Stress Abstinence:
NJ Sex Education – The Stress Abstinence Debate

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June 2001

by Len Deo, President of the NJ Family Policy Council

The abstinence debate is once again in the news. Recent reports have commented on new material released from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Apparently, some researchers there don’t believe there is enough substantial evidence that abstinence education works. Commenting on the report, former NJ governor Tom Kean, Chairman of the Campaign, wrote that it’s time to stop arguing over which is a better strategy – abstinence or contraception. We need both, he says, and more of both. Also, after heated debate, the NJ Senate Education Committee passed a bill on June 14th that would require stressing abstinence in sex education programs that are taught in the public schools. Aren’t we all tired of the debate! Why doesn’t someone just come up with a method to rid us of all these unwanted consequences of teen sexual activity – unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases(STDs), emotional damage, etc.?

I’m afraid that’s not likely to happen anytime soon because as a society we are still missing the critical factor—the resolve that abstinence and contraception cannot co-exist equally in the most effective educational approach. When we adults acknowledge and teach that teenage sexual activity is not normative behavior, should not in any way be promoted or sanctioned, then we will begin to approach the problem most effectively. Let’s be clear on what the problem is: it is not teenage pregnancy; it is not even epidemic teenage rates of STDs. These are the symptoms. The problem is the activity that produces these consequences, and there will never be good enough prevention or protection against what is a very natural activity in an unnatural context.

The only way to effectively reduce the consequences of teenage sexual activity is to 1) teach an unequivocal message supporting the choice of sexual abstinence, and 2) provide contraceptive information as an intervention in high-risk behavior. There is no reason why schools cannot adopt this approach. It would allow for the demise of the “mixed message” which now dominates health education classes, and it would give to students, whose parents believe they should have it, some help in avoiding consequences, albeit inferior help. If you question this last statement, consider that 25% of sexually active teens have an STD, and over 15% of first year condom users will experience a pregnancy. In addition, these two facts do not even address the depth of the emotional scarring that results from such early sexual activity. We must abandon the mantra that “as long as it’s safe and consensual, it’s OK.” It is rarely safe, and as for whether it’s consensual, that’s always up for grabs.

Educators should be endeavoring to design the very best abstinence-centered educational interventions. Instead we argue about how to include contraceptive information in sex education. Let’s resolve that the answer lies in a two-pronged approach: that abstinence is the clear goal – and contraceptive information is an intervention for high-risk behavior. Then, we who are the entire “community” of a teen’s life – parents, teachers, role models of all sorts -- can begin to fashion ways to support the only lifestyle that is truly free of physical and emotional risks to their sexual health.

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