A landmark study released Monday found that a sexual education program urging sixth- and seventh-graders to be abstinent succeeded in getting most of the children to delay having sex. "This new study is game-changing," one abstinence advocate said. But observers pointed out that the class in the study contained none of the moral preaching or religious overtones of Bush-era "abstain-until-marriage" programs — the approach was merely "abstain for now." Should we take the study with a grain of salt, or does it prove once and for all that abstinence programs work? (Watch a discussion about the study on abstinence sex-ed)
This settles it. Abstinence works: Nobody is saying that abstinence-based education is perfect, says Ross Douthat in The New York Times. But we now know, beyond all doubt, that "one abstinence program designed in a particular way, implemented by a particular group of teachers," and aimed at a particular group of children "was considerably more effective than a contraception-based approach." That's an important finding.
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