Sex Ed: Knowledge is Power

If there was any remaining doubt, here's yet another study (this one by the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) that finds abstinence only education doesn't reduce teen sex or pregnancy.

More comprehensive sex ed, on the other hand, has a positive impact on teenagers, “delaying the initiation of sex, reducing the frequency of sex, reducing the number of sexual partners and increasing condom or contraceptive use.”

The study also showed that comprehensive sex education does not promote “promiscuity” as its opponents have accused. What comprehensive sex ed programs do accomplish, according to the study's senior researcher are: an increase in young people's knowledge about the “risks and consequences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.” Having all the facts gave teens greater “confidence in their ability to say 'no' to unwanted sex.”

The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the Western industrialized world. 31% of young women become pregnant before they reach the age of 20. Last week ten top public health researchers urged Congress to cut funding for abstinence only programs due to its “multiple scientific and ethical problems.”