The Myth of Abstinence - Just Saying No Doesn't Work

I have to admit that I’m quite taken by Oprah Winfrey’s ‘O’ magazine. After all, as a thirty-something with an education, two young kids, a reasonable disposable income and interests in books, health, food and clever ways to appear more like a twenty-something, I fit squarely into her target group. Plus she really does have some excellent columnists, including Dr Phil (go on, you know you love him really), and Suze Orman (the blond with the great financial advice).
In the April issue there were two articles which grabbed my interest. Firstly, a swag of recipes and ideas for including coffee in everything from chicken to chilli.
Secondly, there is a most interesting article about the promotion of abstinence to American teens. Titled Sex & Teens: Why Abstinence Isn’t Working*, it explains that since 1996 the American government “has poured more than US$1 BILLION into abstinence-only education programs in the belief that teaching kids not to have sex until marriage is the only sure way to prevent teen pregnancy, STDs, and HIV infection.” And this would obviously work in the same way as telling people not to smoke, take drugs, drive SUVs or leave the toilet seat up would work, right? In fact the article goes on to point out that not only does telling kids to “just not to do it” not work, it’s actually endangering those same kids by exposing them to higher rates of pregnancy and disease!
“Last year a study out of the University of Oxford reviewed 13 abstinence-only HIV prevention programs involving more than 15,000 US youths and found that not one was successful at decreasing rates of HIV infection. Compared with control groups (which included students receiving no intervention at all or attending safe-sex courses), abstinence-only programs did not lower the incidence of unprotected sex, the frequency of STDs and pregnancy, or the number of partners students had: not did it get them to use condoms more often, or ironically enough, pursue abstinence.”
Remember, that’s one BILLION dollars we’re talking about to achieve this pitiful result. Even more shocking, some of the largest abstinence programs actually provide medically incorrect information.
In comparison, programs which do seem to work are those that are so-called comprehensive or “abstinence plus” programs, which emphasise celibacy but also teach about STDs and contraception use. When 56 of these programs were investigated two thirds were shown to have a positive effect on at least one risk behaviour, while abstinence only made almost no difference.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is that the government of one of the most developed nations in the world truly believes that telling their hormone-fuelled teenagers simply not to have sex will work. It’s my personal belief that this is almost impossible in any country but it’s absolutely laughable in a country whose culture is filled with erotic imagery in music, tv and all forms of media. The sexual exploits of so-called role models such as politicians and religious figures – who are after all adults – are exposed by country's media with glee so why do they expect their children to be any different? It's time they realised that sex is a normal part of human existence and teaching teens to do it responsibly without putting themselves or others at risk is a moral duty for all those involved in raising kids. Obviously leaving it up to the government, no matter how big their budget is, won't work.


*Credited to NB, which according to the magazine’s colophon is probably Nate Berkus.