March 28, 2008
Pinal Co. school districts to continue abstinence-based sex ed.
By Jason Massad
Tribune

Various school districts in Pinal County will continue to receive their sex education with a message: abstinence.

Pinal County officials approved a $300,000 federal and state grant with no debate this week for a program that has been in place since the late 1990s.

However, a national debate rages over whether teaching abstinence in schools is effective, and helps prevent sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies for students who choose to have sex.

Sixteens states, including California, refuse to accept federal grants that impose an abstinence-based sex education, said Phil Curtis, director of government affairs at AIDS Project Los Angeles.

"To put it bluntly - why waste your money?" he said. "Congress has studied it, the (Governmental Accounting Office) has studied it ... and none of them can demonstrate the effectiveness of any of these programs."

Lisa Garcia, director of Pinal County's health services, said the program is taught by county employees in seven school districts to 2,500 children. The 10-hour curriculum teaches human anatomy, the use of contraceptives as well as good decision-making and refusing to have sex.

"It really is a lot of sex ed," she said. "The message is the value of abstinence."
Pinal County found that the abstinence-based sexual education programs work. For instance, a pre-program survey of students in 2007 found that 63 percent were "ready to commit to abstinence until marriage." After the program, 72 percent said that they would not have sex until marriage.

Another measurement asked the teenage students if they could "say no to sex in a way that would not hurt the other person's feelings." That went from 72 percent to 80 percent.

Arizona is not currently among a group of states that are turning down abstinence-based sex education for comprehensive sex education that, in part, puts a greater focus on preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, Curtis said. Many other states are turning in that direction.

In January, Gov. Janet Napolitano turned down federal grant money for abstinence-only sex education, but that rejection applies to program funding for next year.
"That's because they know these programs don't work," Curtis said.

Abstinence programs don't prepare teenagers for the realities they may face if they choose to have sex, Curtis said.

"They don't know anything about condoms," he said. "Why waste the money. Kids need comprehensive sex education."

The federal government spent $254 million in abstinence-based funding in the 2008 budget year, Curtis said.

Garcia said the county is limited in the type of sex education it provides. It spends $125,000 on preventative programs for teen pregnancy and $300,000 on the abstinence-based programs.

"We have some other preventative programs ... as far as sex ed this is the only program we have."

©2008 Freedom Communications / Arizona