Study shows sex education program reduces teen sex activity

A sex education study was conducted in six states and found that when students took the sex education class, they were less likely to be sexually active, according to the results released Tuesday.

The study showed that of the students who participated in the educational training only one-third of 6th and 7th grade students were sexually active within two years following the program. While half of the students who did not complete the program, but were given information about contraception were found be to be sexually active.

Utah legislature SB54 went from the senate to the standing committee Tuesday morning, and it includes health education amendments that focuses on abstinence. It is unclear if legislature includes class information that was contained the sex abstinence education program.

The highlights of the Utah SB54 bill read as follows:
This bill directs the State Board of Education to: establish curriculum requirements that include instruction in human development, healthy relationships, and reproductive health, including a general discussion of contraception with its benefits and limitations; and select instructional materials for use in a general discussion of contraception with its benefits and limitations; imposes restrictions relating to health instruction; requires that instructional materials for health instruction provide opportunities for interaction between a student and the student's parent or guardian; and makes technical amendments.

The current state law in Utah requires parental consent to teach contraception methods.

Hertiage.org reported the study findings:
Teen Aid Family Life Education Project. The Teen Aid Family Life Education Project is a widely used abstinence education program for high school and junior high students. An evaluation of the effectiveness of Teen Aid, involving a sample of over 1,300 students, was performed in 21 schools in California, Idaho, Oregon, Mississippi, Utah, and Washington. The Teen Aid program was shown to have a statistically significant effect in reducing the rate of initiation of sexual activity (loss of virginity) among high-risk high school students, compared with similar students in control schools. Among at-risk high school students who participated in the program, the rate of initiation of sexual activity was cut by more than one-fourth, from 37 percent to 27 percent. A similar pattern of reduction was found among at-risk junior high school students, but the effects did not achieve statistical significance. The program did not have statistically significant effects among lower-risk students.

Sources: Utah Legislature and Hertiage.org

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