Wall Street Journal - August 27, 2002
Tara Parker-Pope

The program, dubbed "Worth the Wait," teaches kids that from a medical standpoint, there isn't such a thing as safe sex for a teenager. It documents genuine health reasons why sex should be an adult activity -- regardless of a person's views on sex outside of marriage.

Those reasons are often surprising to teachers and parents, who typically flunk a 10-question "test" based on the curriculum. For instance, the cervix of a teenage girl is more vulnerable to certain sexually transmitted diseases than the cervix of an adult woman. Also, early sex can increase a woman's cancer risk. The sooner a woman starts having sex, the more likely she is to have multiple partners. That puts her at higher risk for human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is linked to cervical cancer.

MAKING THE GRADE

Take this quiz to find out how much you know about the health consequences of teen sex.

1. Condoms have been proven to reduce the transmission of the following STD(s):

a) HPV b) Chlamydia c) HIV d) All of the above e) None of the above

2. What common STD has been proven to cause cervical cancer?

a) Human papillomavirus (HPV) b) HIV c) Chlamydia d) Hepatitis B

3. In the U.S., how many people have been infected with genital herpes (type 2)?

a) 1 in 2 b) 1 in 5 c) 1 in 7 d) 1 in 10

4. Most women infected with HPV have:

a) abnormal pap smears b) genital warts c) cervical cancer d) no associated health problems

And despite the "safe sex" message that is the cornerstone of many sex-ed programs, condoms don't always protect against every sexually transmitted disease, particularly viral diseases like HPV.

The program, which is offered through Scott & White Hospital, Temple, Texas, the main teaching hospital for Texas A&M Medical School, is being taught to 6th, 7th and 8th graders in 31 Texas school districts and is being expanded into some high schools there. Educational kits for health-care workers have been sold in 44 states, and school districts outside of Texas also are considering the program, which requires two days of teacher training by Scott & White physicians and nurses.

"It's easy for kids to blow off the moral reasons," says Lou Mandy Allison, a 15-year-old high-school student in Rogers, Texas, who studied the Worth the Wait program in the 8th grade. But "it's a lot harder to ignore all the health risks that are involved with having sex," she says. She and her friends still talk about the fact that girls bear the brunt of the health problems caused by most sexually transmitted diseases.

"When we talk to students, we tell them, 'We're not talking about morals, ethics or religion -- we're talking about your health,' " says Patricia J. Sulak, the obstetrician-gynecologist who created the curriculum.

But the lesson plan, like all abstinence-based sex-education programs, is controversial. It doesn't talk about homosexuality, masturbation or abortion and doesn't teach kids about condoms or birth control. Teachers simply tell kids that once they do become sexually active, it's imperative they discuss it with a health-care professional. Dr. Sulak, a noted contraception researcher considered progressive in her field, says she believes teaching kids about contraception while at the same time promoting abstinence sends a mixed message.

Critics of abstinence-based sex-education programs say it's unrealistic to withhold information about contraception, because most forms of birth control are better than nothing. Most major medical groups endorse so-called "comprehensive" sex education, which teaches about abstinence and birth control.

Among school districts that teach sex education, 51% discuss contraception but require abstinence be taught as the preferred option. About 35% require that abstinence be taught as the only option for unmarried people.

The remaining 14% teach teens that both abstinence and contraception are part of a broad range of options for adolescents.

Which type of sex education really works is a politically charged issue, and data on both sides are subject to interpretation. Janice M. Irvine, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and author of "Talk About Sex: The Battles Over Sex Education in the United States," says that so far, the data show comprehensive sex-education programs have been more effective than abstinence-only courses.

President Bush has proposed a 33% increase in federal spending on abstinence-only education. Fueling the debate is the fact that since abstinence-only education began making inroads in the early 1990s, teenage pregnancy rates, birth rates and abortion rates have declined dramatically. Research shows increased abstinence among girls was a factor, accounting for one-quarter of the drop in the teen pregnancy rate between 1988 and 1995. The rest of the drop was due to the fact that sexually active teens were doing a better job of preventing pregnancy.

Quiz Answers

(1) c (2) a (3) b (4) d

Source: Scott & White Sex Education Program

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