Condoms and Abstinence: Separating Truth From Myth

Q. Since most teens are sexually active, shouldn’t schools teach the majority how to protect themselves with condoms, rather than catering to the minority who abstain?
A. No. The truth is, most teens are not sexually active. The latest survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that teen sexual activity has been declining steadily over the last seven years (since about the time abstinence programs really took hold). The CDC’s 2001 Youth Risks Behavior Survey found that fewer than 43 percent of our nation’s teens had ever engaged in sexual intercourse, and just one-third said they are “currently sexually active.” Clearly, teens are capable of abstaining from sex; they just need the right motivation and support.

Q. But doesn’t abstinence-only education leave that one-third who are sexually active—which is still a sizeable minority—unprotected and vulnerable?
A. Granted, kids who engage in “unprotected” sex are vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. But this raises another crucial question: How much protection do condoms provide? Studies have found condom failure rates in protecting against pregnancies for teens to be as high as 22.5 percent. As for protecting against STDs, in 2001 several government health agencies together released a report on condom effectiveness. The report found evidence that condoms are about 85 percent effective in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. (Is 85 percent good enough in protecting your child against a deadly and incurable virus?) The report also found condoms to be somewhat effective in protecting men (but not women) from gonorrhea. But the prominent scientists who prepared the report found no conclusive evidence that condoms protect against any other STD, including HPV, the primary cause of cervical cancer, which kills more women than AIDS does. Sixty-eight million Americans now have an incurable STD. Many caught those incurable STDs while using condoms. No one has ever caught AIDS or any other STD from being abstinent. Who’s really more vulnerable, the teen taught to use condoms or the one who’s motivated to save sex for marriage?

Another crucial point to remember is that kids are notoriously spontaneous—and forgetful. (How many times have you reminded your teen to take his jacket to the football game as he rushed from the house?) The CDC has stated that for condoms to be effective they must be used “every time you have sex—100 percent of the time—no exceptions.” One study found that only about 13 percent of sexually active people always use a condom. That figure may be even worse for teens. In the heat of passion kids are likely to forget the eight-step process for proper condom use.

Q. But haven’t abstinence education programs been shown to be ineffective?
A. That’s a widely spread myth. The biggest and best government-funded study of abstinence programs will not be released until 2005. However, a report from Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found 10 proven abstinence programs. The study is available on the Internet at <http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/BG1533.cfm>