Sex Education For Teens Delays Sexual Activity

[sbk]

Sex Education Works, Study Shows

Teens Who Have Formal Sex Education Delay Sexual Activity, Researchers Find

By Kathleen Doheny

WebMD Medical News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 20, 2007 -- Sex education is effective, increasing the chances that teens will delay having sexual intercourse at least until they reach age 15, according to a new study.

"We were encouraged that sex education is working," says Trisha Mueller, MPH, an epidemiologist at the CDC in Atlanta who led the study. "Sex education should continue to be implemented."

Study Details

Ninety-three percent of Americans support sex education in some form, and the teaching of it has become widespread in schools and other institutions, according to Mueller. Previous studies have produced conflicting results on whether sex ed works, Mueller says, yet few recent studies have looked at its impact using a large sample that is nationally representative.

That was the impetus for her study, in which she and her co-authors looked at a nationally representative sample of 2,019 teens, aged 15 to 19, who responded to the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth.

The teens were asked whether they had received any formal sex education instruction at school, at church, or through community organizations. They reported on whether they were instructed about how to say no to sex and whether they got information on birth control.

The study didn't try to prove which of the two approaches -- practicing abstinence or learning contraceptive skills as well as the value of delaying sexual activity -- is better, Mueller tells WebMD.

Teens also reported their age when they received the sex education and their age at first intercourse. Researchers categorized age at first sex as over 15 or under, to coordinate with the government's Healthy People 2010 goal of increasing the proportion of teens who abstain from sex until at least age 15.

Finally, the researchers compared those who had sex education before their first intercourse with those who had it after and those who had no sex education. They did not look at oral sex practices, Mueller says.

Study Results

Their major findings, published in the January issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health:

* Teenage girls who received sex education had a 59% reduced risk of having sexual intercourse before age 15 compared with those who did not get sex education before their first intercourse.

* For teenage boys, sex ed before first intercourse had a 71% reduced risk of having intercourse before age 15 compared with those boys who did not get sex ed before their first intercourse.

* For high-risk groups, the benefit was even greater. African-American urban teenage girls who got sex ed before their first intercourse had an 88% reduced risk of having sex before age 15, Mueller says, compared with those who did not get the training.

Teenage boys who were in school or had graduated and had sex ed were about three times more likely to use birth control when they first had sex compared with those who were in school or had graduated and didn't get sex ed.

Perspective on Sex Ed

Earlier studies have not always found a beneficial effect for sexual education, Mueller tells WebMD. As to why her study did, she says "it could be related to the fact that we were able to control for the sequence of events." That is, they knew if the sex education had taken place after sexual activity had begun or not.

"Receiving sex education before the first sexual activity has the most positive outcome," she says.

The age at which sex ed is taught varies, but a recent national study of middle school teachers found that 72% of fifth- and sixth- grade teachers reported that sex education was taught at their school at one or both grade levels.

Second Opinion

"This study is one more piece of evidence that sex education has the potential to influence teen sexual behavior in a positive way," says Laura Lindberg, PhD, a senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute, a New York based nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health research and policy analysis.

Still, the study has limitations, she tells WebMD. "The study doesn't shed light on the debate about which approach is better." Other research does, however, she says.

"It's a big-picture study," she says of the CDC research. And the increased benefit to high-risk groups, she says, is not that great.

Message for Parents

Sex education should not be confined to one class, Lindberg says, but parents shouldn't leave it all to the schools, either.

"It's important to have ongoing, age appropriate sex education," she says. "You're providing your children sex education when you teach them the name of body parts, when you kiss your husband in front of them."

Source: webmd

[torrenova]

I for one cannot see what objections people can really make to sex education. It is a fact that we are having sex earlier than previous generations and a by product of that is unwanted pregnancies and disease. Those two alone are more than sufficient reason to overule any misguided parental decision to not educate their kids. In fact, parents should be educating their kids before the school does.

[Gimbo]

I for one cannot see what objections people can really make to sex education. It is a fact that we are having sex earlier than previous generations and a by product of that is unwanted pregnancies and disease. Those two alone are more than sufficient reason to overule any misguided parental decision to not educate their kids. In fact, parents should be educating their kids before the school does.

Unfortunately, many parents are more concerned with 2000 year old fairytales than the health of their children...

While other parents are simply not mature enough to be able to talk about these things with their children...so yeah, in thsi case, the scholls system should over rule the feelings of parents..

[seonai]

My son is nearly 13 and I am petrified of this sort of thing (teenage pregnancies especially) so I regularly have little sex educ chats with him You have to, it's a parents responsibility... and the schools of course

[tutsiwarrior]

my step daughter is 14 y.o and developing rapidly in the T&A department but still appears to be a kid upstairs. I say OK as kids should be encouraged to be kids for as long as they want. However as she's got what boys like I have attempted to discuss the matter with the wife so that the step daughter has the information necessary to make choices when the inevitable happens. However, every time I raise the issue with the wife I get evasive non-replies that do not encourage 'meaningful discussion'.

This looks to me to be a cultural matter where my wife is embarrassed to discuss the issue with her daughter. I'd be interested to hear from other falangs with adolescent thai kids and their experiences in this regard. Being falangs, and in my case male and unable to speak thai to a female adolescent, we are in an awkward position when it comes to these sensitive matters.

any comments...?

[sbk]

Perhaps some books in Thai? Its great that you want to help her understand, I remember reading that a large number of Thai teens are having unprotected sex, so the education is obviously lacking.

Perhaps if lacking books, a respected female teacher that you could talk to about this, one who might be willing to help out?

PS Great to see you back tutsi, Happy New Year!

[seonai]

Tutsi, Hi, My son's Thai father talks to our son about sex but he's quite Westernised - my son says other Thai children and the parents don't discuss sex. It's more of a sniggering matter

[tutsiwarrior]

Perhaps some books in Thai? Its great that you want to help her understand, I remember reading that a large number of Thai teens are having unprotected sex, so the education is obviously lacking.

Perhaps if lacking books, a respected female teacher that you could talk to about this, one who might be willing to help out?

PS Great to see you back tutsi, Happy New Year!

lamentably I haven't had any contact with the step daughter's teachers; however, the wife has and to combine your two suggestions she could query one of the teachers regarding appropriate titles that are recommended for the intended purpose.

Tutsi, Hi, My son's Thai father talks to our son about sex but he's quite Westernised - my son says other Thai children and the parents don't discuss sex. It's more of a sniggering matter

yeah...I sort of figured as much. That and 'if you get pregnant don't bother coming home; go live with grandma...' Looks like a more oblique approach is required in the case of the concerned falang member of household. Maybe a book/pamphlet and a bribe (the step daughter don't read much) is the way to go.

a possible 'verification' scenario emerges: behind closed doors tutsi barks questions in english to the wife to be put to the step daughter...shades of the 'football test' in the movie Diner...

(I don't mean to make fun of what is a serious issue...couldn't help it...)

****

thanks for the suggestions and advice...all the best to all in the new year.

[Boo]

a possible 'verification' scenario emerges: behind closed doors tutsi barks questions in english to the wife to be put to the step daughter...shades of the 'football test' in the movie Diner...

actually quite effective in our family. The eldest neice, now 15, has been a bit of a cow the pas 18months (staying out with freinds, stealing money from nans purse to buy mobile, knocking around with a boy, basically things kids get up to all over the world but cause she is thai & living with 60/70year old+ carers they have no idea how to control her & her own mum has no interest either) so when we visit she gets sat down with me & hubby & I say something (not totally related to anything mostly) but hubby gets to have quite a frank discussion with her about not going with boys, working hard at school & how her lovely aunty farang wants her to have more chance at life & not to be stuck in this life forever & how if she does work hard we will help with college & her future etc. It seems to make more impact if she thinks it comes from me & even though it is mostly the families concerns, me & fella do sit down to discuss what he should say & the best way to say it as I am the closes female to her age in her life, so she looks up to me. So far so good, she is being more helpful at home & more respectful to the gran & old aunt (prior offenses such as backchat were reported with shock & indignation ) & has plans to do a marketing course when she finishes high school, all this after our last chat in September so fingers crossed!

Obviously you aren't a 32year old women so may not have the same kind of connecton but it may help for your wife to get some of these concerns across to her daughter by using you as the patsy

[tutsiwarrior]

a possible 'verification' scenario emerges: behind closed doors tutsi barks questions in english to the wife to be put to the step daughter...shades of the 'football test' in the movie Diner...

actually quite effective in our family. The eldest neice, now 15, has been a bit of a cow the pas 18months (staying out with freinds, stealing money from nans purse to buy mobile, knocking around with a boy, basically things kids get up to all over the world but cause she is thai & living with 60/70year old+ carers they have no idea how to control her & her own mum has no interest either) so when we visit she gets sat down with me & hubby & I say something (not totally related to anything mostly) but hubby gets to have quite a frank discussion with her about not going with boys, working hard at school & how her lovely aunty farang wants her to have more chance at life & not to be stuck in this life forever & how if she does work hard we will help with college & her future etc. It seems to make more impact if she thinks it comes from me & even though it is mostly the families concerns, me & fella do sit down to discuss what he should say & the best way to say it as I am the closes female to her age in her life, so she looks up to me. So far so good, she is being more helpful at home & more respectful to the gran & old aunt (prior offenses such as backchat were reported with shock & indignation ) & has plans to do a marketing course when she finishes high school, all this after our last chat in September so fingers crossed!

Obviously you aren't a 32year old women so may not have the same kind of connecton but it may help for your wife to get some of these concerns across to her daughter by using you as the patsy

like I said, the step daughter is still pretty much a child emotionally so that presently her mom doesn't worry too much about the problems you've described. To be on the safe side I reckon that with girls once their first period comes the subject should be mentioned. However at this age things can change quickly and I haven't been home since my last leave 4 mos ago...presently just wantin' to prepare to address the situation as I found it last time.

The wife spoils her daughter rotten whereas she is quite harsh with the nieces of which we have two staying next door with MiL so that they can attend the larger prathom school in town. Last time when I saw that the daughter had gotten a new fancy mobile and her same aged cousins in rags who could only dream of one uncle tutsi marched those affected down to the mobile shop to redress the situation by buying a half dozen cheap nokias. The wife breathed 'now ye got Poh(the daughter) pissed off...'. I intend to proselytise the sex education thing across the board to all the adolescent nieces...somehow I think that they will be more receptive...

amazingly, the oldest niece 17 y.o. who fcuked up, stole money from her gran, ran away, was booted out of school appears to have gotten along OK despite the wife's oppobrium...she has managed to stay healthy and without pregnancy despite having already been married, divorced and presently living with her boyfriend in BKK. I mentioned this to the wife and she said not to worry as the niece handles herself very well in this regard which I take to mean practices effective birth control. I'm quite sure she was never talked to by any of the family adults about the subject. We have an unspoken alliance as I could see where things were going when the problems first started...made sure that she understood that she wasn't unloved which was the problem to begin with...her bein' reasonably intelligent picked up on my concerns it appears...

[Ijustwannateach]

Sex is one of those departments where more information is definitely better for young people, especially those that might be at risk of screwing up their lives (literally). Tutsi, if your wife is reluctant, you really might need to step in. Kids also adopt attitudes towards sex reflecting those of their parents, so it doesn't help her to pretend it's something that can't be discussed calmly in a matter-of-fact manner.

Recently, various U.S. states have been *refusing* money from our government which must be earmarked as "abstinence-only sex education," citing it as "government waste" since those programs are so ineffective. I'm sure that technically most Thai students receive a "nuts and bolts" presentation in school, but I'm not so sure how effectively they teach contraception or response to Thai-style peer pressure or unwelcome social advances, etc. Clearly we're living in a strange sort of neoVictorian world here, so talking about it is "worse" than doing it.

"S"

[PeaceBlondie]

If sex education is presented as little more than an anatomical cutaway of the organs (even if they're copulating), that's not enough. Fertility cycle, birth control, the pill, the condom, foam, the worthless rhythm method, seminal secretions prior to orgasm, all need to be covered (well, the methods that work, anyway). And something about how to say no even when you're no longer a virgin. And sex education for the boys has to offer mas--urbat--n as a viable alternative, has to be mentioned. If the school doesn't do it, the father or uncle can explain it to the boy at around the age of 11 or 12, and the mother or aunt a year earlier for the girls. And tell the girls they can fly kites, too!

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...so, to continue...I'm now in the UK discussing the great issues with my 13 y.o. son who has just become tall and hansom and is thinking about girls. His mother does her best when the issue arises but ye got ta give the kids a good talkin' to. The ex is not above demonising masturbation so I say to Louie that there ain't nothin' wrong with beating the meat and now with hormones and etc the urge may be greater than otherwise....and, to punctuate, I said that whoever tries to tell you that you've been displaying inappropriate behavior look him in the eye and say 'I masturbate, don't you?'

now, I haveta face whatever comes my way with the stepdaughter and the nieces back in Suphan...the wife is caught up with the cultural embarrassment. Like any parent, I just want to say 'ain't nothin' wrong with whatever you do so long as YOU have control and have considered the consequenses'. This aspect of the whole sex business with teenages gets lost. ie., YOU HAVE A CHOICE and godammit don't anyone tell you different...you just need the necessary information to do so...

a few years ago when the oldest niece fcked up and got kicked outta school a school administrator came to the house to discuss the issue. She was a middle aged chinese lady that could speak english. I'm gonna go and try to find her to ask about materials, pamphets, etc that I can display conspicuously about the house and then to wave in young faces at dinner time. 'I'll give you 100 baht if you read that...' (make it 500 an' a new mobile uncle tuts then we'll talk about it... )

there's got to be others out there that have faced this falang/thai adolescent dilemma...lets hear from you...