Practical Sex Education Actually Works?

The Christian Right likes to promote abstinence-only sex education, but a recent study has proven that a "skills-based" sex education cuts the rates of sexually transmitted diseases. This involves practical training on diseases and their prevention - including the use of condoms.

Reuters reports:

The study included 682 sexually active African American and Latina teenage girls who attended an inner-city Philadelphia adolescent health clinic. The girls were randomly assigned to participate in either the skills-based STD-prevention class, or one of two comparison classes: an information-based class on STDs, or a class on general health.

One year later, girls in the skills-based program were less likely than their peers to have an STD; about 10 percent tested positive, versus 18 percent in the general-health program and 15 percent in the STD-information program. They also reported fewer instances of unprotected sex than girls in either of the other groups, and were less likely to say they'd had multiple sexual partners in the past 3 months.

There were, however, no clear differences between the groups at an earlier time point, 3 and 6 months after the classes. The apparent "delayed effect" of the skills-based program, Jemmott and his colleagues note, may indicate that it's hard for girls to start safer-sex practices in their existing relationships. Instead, they may be better able to use what they've learned at the beginning of a new relationship.

Training in the use of condoms wasn't just about how to put them on — the classes also focused on helping the girls "negotiate" the use of condoms with partners. It might be accurate to say that the classes helped empower girls by explaining how they could stand up for themselves and their health against boyfriends who are reluctant to use condoms. This would be consistent with the idea that the "delayed effect" was a product of changing behavior in new relationships.

Of course, those who promote abstinence-only education don't really do so because of an expected reduction in sexually transmitted diseases — the whole point is religious ideology and saving souls for Christ. If people get AIDS anyway, at least they might be saved and go to heaven. That's much better than avoiding disease or pregnancy and not being saved.

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