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Date Posted: 21:16:26 09/25/02 Wed
Author: Iz
Subject: The Wall Street Journal

"A New Reason for Teens to Avoid Sex: It Could Be Harmful to
Their Health"
Wall Street Journal (08.27.02)::Tara Parker-Pope
A new sex education curriculum offered in Texas is focusing
on the health benefits of abstinence, ignoring the moral issues
altogether. The program, dubbed "Worth the Wait," teaches kids
from a medical standpoint that there is no such thing as safe sex
for a teenager. It documents genuine health reasons why sex
should be an adult activity - regardless of a person's views on
sex outside of marriage.
"Worth the Wait" is offered through Scott & White Hospital,
the Temple, Texas, teaching hospital for Texas A&M College of
Medicine. It is being taught to 6th, 7th and 8th graders in 31 Texas
school districts and is being expanded into some high schools.
Educational kits for health care workers have been sold in 44
states, and school districts outside Texas are also considering
the program, which requires two days of teacher training by Scott
& White physicians and nurses. Lessons do not talk about
homosexuality, masturbation or abortion and do not teach kids
about condoms or birth control. Teachers simply tell kids that
once they do become sexually active, it is imperative they
discuss it with a health care professional.
Among school districts that teach sex education, 51 percent
discuss contraception but require abstinence be taught as the
preferred option. About 35 percent require that abstinence be
taught as the only option for unmarried people. The remaining 14
percent teach teens that both abstinence and contraception are
part of a broad range of options for adolescents.
Which type of sex education really works is politically
charged, and data on both sides are subject to interpretation.
Janice M. Irvine, associate professor at the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst and coauthor of "Talk about Sex: The
Battles Over Sex Education in the United States," says that so
far, the data show comprehensive sex education programs - which
most major medical associations endorse - have been more
effective than abstinence-only programs.
Fueling the debate is that, since abstinence-only education
began making inroads in the 1990s, teenage pregnancy rates, birth
rates and abortion rates have declined dramatically. Research
showed increased abstinence among girls accounted for one-quarter
of the drop in teen pregnancy between 1988 and 1995. The rest of
the drop was due to sexually active teens doing a better job of
preventing pregnancy.


Cheers!
The Legend

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