Glenden BrownWhen it comes to sex, teens and adults aren’t speaking the same language
. . . so says a recent study from the University of Washington (see also ScienceDaily).
The study showed that attitudes and intentions about sex were more powerful than attitudes and intentions about being abstinent.
“This paper demonstrates that increasing abstinence intention does not lead to less sex. In fact, when abstinence intention and sex intention interact with each other a teenager is more likely to have sex,” said Masters.
Rather than being an either or choice, she said, a teenager’s decision to become sexually active can be likened to getting on an escalator. At first, adolescents don’t think about sex very much. Once they step on the escalator the first step is abstinence. Then as they begin to be aware of sex, there are other steps and choices to be made that eventually lead to having intercourse.
The money quote (emphasis added):
She [Tatiana Masters] said the study was not an evaluation of abstinence-only programs, noting that others studies have shown they don’t have an effect on delaying sexual activity. Part of the problem is the way abstinence is taught.
“Abstinence-only programs often only look at the negatives of sex, not the positive. This is especially important for young women who need to have control over having sex and having safe sex,” Masters said. “With these programs you often hear ’sex just happens’ and adolescents are having less safe sex. This detracts from adolescents having a choice, and this leads to more dangerous sex with more sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies.”
