Study Says Abstinence Works. Shocking! (Cleveland PD)

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 9/3/2005 | Regina McEnery

[USArmySpouse]

In a field fraught with controversy and short of hard data, a study of abstinence-until-marriage programs uncovered some encouraging results among middle school students in Greater Cleveland.

The survey of 2,069 seventh- and eighth-graders found that sexually active students who participated in the school-based program, called For Keeps, reported fewer sexual partners and sexual encounters five months later. The study is one of the few scientifically valid studies done on abstinence education in the country, experts say.

But while For Keeps, run by Operation Keepsake in Mayfield, appeared to increase students' knowledge about abstinence, it didn't have much influence on sexual initiation or condom use. The findings were published Thursday in the American Journal of Health Behavior.

Dr. Elaine Borawski, a public health researcher at Case Western Reserve University and lead author of the study, said she was surprised how much the program, funded with federal tax dollars, influenced sexually active adolescents.

"Everyone says that kids who have had sex won't find programs like this relevant," said Borawski, who has reviewed Operation Keepsake's programs in the past. "It did seem that it resonated with them more than we thought."

For Keeps consists of five sessions lasting 40 minutes each. The curriculum stresses abstinence-until-marriage, presents virginity as a "gift" that should be shared in marriage and emphasizes the dangers of teen pregnancy and sexual diseases, including HIV.

Half the students in the study received the For Keeps curriculum, which also stresses the failure rates of condoms while emphasizing the emotional consequences of teenage sexual activity. The remaining students in the study did not.

Dr. Douglas Kirby, a nationally recognized expert on sex education, said the Cleveland study is one of the first offering strong evidence that the abstinence-until-marriage curriculum has a positive impact on teenage sex practices. He said it seemed to reduce the frequency of sex and the number of sexual partners among adolescents. "These changes, if large enough, should reduce their chances of pregnancy and STDs," said Kirby in an e-mail response to The Plain Dealer.

But Kirby said the study was weakened by its time frame it only measured the impact of For Keeps for five months. Nor did the curricula reduce initiation of sex among students, he said.

Proponents of abstinence-until-marriage said the results are encouraging and pushed for more studies like it. "I thought it did an especially good job of debunking myths that have been raised against abstinence education," said Valerie Huber, manager of the abstinence education program for the Ohio Department of Health. "It does not withhold valuable information for teens to make good choices."

But Earl Pike, executive director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, said the study's findings on condom use were disturbing. He said government funding should be curtailed until rigorous, long-term studies prove the programs work.

"I wouldn't be proud to promote that abstinence programs educate young people to avoid proven methods like condoms that we know reduce risk and save lives," Pike said.

[Sun]

You would think with over one million abortions a year, AIDS, and other diseases, even the secular types would realize that contraceptive education is not working that well.