ProgressOhio

$1bn 'don't have sex' campaign a flop as research shows teenagers ignore lessons

The Bush administration has spent over $1 billion on an abstinence education program that has failed to have any impact at all. 

"A survey of more than 2,000 teenagers carried out by a research company on behalf of Congress found that the half of the sample given abstinence-only education displayed exactly the same predilection for sex as those who had received conventional sex education in which contraception was discussed."

The plan started under Clinton as part of welfare reform, but spending on the program increase exponentially under Bush. We are now spending over $100m a year on the education program...

"Both control groups had the same breakdown of behavior: 23% in both sets had had sex in the previous year and always used a condom, 17% had sex only sometimes using a condom; and 4% had sex never using one. About a quarter of each group had had sex with three or more partners."

So wouldn't it be better to step up education about contraception and spend our $100m there instead of the illusion that teenagers aren't going to have sex if we tell them it's cool not to have sex by giving them abstinence rings and signing pledges.

I mean heck even abstinence isn't 100%, the Virgin Mary had a baby...

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After this week meetings will be held on Mondays at 7:00pm.