Facts: Comprehensive Sex Education has been taught in the majority of public schools in WA. for at least 20 years. Teens are having sex. STI's/STD's are on the rise. In WA. state teenage pregnancy has slightly decreased, while abortion has slightly increased. Abstinence-only education has been taught in WA. for about 10 years. Blacks are disproportionately affected by STI's.

Problem: Despite a slight decrease in teen pregnancy it's still extremely high at around 12,000 a year in WA. Teens are not using condoms...they are not having safe sex...despite two decades of education telling them all about it.

Conclusion: The Comprehensive Sex Education implemented by the majority of schools is a failure. Legislation that attempts to oust Abstinence-only education is misguided and a waste of time and money.

Thoughts:
I'm amazed at peoples criticism of abstinence ed and it's effectiveness over the past few years; while remaining silent or most likely ignorant of the fact that comprehensive sex ed has been taught in the majority of public schools here in WA. for over 20 years, and has completely failed.

One only need look at the numbers from the Dept. of Health regarding STD's to verify this. Although a number of Seattle schools have exclusively taught comprehensive sex ed STD's have continued to increase in the area year after year with no sign of slowing down. Slight decreases in teenage pregnancy that get brought up are simply the result of teens engaging in other forms of sexual expression such as anal/oral sex.
The fact is all over the US schools that have taught comp. sex. ed. have had no results. Even in a recent report done by Europe in 2003 indicates that despite decades of comp. sex. ed. an alarming rate of students were not using condoms and as a result STD's (STI's) such as Chlamydia, Herpes, HPV and HIV were on the rise.

Why continue to implement something that doesn't work?

I'm not saying abstinence-only educ. is the answer. I'm saying open your eyes and look at the facts. Schools will never be effective in getting teens to do the right thing when it comes to sex.
This is about wanting the best for teens. I don't think abstinence-only or comp. sex. ed is the answer. I think if both can be presented at separate times would be the best solution. Even with that I don't think anything will change. The issue is much larger than education. So much divorce, so many broken families, an abundance of sexual messages being tossed at teens; they want to feel loved, feel safe...education won't give them those things.

Students know about condoms, they know were to get them, they know how to use them, and if they don't there are instructions on the box.
Almost a year ago I developed a friendship with two teenage guys who were seniors in high school. Both of them were sexually active and I was interested to hear from them what they thought about some things. One of the students had slept with over 10 girls. I asked him if he used a condom and he said only a few times...I asked why not all the time? Don't you know the stats about STD's? He said the reason for not wearing a condom was because it just didn't feel the same...it wasn't as good.

It's no surprise teens chose what feels best especially when the consequences aren't necessarily immediate.

Just to stir things up some more I found a recent book called "Soul Searching" by Christian Smith fascinating. This book presents data from one of the most extensive youth surveys conducted in the US. The findings are, what I believe to be the obvious, that devoted religious teens are better off in areas of life compared to those who have no religion.

Despite some degradation of 'moral values' by fellow bloggers I submit that the US is not in a much dire situation due in large part to those teens who are devoted to their religions which have strong moral values. This is another entry for another day.