We’ve known for a while that [tag]abstinence[/tag]-only policies are costly, inaccurate, and ineffective. But in case those minor details weren’t enough, it’s also worth remembering that teenagers [tag]lie[/tag] about their [tag]sexual[/tag] history.
Teenagers who take pledges to remain [tag]virgins[/tag] until marriage are likely to deny having taken the pledge if they later become sexually active. Conversely, those who were sexual active before taking the [tag]pledge[/tag] frequency deny their sexual history, according to new study findings.
These findings imply that [tag]virginity[/tag] pledgers often provide unreliable data, making assessment of abstinence-based sex education programs unreliable. In addition, these teens may also underestimate their risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases.
“Teenagers do not report their past [tag]sex[/tag]ual activity accurately, with virginity pledgers giving more inaccurate reports of their past sexual activity,” study author Janet Rosenbaum, of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health.
Among those willing to admit it, more than half of the adolescents who sign abstinence pledges break the promise within a year. And since much of the other half lie about it, it’s getting increasingly difficult for any serious person to say with a straight face that abstinence-only is effective.
If only that was enough to convince Bush to stop throwing our money at this nonsense, we’d see some real progress.