New Study Shows Abstinence Education Effective

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The_Reginator

The_Reginator

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LifeNews.com reports on a study that goes against everything we hear these days about encouraging kids to practise abstinence. How often are we told that it is just not realistic?
Choosing the Best Journey, a SRA abstinence-centered program, conducted a randomized, controlled study with 9th grade students. Students were surveyed at the beginning of the 9th grade and received a follow up survey at the end of the year. At the conclusion of the 9th grade, students who were part of the 8-lesson SRA program were 1.5 times more likely to delay sex than the control group. In addition, the study found that the more lessons students received, the less likely they were to initiate sex. The study is important because the rigorous design was implemented in a classroom setting, the typical site for sex education, which makes the results much more realistic and relevant than the Jemmott abstinence study and most Sexual Risk Reduction (SRR) contraceptive-centered research, which were typically not conducted in a school-based setting.[2]
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Give the article a read. There is a link to the study at the end for those who wish to examine it more deeply.
 
It’s not realistic because the pro-abstinence message is limited and not comprehensive, while the pro-fornication message is virtually on every channel, in every pop culture magazine, music video, movie, internet website etc. They’re often surrounded by friends and peer pressure to have easy sex. *What’s wrong with a little bit of fun, right?
*

Now had the message been more comprehensive and the media (books, magazines, TV shows, movies, etc) been more on board with that I think the effectiveness would have been much higher.

It’s like sending an alcoholic who is a bartender to an AA class for an hour every week while he works 50 hours as a bartender every week.

Of course the media does not want to go on board with it, because sex sells. It would cost them a lot of money. So instead we get very limited and usually half hearted attempts to keep the kids chaste often by people who think it won’t work anyway.
 
Abstinence education works, multiple studies have shown it, and now this study can be added to the list.
 
In order for abstinence education to work, individuals need to learn respect for themselves and for others. Many years ago, I picked up two brochures from Right to Life. Both “Nobility” and “On the Verge of Virginity” are published by Womenity. They teach girls how to say “no, without losing his love.”
It is not just girls learning how to say “no.” Boys, also need to understand their own self-worth in order to treat members of the opposite sex with respect.
Those who “save themselves” also tend to be more knowledgeable about their own bodies than those who are promiscuous (from a film shown in one of the parishes to which I once belonged).
 
Alder said:
That’s a very broad and generous interpretation…
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Research by the American Medical Association has shown the benefits of abstinence education:

nationalreview.com/articles/229086/killing-abstinence/robert-rector

Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of HHS, The American Public Health Association’s (APHA): citizenlink.com/2010/08/obama-administration-blocks-release-of-pivotal-hhs-abstinence-study

Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine:

townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/2010/02/05/abstinence_education_works_after_all

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102628.html

ncregister.com/daily-news/abstinence_education_works_for_high-risk_youth
 
_Abyssinia said:
Research by the American Medical Association has shown the benefits of abstinence education:

nationalreview.com/articles/229086/killing-abstinence/robert-rector

Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of HHS, The American Public Health Association’s (APHA): citizenlink.com/2010/08/obama-administration-blocks-release-of-pivotal-hhs-abstinence-study

Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine:

townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/2010/02/05/abstinence_education_works_after_all

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102628.html

ncregister.com/daily-news/abstinence_education_works_for_high-risk_youth
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Ott, A., & Santelli, J. (2007) . Abstinence and abstinence-only education. urrent Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology,19(5), 446-452.

Santelli, J., Ott, M., Lyon,M., Rogers, J., & Summers, D. (2006).Abstinence-only education policies and programs: A position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38 (1), 83–87.

Two good articles reviewing the literature on the topic. The “effectiveness” of abstinence education is much more mixed than what you are making it out to be.
 
Alder said:
Ott, A., & Santelli, J. (2007) . Abstinence and abstinence-only education. urrent Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology,19(5), 446-452.

Santelli, J., Ott, M., Lyon,M., Rogers, J., & Summers, D. (2006).Abstinence-only education policies and programs: A position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38 (1), 83–87.

Two good articles reviewing the literature on the topic. The “effectiveness” of abstinence education is much more mixed than what you are making it out to be.
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Of course it is mixed because I don’t think all abstinence eduction programs uses the same formula.
 
_Abyssinia said:
Actually schools should look at the successful abstinence programs and adopt those.
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Well there seems to be a problem with what is defined as a “successful abstinence programme”. I’m assuming by abstinence you mean not only no intercourse but no masturbation, oral sex, ect.

The problem is that a lot of effective abstinence programmes only result in delayed first time intercourse; no mention of masturbation ect. Instead of people losing their virginity at 13-14 they lose it at 17-18.

Some programmes result in negative attitudes toward premarital sex (at least in the short term) but whether that translates to abstinence is another story…

I haven’t read this stuff in a while so my figures might be a little off.
 
Alder said:
Well there seems to be a problem with what is defined as a “successful abstinence programme”. I’m assuming by abstinence you mean not only no intercourse but no masturbation, oral sex, ect.

The problem is that a lot of effective abstinence programmes only result in delayed first time intercourse; no mention of masturbation ect. Instead of people losing their virginity at 13-14 they lose it at 17-18.

Some programmes result in negative attitudes toward premarital sex (at least in the short term) but whether that translates to abstinence is another story…

I haven’t read this stuff in a while so my figures might be a little off.
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I think abstinence-until-marriage programs are better then general abstinence programs.
 
Statistics is my weakness so please bear with me, those who are better at it. Try as I might, I was not able to find the p-value for that 1.5 ratio (likelihood of delaying onset of sex), but I did realize that it applied only to the students who were virgins at the study’s start, not to all students.

Also, the length effect of the program was, per the authors themselves, not possible to elicit from this study. So at best, we know that it works (I’m assuming statistical significance) but not for how long.

Personally, I think abstinence is the best thing for young people, but unless they’re coming from communities which support this strategy, and going to schools where it is introduced early and reinforced, it is unlikely to solve the problem of teen pregnancy.

What I remember from my own adolescence, is that presenting all the information, highlighting the best (abstinence) and letting kids know that the onus is on them to make responsible choices, works well for some in the supportive setting of a Church school, with responsible parenting at home. Since, obviously not all kids grow up in such an environment, I think it has to depend on the particular community to decide what is best for their kids.

There is more to abstinence than instruction and it only takes each kid one sexual encounter to end up with an unplanned pregnancy and to face far more grave life choices.
 
Tenofovir said:
It’s not realistic because the pro-abstinence message is limited and not comprehensive, while the pro-fornication message is virtually on every channel, in every pop culture magazine, music video, movie, internet website etc. They’re often surrounded by friends and peer pressure to have easy sex. *What’s wrong with a little bit of fun, right?
*

Now had the message been more comprehensive and the media (books, magazines, TV shows, movies, etc) been more on board with that I think the effectiveness would have been much higher.

It’s like sending an alcoholic who is a bartender to an AA class for an hour every week while he works 50 hours as a bartender every week.

Of course the media does not want to go on board with it, because sex sells. It would cost them a lot of money. So instead we get very limited and usually half hearted attempts to keep the kids chaste often by people who think it won’t work anyway.
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This is an interesting take on the matter. Before say, 1960, abstinence education was in effect preached everywhere–by families, schools, churches, and even in the media, where there was never any sex until after marriage. Now the situation is reversed, and fornication is preached as the standard from all outlets. It takes a lot to overcome that.
 
JimG said:
This is an interesting take on the matter. Before say, 1960, abstinence education was in effect preached everywhere–by families, schools, churches, and even in the media, where there was never any sex until after marriage. Now the situation is reversed, and fornication is preached as the standard from all outlets. It takes a lot to overcome that.
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No sex outside marriage before the 1960’s? Seriously? Care to provide evidence/source/reasoning for your claims?
 
The_Reginator said:
LifeNews.com reports on a study that goes against everything we hear these days about encouraging kids to practise abstinence. How often are we told that it is just not realistic?

Give the article a read. There is a link to the study at the end for those who wish to examine it more deeply.
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It is fairly well established that abstinence programs which gives accurate information about contraceptives and birth control are fairly effective. Abstinence in such programs is not defined as “abstain until marriage” but rather “abstain until you’re older.” So while sites like lifenews might herald such programs as a victory for abstinence-only education, it is really not the case.
 
TheTrueCentrist said:
It is fairly well established that abstinence programs which gives accurate information about contraceptives and birth control are fairly effective. Abstinence in such programs is not defined as “abstain until marriage” but rather “abstain until you’re older.” So while sites like lifenews might herald such programs as a victory for abstinence-only education, it is really not the case.
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Abstain till you’re older is good enough for lowest common denominator secular school education. As long as there is no permissible “OK, you’re 18, hence you’re ready”, it’s OK. Indefinite abstinence should be OK. Parents/church/good sense can teach to abstain till marriage.
 
seekerz said:
No sex outside marriage before the 1960’s? Seriously? Care to provide evidence/source/reasoning for your claims?
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Before the sexual revolution, there was sex outside of marriage, but not nearly as much as afterwards, when it literally exploded. I went to a Catholic high school before the sexual revolution. My friends went to a public high school. There were virtually no teen pregnancies at either place. Why? Fear of pregnancy. There was no pill to guarantee sex without consequences. Abortion was largely unavailable. Condoms were kept behind the pharmacy counter. No one was willing to risk it, because pregnancy meant either immediate marriage, or giving the child up for adoption, and in either case, a ruined reputation. Read the book.
 
Even if abstinence education did not work, it’s still morally the right thing to teach as opposed to contracepted fornication. Whether or not kids choose to do the right thing is up to them, but it’s still better that they know.
 
That seekerz would even pose such a preposterous question is proof of what they teach these days about the way it was, vs the reality that, we here, who are older, actually remember as being the reality, which the immoral have effectively erased from existence.
JimG said:
Before the sexual revolution, there was sex outside of marriage, but not nearly as much as afterwards, when it literally exploded. I went to a Catholic high school before the sexual revolution. My friends went to a public high school. There were virtually no teen pregnancies at either place. Why? Fear of pregnancy. There was no pill to guarantee sex without consequences. Abortion was largely unavailable. Condoms were kept behind the pharmacy counter. No one was willing to risk it, because pregnancy meant either immediate marriage, or giving the child up for adoption, and in either case, a ruined reputation. Read the book.
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