COMPREHENSIVE Sex Education Works


Once again there has been a spat of news coverage in the mainstream media regarding birth control & sex education in the schools. It's been triggered by a recent news story about a Portland, Maine school that has decided to make available birth control to its students (11-13 years of age) in response to a number of incidents of teen pregnancy in their school district. The King Middle School is the first middle school in Maine to offer birth control through its health center. The services offered by the school health center are confidential, however parents must give permission for the students to have access to the health center services. A recent AP poll has shown that most parents (67%) support giving birth control to children to prevent teen pregnancy and the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The truth is that since the inception of comprehensive sex education programs, the number of teen pregnancies have declined. However, in the past decade there has been a campaign by some of our Christian brothers and sisters to stop effective programs and replace it with their own abstinence-only programs. President Bush, as well as conservative legislators have rewarded abstinence-until-marriage-only sex education programs with hefty federal funding ($250 million). However, there have been studies that show that these programs are simply ineffective; and at worse it is speculated that these programs may actually INCREASE risk of teen pregnancy and the spread of STIs. The studies have shown that while the programs have had no effect on the likelihood that the teens will engage in sexual activity, the students who've participated in these programs are less likely to use contraception.

I believe that the problem is that many conservative Christians have a general distrust of progressive Christians and secular scientists who generally support comprehensive sex education in the schools (including birth control). And conservative Christians seem to have a strong influence on sexual health policy in this country. The truth is that most people -- no matter the politics, religious and/or moral belief system recognize the problem of children becoming sexually active at younger and younger ages. We all recognize that the U.S. has the highest teen birth rate in the developed world and no one can debate the negative moral, health and economic effects of sexually active teenagers, teen pregnancy, and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. We all need to support programs that work.

So what works in helping teens make healthy choices? The consensus among social scientists is that there are a number of programs that are effective. The answer is not found in one program, but a number of diverse programs. A review of the research funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention have found that the most effective programs seem to have specific characteristics in common (see below).


10 Common Characteristics of Effective Curricula¹

Following is a list of the 10 common and necessary characteristics of effective sexual education curricula. The absence of even one of these characteristics appears to make a program appreciably less likely to be effective:

  1. Effective programs focus on reducing one or more sexual behaviors that lead to unintended pregnancy or HIV/STD infection. They focus on reducing specific sexual behaviors.
  2. Effective programs are based upon theoretical approaches demonstrated effective in influencing other health-related risky behaviors; theoretical approaches that modify other social behaviors carry over to sexual behaviors.
  3. Effective programs give a clear message, and continually reinforce that message.
  4. Effective programs provide basic, accurate information about the risks of unprotected intercourse and methods of avoiding unprotected intercourse.
  5. Effective programs include activities that address social pressures on sexual behaviors.
  6. Effective programs provide modeling and opportunities to practice communication, negotiation, and refusal skills.
  7. Effective programs employ a variety of teaching methods, designed to involve participants and personalize the information.
  8. Effective programs incorporate behavioral goals, teaching methods, and materials that are appropriate to the students' age, sexual experience, and culture.
  9. Effective programs last a sufficient length of time to adequately complete important activities.
  10. Effective programs select teachers or peer educators who believe in the program and provide training for those individuals.

¹ Kirby, D. (2001). Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.


May Jesus protect our children and grant us wisdom in supporting them to make healthy choices.

Peace.

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