- Abstinence-only programs might work, study says, By Rob Stein, February 2, 2010, Washington Post: “Sex education classes that focus on encouraging children to remain abstinent can persuade a significant proportion to delay sexual activity, researchers reported Monday in a landmark study that could have major implications for U.S. efforts to protect young people against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Only about a third of sixth- and seventh-graders who completed an abstinence-focused program started having sex within the next two years, researchers found. Nearly half of the students who attended other classes, including ones that combined information about abstinence and contraception, became sexually active. The findings are the first clear evidence that an abstinence program could work…”
- Quick response to study of abstinence education, By Tamar Lewin, February 2, 2010, New York Times: “A study of middle-school students that found for the first time that abstinence-only education helped to delay their sexual initiation is already beginning to shake up the longstanding debate over how best to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. ‘This is a rigorous study that means we can now say that it’s possible for an abstinence-only intervention to be effective,’ Dr. John B. Jemmott III, the University of Pennsylvania professor who led the study, said Tuesday, hours after results of the study were released. ‘That’s important, because for some populations, abstinence is the only acceptable message…'”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty