Group studies abstinence programs

A new study by the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services suggests that one way to reduce the number of sexually active high school students is abstinence-only sex education, but the final results are not in yet. According to a 2003 study by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana high schools students have more sex than the national average and also use fewer condoms than the national average.\nThe new study looks at the abstinence-only sex education programs being given an increasing amount of federal funding under President Bush. In 2001, $82 million was spent on abstinence-only sex education. In 2005, about $167 million will be spent on the program.\nThe study samples four abstinence programs across the country and is in its preliminary stages. It is too early to determine any behavioral changes, said an interim report released June 14. The report discusses the differences in attitudes toward sex between students in \nabstinence-only and more comprehensive sex education classes.\nStudents in abstinence-only classes were more supportive of abstinence and less supportive of teen sex than those in the control group, the report said. They also felt that there are more consequences to teen sex and more of them expected to abstain.\nThese numbers reflect a change in attitude but not behavior. The only way to determine the effectiveness of the programs is to determine the change in behavior, said William Yarber, an IU professor of Applied Health Science.\n"It's too early to say there is any scientific proof of benefit," he said.\nIndiana received a little under $800,000 of federal funds in 2005 for abstinence-only sex education. The state had to match that with $600,000.\nThe money goes to a state-wide ad campaign and a community grant program called Indiana RESPECT, which stands for Reduces Early Sex and Pregnancy by Educating Children and Teens. The ad campaign will run ads supporting abstinence until marriage on TV, radio, and billboards beginning in the fall of 2005, said Katherine Newland, state adolescent health coordinator for the Indiana State Department of Health.\nBloomington Hospital's Teen Options Leadership Program is the one program in Bloomington funded by Indiana RESPECT. Since the program uses state funds as opposed to federal funds, it can offer abstinence-based instead of abstinence-only sex education, Newland said.\nStudents learn about contraceptives along with the risks involved with early sexual activity. They still teach that abstinence is the key to reducing teen pregnancy and health as their main message.\nThe program offers seventh and eighth graders more in depth information on top of what they already receive in their normal health classes, said Jennifer Staab, health curriculum director for the Monroe County Community School Corporation. \nBloomington schools teach abstinence-based rather than abstinence-only sex education, Staab said. Indiana law requires that all schools teach that abstinence is the only 100 percent sure way to prevent pregnancy and STDs.\n"We don't stop there," she said. "We also teach about contraceptives and \nrelationships." \nStudies show that abstinence-only education delays sexual activity, but when teens do engage in sexual activity they are not prepared, she said. So in the end, STD and pregnancy rates for teens are higher.\n"We do abstinence based for a reason … I would hope that all kids abstain, but the reality is they don't," she said.