What Are They Teaching Our Kids About Sex, and Why?

The only sex education that I remember in 7th grade was in the isolated hallways of Emmaus (Penn.) Junior High School, where the boys passed around a crumbled Playboy centerfold and discussed the female anatomy. There weren’t any classes. Birds and bees 101 was taught by fellow classmates and the advanced course was taught at home.



Although it is not a new development, the Waxman report and resulting discussion and media coverage have brought us back to good question: How did we come to the place in America where government schools are teaching our children sexual morality and the techniques of sexual behavior.



For a good examination of Congressman Henry Waxman’s committee report on the content of abstinence-only sex education programs, see Evangelical Outpost's piece. Waxman’s report has been adequately exposed as political drivel, lousy research, and probably pure dishonesty.



There are a few more things that can be said.



There is plenty of evidence that abstinence-only sex education programs are gaining in popularity in the schools, and that they are working. More students are making the choice to delay sex. This is a piece of good news for America, except for some odd politicians and liberal activists.



Those who object to abstinence-only content not only don’t trust that young people have any chance of behaving themselves, but they don’t in their heart-of-hearts believe that it is necessary. They just don’t (although the politicians can’t be honest about that.) If premarital, extra-marital, basically any sex between consenting adults is permissible, why should we teach our youth otherwise. Just don’t knock somebody up, and don’t get or transmit a disease and everything’s fine. In fact, everyone’s a little happier. And less stressed out.



Don’t Do It; Here’s How

Of course what is positioned as a reasoned and balanced approach is to teach that abstinence is preferable, and also teach the safest way to practice non-abstinence. This approach assumes that a strong percentage of the students will not choose abstinence, and therefore must be taught safe technique, in order to reduce pregnancy and the transmission of disease.



The problem with this approach is that teaching safe technique undercuts instruction on abstinence—it undermines the integrity of the moral teaching and immediately puts in question the moral, emotional, physiological, psychological, and practical advantages of remaining abstinent.



Imagine this approach in other areas:



--Don’t do drugs because they will kill you and fry your brain and wreck your life. But if you do, and we know some of you will, use clean needles, and know the source of your cocaine, and do it in moderation, and snort with a friend.



--Don’t rollerblade without a helmet, but if you do, don’t go down hills or reach speeds exceeding 30 mph



--Don’t talk with strangers, but if you do look around for clues on where you are.



--Don’t play with matches, but if you do, have a fire extinguisher handy and. . .



--Don’t get in fights at school, but if you do, let me show you how to make your first shot a good one.



Choosing the Best

To get more information on at least one of the abstinence-only programs that is gaining in popularity, but came under fire, we looked at information on a program called Choosing the Best. There are elementary, middle school, and two high school courses. The one for grades 8 through 10 includes the following topics:



Sex, Emotions and Self-Respect: Teens learn how guys and girls view sex differently, while grappling with the emotional impact of sex before marriage.



Sex, Alcohol and Respect: Teens hear painful stories of mixing alcohol and sex, as they learn startling statistics about alcohol.



Sex, STDs and Honesty: A powerful video introduces students to the consequences of sexually transmitted diseases. They see for themselves the damage of specific STDs.



Sex, Pregnancy and Responsibility: A real-life teen couple shares the struggle of an unintended pregnancy. After teens evaluate choices and consequences, they see the value of being abstinent until married.



Sex, HIV and Compassion: After watching two young adults share how it feels to live with AIDS, teens separate myths from facts about HIV/AIDS, and in the process, learn compassion.



Sex, Love and Healthy Choices: Teens hear others share why they’ve chosen abstinence. After evaluating the options for themselves, students are given the opportunity to commit to abstinence until marriage.



Sex, Limits and Self-Discipline: Beginning with self-discipline, teens learn practical ways to handle sexual pressure from peers and others.



Sex, Saying “NO”and Courage: Practical role-plays enable students to develop and sharpen assertiveness skills.



Choosing the Best completed a federally-funded study on its program, which showed a 26% reduction in sexual activity among participating 9th grade students nationally, and a 47% reduction in Pike County, Georgia, where the curriculum was presented by more experienced educators. Amazingly, when all three of the Choosing the Best programs were taught, there was a cumulative reduction of between 50% and 60%.



One Academic Study

The Waxman report ignores academic research that is underscoring the effectiveness of abstinence education. The findings of An Analysis of the Causes of the Decline in Non-marital Birth and Pregnancy Rates for Teen from 1991 to 1995, Joanna K. Mohn, MD, Lynne R. Tingle, PhD, Reginald Finger, MD, MPH included the following:



This study demonstrates that the higher proportion of teen females abstaining from sex accounted fro most of the reduction in single teen births and 67% of the decrease in single teen pregnancies from 1991 to 1995. These findings support the significance of the growing movement of teens choosing to abstain from sex. . . .The increase in teen abstinence has been attributed to the fear of HIV/AIDS and STDs, and to the rise of abstinence-only sex education. Empirical studies are beginning to reveal effectiveness of the abstinence-only approach. For example, Bearman & Bruckner (2001) found that teens who took a plede to abstain from intercourse by an average of 27 to 36 months. The end result from teens abstaining, as this study demonstrates, is fewer births to single teenage women. The fact that more teens are abstaining also means fewer teens are at risk fro sexually transmitted diseases.



The best use of time in our schools would probably be to teach math instead of sex. In the results of an international study released last week, we’ve learned that American students have fallen further beyond most of the world in math scores. The U.S. students were behind most other countries in overall math literacy and in every specific area tested in 2003, from geometry and algebra to statistics and computation. We’re just better than Mexico.



“The international test is not a measure of grade-level curriculum,” says ESchoolNews (free registration required), “but rather a gauge of the skills of 15-year-olds and how well students can apply them to problems they might face in life. It also aims to give the United States an external reality check about how it is doing. “



How about teaching proper math skills and less on how to properly use a condom?



Just a thought.



If parents are going to capitulate to the schools in this area of responsibility, however, the abstinence-only programs are the only approach that makes any sense at all. And there are plenty of quality programs, such as Choosing the Best, to choose from.

--James Jewell