Just Say "No," Redeux.

This wouldn't be so scary if it weren't really true.

In a meeting with students not too long ago, I asked them a question that I ask a group of students each year about the same time. "How many of you have been given information on how not to get pregnant?"

All the hands shot up.

"How many of you have been given information about birth control?"

All the hands went down.

Mystified? The ONLY information they've received in school in our district is abstinence-only education. Which is great, if you abstain. But the moment you don't, not only has the plan "failed" but you, the teenager, don't know what to do.

"How many of you knew that you could get birth control information from the school nurse?"

Not one hand went up.

What's really scary about the abstinence program at our school is that it's presented to 9th-graders. Did you read that? NINTH. GRADERS.

I had an 8th-grader last year who miscarried. My first year teaching, one of my students, a ninth-grader, gave birth at the beginning of November which means she became pregnant during middle school.

And this past month, our school board voted to continue their abstinence only program, as it stands. Yay.

The Heritage Foundation loves to talk about abstinence. How it's 100% effective. So does "Make the Best Choice.Org" They claim it's completely effective. When you take the pledge, you get a card, or sometimes, a bracelet. Maybe even some lip balm.

Until, that is, kids have sex. Then it's 0% effective. Personally, I want something with better odds than that. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 23% percent of 14-year-olds and 30% of 15-year-olds have had sex.

However, in the past decade or so, the Bush administration decided that sex education didn't spend enough time on abstinence, so it poured more than $1 billion in federal aid into state-run abstinence-only programs. ONly three states - California, Maine, and Pennsylvania - have turned down this money.

In an data-driven era of No Child Left Behind, can we attribute this outpouring of money to scientific studies that show that abstinence education is more effective in reducing teenage pregnancy?

No, we cannot.

There is no conclusive evidence that abstinence only programs have lowered teenage pregnancy rates or STD rates. Our best evidence is that they delay sexual intercourse, among those who take the pledges, by about a year.

This nonsense, which uses your tax dollars, is completely based on religious doctrine insinuating itself, once again, into our schools.

What's being taught in your local district?

For more reading:

• Abstinence-only sex ed finds few scientific fans
• APA Press release: Based on the research, comprehensive sex education is more effective at stopping the spread of HIV infection.
• Santinelli, et al (2006) Abstinence and abstinence-only education: A review of U.S. policies and programs
• For fun: The ONION: Encouraging Abstinence For Adults
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