Lost cause?

November 30, 2007 12:36 am

WAS GOV. KAINE'S recent decision to stop funding abstinence-only sex education in the public schools a pragmatic move, or is his liberal side emerging after recent Democratic gains in the legislature? Either way, his whacking of $275,000 for abstinence-only programs from the budget--funds that the feds would have matched--is the latest volley in the sex-ed culture wars.

Citing studies that claim abstinence-only programs "don't work well enough," Mr. Kaine cut off state funding for every one of them in Virginia, including at least two hereabouts. And, yes, if the aim of these programs is to dissuade teens from sexual activity and that isn't happening, by all means turn off the spigots.

But there's more to this issue than meets the eye. A spokesman for the governor identified two studies behind Mr. Kaine's decision: one by Mathematica Policy Research, published in April, and one by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies called "Emerging Answers 2007," by researcher Douglas Kirby. Superficially, the results of these two studies seem convincing: The federally funded Mathematica study found that abstinence education has no significant impact on teen sexual behavior. "Emerging Answers" came up with the same finding, adding, however, that "two-thirds of the 48 comprehensive programs that supported both abstinence and the use of condoms and contraceptives for sexually active teens had positive behavioral effects."

Seems clear, doesn't it? But advocates of abstinence education can quickly point out flaws. The Mathematica survey, for example, looked at only four obscure abstinence-only programs. None continued past middle school, and all were composed years ago, before abstinence-only education had developed. What's more, the Emerging Answers study isn't exactly neutral. Mr. Kirby, it seems, has a dog in this fight: The company he works for, ETR Associates, is a major developer of comprehensive sex-ed curricula.

Emerging Answers notes that few- er than 10 in-depth studies of abstinence programs have been conducted, yet on that skimpy evidence concludes that "abstinence programs have not produced sufficient evidence to justify their widespread dissemination." One program that has had intensive study, however, is used right in our area.

Fauquier County Public Schools' "Reasons of the Heart" curriculum, used in grades seven through nine, teaches the benefits of abstaining from sex until marriage. By comparing the study group with a control group not part of the program, research team leader Stan Weed found that Reasons of the Heart had had a significant impact: After one year, 16.4 percent of the control group had become sexually active, while only 9.2 percent of the program group had done so.

Lest anyone fear that Fauquier students are left in ignorance, a spokesman for the county's Family Life Education program points out that sixth-graders learn all about the human reproductive system, and in high school, doctors, including ob-gyns, come in to health classes to supplement the teaching.

So Fauquier students are given the facts of life--but most of their sex-ed instruction in those crucial years when hormones erupt like Vesuvius strongly pushes abstinence.

The Heritage Foundation finds that most comprehensive sex-ed programs, while labeled "abstinence plus," devote only 5 percent of teaching time to forgoing sex. While "we want kids to know everything" may seem a reasonable premise, the actual curricula often neglect a key aspect of sex ed: character development, manifested in learning to wait and exercising self-control.

Iris Giggetts of the Rappahannock Area Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, one of those de-funded by Mr. Kaine, has found teens receptive to her abstinence message. "A lot of the kids are amazed that they didn't know the information that was presented to them," she said. The possibility of contracting STDs, the emotional fall- out of sex, and the impact that the decision to become sexually active will have on their lives are mysteries to many students until they hear these truths.

A statement from Mr. Kaine's own Virginia Department of Health in 2006 said teens are responding to the abstinence message. Indeed, the Virginia Abstinence Education Initiative found students "strongly agree that having sex as a teenager would make it harder for them to study and stay in school in the future."

This is no time to back away from abstinence, or to pull the plug on those who proclaim it. The legislature should restore funds for abstinence-only programs.