Effectively responding to rising teen pregnancy rates
The Washington Post reports today that the teen birthrate increased for the second consecutive year in 2007. This two-year growth comes after a fifteen-year decline. In response, some are calling for the expansion of abstinence-only sex education, which received major increases in federal funding under the Bush administration. (The Community-Based Abstinence Education Fund alone, which was created in 2000 to augment already-existing abstinence-only funding streams, experienced huge growth during Bush’s tenure– from $20 million in 2001 to $113 million in 2007. But because states knew this approach wasn’t working, as of October 2008, 25 states had rejected federal abstinence money, up from 11 in 2007.)
However, evidence-based evaluation of sex education programs shows that programs emphasizing delay of sexual activity AND providing medically accurate information about contraception are most effective.
Diverse people of faith — pro-choice and pro-life, progressive and conservative — support this approach.
In a nationwide survey, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (a well-regarded organization with a bipartisan advisory board) found that comprehensive sex education programs, rather than abstinence-only, have the strongest evidence of success:
At present, The National Campaign counts 21 programs that have relatively strong evidence of success…Most of the programs with the strongest evidence of success are those that encouraged abstinence as the safest choice for teens and also encouraged those who do have sex to use contraception.
…No abstinence-only programs have been shown through careful, randomized experimental evaluation to have strong evidence of success.
The most common argument against comprehensive sex education is that it encourages sexual activity among teens. However, polling reveals that 75% of teens disagree. The same poll revealed that only 7% of teens and 11% of adults wish young people received more information about abstinence alone, and 37% of teens and 73% of adults wish young people received more information about both delaying sexual activity and contraception. (Graph available here.)
Evidence shows that comprehensive sex education is more effective than abstinence-only, three-quarters of teens reject the argument that comprehensive sex education encourages them to have sex, and the American people want more of the comprehensive approach. The argument in favor of it is overwhelming.
Currently, there is no dedicated federal funding going to comprehensive sex education, compared to the millions being spent for abstinence-only education. This may be about to change– Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) will introduce the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act today, a bill which would finally authorize federal funding for medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education.
For more information on the teen pregnancy numbers, the National Campaign for Prevention of Teen and Unintended Pregnancy’s policy recommendations are available here.
Interesting post. pregnancy during the teenage years is a bombastic situation, one that comes unexpected. For a student facing unintended pregnancy, the physical, emotional and spiritual issues can seem overwhelming. Teenage pregnancy may have been the result of the lack of supervision from parents, though blaming is nonetheless helpful if pregnancy presents itself. What I would like to emphasize is that the pregnant teenagers need help. They need understanding and acceptance the more.
thanks for sharing this article! it was a truly satisfying read. – Shane