Executive Summary: Abstinence Education: Assessing the Evidence

Teen sexual activity remains a widespread prob­lem confronting the nation. Each year, some 2.6 million teenagers become sexually active-a rate of 7,000 teens per day. Among high school students, nearly half report having engaged in sexual activity, and one-third are currently active.

Sexual activity during teenage years poses seri­ous health risks for youths and has long-term impli­cations. Early sexual activity is associated with an increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), reduced psychological and emotional well-being, lower academic achievement, teen pregnancy, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Many of these risks are avoidable if teens choose to abstain from sexual activity. Abstinence is the surest way to avoid the risk of STDs and unwed childbearing.

Abstinence education "teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children" and stresses the social, psychological, and health benefits of absti­nence. Abstinence programs also provide youths with valuable life and decision-making skills that lay the foundation for personal responsibility and developing healthy relationships and marriages later in life. These programs emphasize preparing young people for future-oriented goals.

The Evidence. Studies have shown that absti­nent teens report, on average, better psychological well-being and higher academic achievement than those who are sexually active. Delaying the initia­tion of or reducing early sexual activity among teens can decrease their overall exposure to risks of unwed childbearing, STDs, and psycho-emotional harm. Authentic abstinence programs are therefore crucial to efforts aimed at reducing unwed child­bearing and improving youth well-being.

Opponents of abstinence education contend that these programs fail to influence teen sexual behav­ior. At this stage, the available evidence supports neither this assessment nor the wholesale dismissal of authentic abstinence education programs.

This paper discusses 21 studies of abstinence education. Fifteen studies examined abstinence programs that were intended primarily to teach abstinence. Of these 15 studies, 11 reported posi­tive findings. The other six studies analyzed virgin­ity pledges, and of these six studies, five reported positive findings. Overall, 16 of the 21 studies reported statistically significant positive results, such as delayed sexual initiation and reduced levels of early sexual activity, among youths who have received abstinence education. Five studies did not report any significant positive results.

The Current Environment. Today's young peo­ple face strong peer pressure to engage in risky behavior and must navigate media and popular cul­ture that endorse and even glamorize permissive­ness and casual sex. Alarmingly, the government implicitly supports these messages by spending over $1 billion each year to promote contraception and safe-sex education-at least 12 times what it spends on abstinence education.

Although 80 percent of parents want schools to teach youths to abstain from sexual activity until they are in a committed adult romantic relationship nearing marriage-the core message of abstinence education-these parental values are rarely com­municated in the classroom.

In the classroom, the prevailing mentality often condones teen sexual activity as long as youths use contraceptives. Abstinence is usually mentioned only in passing, if at all. Sadly, many teens who need to learn about the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity during the teenage years never hear about them, and many students who choose to abstain fail to receive adequate support for their decisions.

Conclusion. Teen sexual activity is costly, not just for teens, but also for society. Teens who engage in sexual activity risk a host of negative outcomes including STD infection, emotional and psycholog­ical harm, and out-of-wedlock childbearing.

Genuine abstinence education is therefore cru­cial to the physical and psycho-emotional well-being of the nation's youth. In addition to teaching the benefits of abstaining from sexual activity until marriage, abstinence programs focus on developing character traits that prepare youths for future-ori­ented goals.

When considering federal funding for abstinence education programs and reauthorization of Title V abstinence education programs, including main­taining the current definition of "abstinence educa­tion," lawmakers should consider all of the available empirical evidence.

Christine C. Kim is a Policy Analyst and Robert Rector is a Senior Research Fellow in the Domestic Pol­icy Studies Department at The Heritage Foundation