A study in the United States has shown that abstinence has no impact on the sexual behaviour of teenagers. (See article titled “Abstinence Education Does Not Impact Sexual Behavior”)

The results of this study are important because of its longitudinal nature. It tracked the behaviour of youths who had undergone the abstinence programmes for up to six years. It is perhaps ironical to the proponents of abstinence that despite their efforts, youths who had undergone abstinence programmes are no less likely to abstain from sex compared to youths who had not undergone such programmes.

On the flip side, those who argue that teaching abstinence will result in youths engaging in more unprotected sex shouldn’t rejoice. The same study found that youths who had undergone the abstinence programmes were no more likely than other youths to engage in unprotected sex.

After reviewing the methodology, I’m pretty sure that the study was pretty tight in terms of research design, and the results are indeed valid. Of course, whether the same results are achieved in a similar study in Singapore would be a question mark because of differences in culture. However, given Singapore’s heavy consumption of American media and cultural products, maybe the difference might not be so great.

In anycase, assuming that abstinence is ineffective (the worst case scenario), what should we then offer in terms of sexual education? I’ll support teaching youths the importance of having protected sex. At the end of the day, the two biggest problems with teenage sex are unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, all which can be mitigated greatly through having protected sex.

There’s also the moral dimension involved as well, i.e. is it appropriate to have sex outside of marriage (the assumption here is that most youths are not married)? To me, I don’t think the answer should be told to teenagers when conducting sexual education. I think they should discover the answers for themselves. As a liberal, I would actually ask teenagers when they think it’s appropriate to have sex and why? Then, I’ll try and play Devil’s advocate to challenge their beliefs and get them to think a little further. At the end of it all, they’ll be in a better position to make their own decision, and whatever decision they make, I think we should just respect it, since it’s not an ignorant choice anymore. (Yes, it’s idealistic I know, but that’s just me)

Oh, and another interesting result from the study is that peer support is a significant predictor of sexual activity. Those from the pro-abstinence camps might want to take this into consideration. Abstinence programmes might not be effective, but following up with continued peer support might just tilt the scales back.