Sunday, July 01, 2007

Evidently, Talking about Condoms Hasn't Helped Much

There's a troll at CSPT who is thoroughly convinced that the way to bring down teenage pregnancy rates is so-called comprehensive sex education in which condom usage is pushed. Regardless of how many times this theory is shot down, the troll continues to merrily spin it.

Well, now we have a study from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stating that so-called comprehensive sex education mentions "abstinence" just 321 times, while discussing "condoms" 2,763 times.

The study, conducted by medical professionals, looked closely at some of the most common CSE curricula currently in use in an attempt to see if the content was truthful and truly comprehensive. A cursory review of the study shows that the materials distributed by the "comprehensive" programs mention abstinence only 321 times.

In contrast the materials mention usage of condoms 2,763 times - and only mention condom failure rates a total of 23 times! The study showed these programs have very little impact on increasing condom use among children, and even less impact in delaying sexual activities - the latter being no surprise considering the focus on condoms instead of abstaining.

Liberals frequently scoff at the idea of teaching abstinence "because kids are going to have sex." But that's not exactly true, since, if kids were going to have sex they would all or nearly all be doing so. What we know is that close to half of all teens have sex--but "teens" includes adults age 18 and 19. And while I'd rather even these "teens" not have sex, parents are mainly concerned about their junior high- and high school-aged teens (12 to 18 years old). The study didn't state how many of the nearly 50% of teens having sex were adults.