The news reports seem to vary from day to day. Either condom-based sex education works, or it doesn't. Either abstinence should be the focus, or it shouldn't.
But, according to government-supported research at the Heritage Foundation, one thing is clear: Teens who abstain from sex share some characteristics.
The National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health identified eight personality and behavioral traits that were associated with both abstinence and academic achievement:
• Future orientation, with a focus on long-term goals.
• Willingness to postpone current pleasures for larger future rewards.
• Perseverance, as in the ability to stick to a task or commitment.
• A belief that current behavior can positively affect the future.
• Impulse control, including ability to control emotions and desires.
• Resistance to peer influence.
• Respect for parental and social values.
• Sense of self-worth and personal dignity.
Abstinence also is associated with better physical and mental health across socioeconomic groups, according to a summary of the study in U.S. News & World Report. Kids who make abstinence decisions do better in school, too. Abstinent teens are far more likely to attend and graduate from college than those who are sexually active.
Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said that's what her organization is all about.
“Abstinence education is about setting high expectations for youth and then giving them the skills to reach them," she told CitizenLink.
"With teen births on the rise, we need to increase our efforts to make abstinence a priority. Youth need every weapon in their arsenal to combat the constant 'sex-without-consequences' message they receive at every turn.
"They need to know that only abstinence eliminates all risk."
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— Jennifer Mesko
