Let's Talk About Sex

I've been quite focused on the youngsters so I'm going to switch gears and talk about teens. Huge proponent of sex ed that I am, this article in the Seattle Times made me smile. UW researchers looked at a federal survey of hundreds of families and found that the students who received comprehensive sex ed in school (e.g., information about birth control methods) were half as likely to become teen parents as those who learned about abstinence only or nothing on the subject at all. Yes, half. PLUS the study shoots down the assumption that talking about sex encourages it, saying that teens with the comprehensive sex ed were no more likely to have sex than their peers. This is after taking into account differences in race, age, gender and family makeup.
This is not the first study to raise doubts about our government's obsession with abstinence promotion. Parents, we have got to be honest with our kids about sex. Let's start by being honest with ourselves.