Sexual Intelligence by Marty Klein, Ph.D.: "2. Texas Vs. Education: Everyone's Problem
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Texas educators are now debating the content of new high school sex education books. The Board of Education is choosing among four books, all of which passionately praise abstinence. Three omit contraception completely, while one barely mentions condoms.
Not surprisingly, federal data show Texas once again among the top five states in the country for teenage pregnancies and STDs. Not content to undermine the lives of its own citizens, it routinely drags down the educational systems of other states, who are limited to textbooks written for the huge Texas market.
As governor of Texas, George W. Bush pushed an abstinence-based sex education curriculum. In this year's State of the Union address, he promised to double federal funding for abstinence programs, "so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases."
The President either doesn't read SI or reads it but doesn't remember much, so we'll repeat this for his benefit: abstinence is among the least reliable forms of contraception and disease protection. As previously reported (#42), almost 2/3 of a sample of Kentucky undergraduates vowing abstinence broke their pledge while still in school. The study has now been replicated around the country.
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