the future of sex education

I write this post grated with annoyance at the predictable reactions to the new study put out in Pediatrics, "Patient Teenagers? A Comparison of the Sexual Behavior of Virginity Pledgers and Matched Nonpledgers" by Janet Elise Rosenbaum. The study "compares the sexual activity of adolescent virginity pledgers with matched nonpledgers by using more robust methods than past research." (Check it out here.)

The study has triggered a slew of 'see-i-tolda-so' postings in the blogosphere. The immediate conclusion drawn is that abstinence-only education can't work and should be scrapped in favor of comprehensive sex education. (I could easily do something similar with this little tidbit but, alas, it would not be helpful.) Cecile Richards at Huffington Post writes :

Abstinence-only has been an unmitigated disaster -- our New Year's resolution as a country should be to take teens' health seriously and to invest funding in comprehensive sex education that teaches teens about abstinence as well as contraception, healthy communication, responsible decision making, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

("Can You Hear Me Yet?" Dec. 29, 2008).

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for accountability. We must demonstrate success quantitatively in every aspect of education. Otherwise we do a disservice to students and we waste a veritable buttload of money in the process. What I find irritating is the immediate assumption made as to why the abstinence-only education (pursued by both the Clinton and Bush administrations in the past ten years, mind you) have been ineffective. We immediately assume that the issue has to do with content of instruction rather than method.

Any behaviorist will contend that you can teach anybody anything given the right conditions.
Any prevention researcher will point you toward your error in assuming that adapting the content of sex education to from abstinence-only to comprehensive sex education will not magically result in adolescents using contraception responsibly, particularly if you have failed to sort out errors in methodology. You'll simply run into the same problem of having students assimilate the knowledge without any changes in behavior.

The drug prevention program D.A.R.E. featuring 'Just Say No!' ran into the same problem before it restructured itself. Our natural reaction at its initial failure was not to say, "See?!? Kids can't just say 'no'. It's not realistic! We just have to teach them ways to use drugs more responsibly." Uh..no. A suggestion like that would be ludicrous. It is an illustration of how steeped in politics the sex education issue really is. The problem here is a galling lack of objectivity that is infecting a supposedly neutral scientific community that is in the position to make recommendations on the subject.


I wrote a paper for a senior seminar on this subject if you're interested in more details concerning prevention research and its application to the sex education 'debate'.

Any rational suggestions for improvement are welcome.