Failed UK-Style “Comprehensive” Sex Ed Program

Washington, DC (July 15, 2009)

Policymakers in our nation’s capitol would be well-advised to note an alarming report in the July, 2009 issue of the British Medical Journal. The article shows the failure of a so-called “comprehensive” sex education approach.

Designed to curb teen pregnancy, instead it found that:
• Attendees were more likely to become pregnancy than the comparison group (16% vs. 6%)
• Participants were more likely to be sexually active than the comparison group (58% vs. 33%)
• Participants were less likely to use condoms at last sex than the comparison group

The program implemented in the UK was modeled after the New York Children's Aid Society (Carrera) program. Of further concern, this is one of the programs recommended as an effective model within the new Teen Pregnancy Prevention funding program proposed by the White House. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention program also eliminates promising abstinence programs already serving 2.5 million students across the nation. These abstinence programs have a growing body of research showing significant delay in sexual onset.

"Attempts to replicate the Carrera program in the United States, and most recently in the UK, have been dismal failures endangering the health of youth. " said Valerie Huber, executive director of NAEA. " It is not uncommon for research to find little difference between the participant group and the comparison group. When a program moves students in the wrong direction, however, this reveals a very serious problem."

This alarming new research development should inform the congressional debate currently underway in the House. "The health of our youth demands that we not duplicate and fund failure, but that we identify positive approaches that best contribute to the sexual health of youth ", concluded Huber.

To read the entire BMJ article, go to:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/339/jul07_2/b2534

Source: National Abstinence Education Association
The National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) is comprised of leading abstinence educators and supporters who represent 1.5 million children across the U.S. For more information:

www.AbstinenceWorks.org
www.AbstinenceAssociation.org
www.ParentsForTruth.org