High STD Rates, Abstinence Ed Link

Experts Connect Teen Infections with Abstinence-Only Sex Education

May 12, 2008 Kat Long

Health officials fault abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula in the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in teens.

U.S. health officials believe abstinence-only sex education has had no positive effect on high school students, and may be a factor in the high rates of sexually-transmitted disease in teens. Several health organizations testified before Congress in April 2008 to refute the Bush Administration’s claim that abstinence-only curricula cut teen pregnancy and STD rates.

The Congressional hearing came soon after the Centers for Disease Control released a bombshell report in March 2008, which found that one in four sexually active American girls between the ages of fourteen and nineteen had one of four monitored sexually-transmitted diseases: human papillomavirus (HPV), herpes, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis (a parasite). Of the African-American girls in the study, half tested positive for one of the STDs.

Eighteen percent of the girls had HPV, and four percent had chlamydia, the two most prevalent STDs. Even more alarmingly, fifteen percent of the girls had more than one STD.

Opponents of the government’s funding of abstinence-only sex education—amounting to about $1.3 billion since the late 1990s—have cited the CDC report in their arguments for funding comprehensive sex education, which includes discussion of STD prevention. Several studies of abstinence curricula, including the definitive assessment by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published in 2004, have shown flaws and inaccuracies in the medical and social information they offer to students. The GAO argued that such curricula do not just give students mixed messages, but could actually encourage teenagers to have unsafe sex, leading to STDs

Differing Opinions

Dr. Margaret Blythe of the American Academy of Pediatrics, as quoted by Reuters, told Congress, “There is evidence to suggest that some of these programs are even harmful and have negative consequences by not providing adequate information for those teens who do become sexually active.” Medical organizations opposing abstinence-only education also include the American Public Health Association, the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the American Psychological Association, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, among others.

Congressional Republicans who support abstinence-only education acknowledge the high infection rate among teenage girls, but argue that abstinence is the only completely effective way of preventing STDs, and the curricula should not be abandoned. Many of these supporters, as Planned Parenthood and the Guttmacher Institute have pointed out, also oppose abortion, family planning, and discussion of homosexuality in the classroom.

Though seventeen states have voluntarily refused federal money for education based on the government’s abstinence-only requirement, Congress has made no definitive move to limit funding or rewrite the funding requirements as of May 2008. This controversy is not likely to be resolved in the near future.

The copyright of the article High STD Rates, Abstinence Ed Link in American Affairs is owned by Kat Long. Permission to republish High STD Rates, Abstinence Ed Link in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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May 27, 2008 1:46 PM

jason anderson :

I'm pretty torn on this issue. I'm not sure that safe sex is really safe and Abstinence is not going to always work either way in the end I would put my money on the same people would end up with the <a href="http://yourstdhelp.com">stds</a>. If we taught both I don't think people would be all that confused. I like the idea of making people make decisions it's good for everyone.

Feb 8, 2009 6:15 AM

Guest :

Hey, I had abstinence-only education in Arizona. It doesn't work. I never learned about specific STDs (only "sex gives you them") or how to put on a condom (only "if you are a bad person, you'll be needing these") until I took a voluntary class about it in college.
As a result, I had unprotected sex in high school and caught HPV. I had no idea that HPV existed or what the chances were of getting it. If I had known that you can get Herpes even with protection, I probably would have been too afraid to have sex
Abstinence-only education taught me (falsely, I now realize) that only bad girls carry condoms, and if you have them, boys will assume that you are loose.

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