SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Focus on Abstinence Can Delay Sexual Activity
from the Washington Post (Registration Required)
Sex education classes that focus on encouraging children to remain abstinent can convince a significant proportion to delay sexual activity, researchers reported Monday in a landmark study that could have major implications for the nation's embattled efforts to protect young people against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
In the first carefully designed study to evaluate the controversial approach to sex ed, researchers found that only about a third of 6th and 7th graders who went through sessions focused on abstinence started having sex in the next two years.
In contrast, nearly half of students who got other classes, including those that included information about contraception, became sexually active.
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