Abstinence-Only Classes Delay Teen Sex

Sex education classes that encourage children to remain abstinent—controversial since getting major funding from the Bush administration—can convince a significant number of them to delay sex, researchers have concluded from a landmark study. The study found that a third of 6th and 7th graders in abstinence-focused classes began having sex within two years, but nearly half of students who took sex ed that included information about contraception became sexually active within that time. The professor who led the study said the evidence showed that abstinence-only education shouldn’t be written off. The findings come as teen pregnancy rates are increasing for the first time in a decade and amid intense debate over the Obama administration’s canceling of $150 million in federal funding for abstinence programs, which showed little evidence of their effectiveness until now.