New Study: Abstinence-Only Works!

Published February 2, 2010 | By scribe

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, Feb. 1, 2010

Several governors decided to turn down federal abstinence funding just as new research is demonstrating how effective the message is. Today, Dr. Geoffrey Fong from the University of Waterloo and Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott from the University of Pennsylvania released a groundbreaking study on the impact of abstinence-only programs on African America students over a two-year period. While 48.5% of the sixth and seventh graders in the control group were sexually active during the 24 month period, only 33% of those who participated in the abstinence education course were sexually active in this same time period. As the authors concluded, “[T]he results of this… trial are promising. They suggest that the theory-based abstinence-only interventions can have positive effects on adolescents’ sexual involvement.” In light of this research, the administration should reconsider its strategy of slashing abstinence funding in favor sex-ed curriculum that does little more than encourage high-risk behavior.

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU10B01&f=PG07J01