatic.

contrASt