"Safe Sex" Programs are a Danger to America's Youth
In a new study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, abstinence-based sex education programs yielded results far superior to competing strategies. John B. Jemmott III, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, led the federally funded research. This study, which focused on African American students from four public middle schools in the Northeast between the years 2001 and 2004, is being hailed by the scientific community for its methodological excellence.
Sociologist Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, looked at the many aspects of this landmark study:
An honest look at the evidence yields several conclusions, one of which is that “safe sex” programs are a danger to American youth and need to be defunded by the Obama administration immediately.
The student body was divided into four different groups: those who received an abstinence-only education; those who followed a “safe sex” curriculum; those who were exposed to a comprehensive program that included elements of both approaches; and those who were introduced to a “healthy living” curriculum, e.g., advice on eating and exercise.
The worst results stemmed from those who followed the “safe sex” strategy: 52 percent started having sex. The best results came from those who followed the abstinence-only approach: 33 percent of the students started having sex. Those in the blended program, and those in the “healthy living” one, yielded results of 42 and 47 percent, respectively. In other words, even those kids who were not given a sex education program at all did better than those in the “safe sex” group.
The Obama administration mindlessly cut all funding for abstinence-only programs, citing the lack of scientific evidence for such models. Now that their beloved “here’s how to put a condom on a cucumber” approach to sex ed is a proven disaster, it’s time to cut “safe sex” programs and put all the money into abstinence-only ones. It’s also time to fund voucher programs: black kids in Catholic schools succeed both in and out of the classroom.
"Safe Sex" Programs are a Danger to America's Youth
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
A slight problem...
The problem with this is that Mr. Donohue he is comparing apples and oranges, because abstinence was NOT the stated objective or key measurement of the ' safe sex ' cohort in the experiment (it seeked to measure condom use) and it was, obviously, in the abstinence group.
I am very surprised that this study is being 'hailed by the scientific community for its methodological excellence', and I'd like to see some evidence of that. It seems to me that there are gaping holes in it, not least that the results are based on self-reporting, which is known to increase the unreliability of a finding - particularly in a field like this, which has an implied 'moral' component. Although I don't have evidence to support this, I strongly suspect that the abstinence-only cohort would be more incentivised to lie about their sexual activity, because their perception would be that having sex out of marriage was morally wrong . This is a massive methodological flaw in this study. In addition, the study size is very small, the findings are barely significant, the study period is too short ( ending before the average age of sexual initiation)...
In addition, nowhere in the report does it suggest that '“safe sex” programs are a danger to American youth and need to be defunded by the Obama administration immediately', as Mr. Donohue suggests. Mr Donohue is trying to use the legitimacy of the scientific method to sneak through what are ultimately, his personal views. I would be interested to understand which data from the study supports this astonishing conclusion.
Mr. Donohue also misquotes the results of the 'safe sex' group (now, there's a surprise) because he fails to take into account that one cohort within the 'safe sex' cohorts was also given abstinence education .
The report also does not include other, equally meaningful measurements such as pregnancies or incidence of STDs.
- The Celestial Teapot
February 5, 2010 1:32PM
Reply to this Recommend
(0)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Popery masquarading as social policy.
Once again, Bill Donohue is bleating and crowing his Catholic Papist agenda. This time it's against education policies that have prevented uncounted unwanted pregnancies and saved thousands from catching veneral disease. Yes, the Papist answer is no condoms and preach preach preach about abstinance. Bill, do you and the Pope really think kids are going to listen to the ridiculous policies your church promotes. No. Kids are better off knowing all the facts and getting all the tools and equipment to deal with unwanted pregnancy and disease. By the way, I`m a former Catholic who saw the light when he read world history. Catholic policy has always been contrary to human democracy , that`s why we had a Reformation!!
- K in Newfoundland
February 5, 2010 5:01PM
Reply to this Recommend
(1)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.