Real Sex Ed Returns
But will Democrats axe abstinence-only?By Steve Yoder
As a candidate, Barack Obama promised to eliminate ineffective federal programs. Now that he’s president, many Democrats know where he should start.
The largest federal abstinence-until-marriage programs began 12 years ago when Republicans inserted funding for them into the 1996 welfare reform act. Under the Bush administration, the programs thrived, growing from $80 million in 2001 to $176 million in 2008. Bush increased funding for one abstinence program in 2005 even after it received a “results not demonstrated” rating from Bush’s own Office of Management and Budget. Still, the last few years have brought good news to advocates for comprehensive sex education, even before the November election.
Change on the way?In the research arena, a consensus is emerging that abstinence-plus programs—those that also include information about contraception—outperform those focusing exclusively on abstinence. Research on virginity pledges published in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics is the fifth major study since 2007 to conclude that abstinence-until-marriage approaches either have little effect on teen behavior or fare worse than comprehensive sex education programs in changing behavior.
State-level politics on teen pregnancy are also shifting. Despite budget pressures, half of the states refuse federal Title V block grants that fund abstinence-until-marriage programs. The grants require programs to teach individuals up to age 29 that “sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.” .........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4279/real_sex_ed_returns 
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