Why doesn't abstinence work in the West?

If you attended public school any time between 1970 and the present, it's almost impossible to not have been exposed to anti-drug campaigns. From the famous D.A.R.E. campaigns to Nancy Reagan's “Just Say No!” PSAs, from truth. read more

Research about abstinence-only programs is already quite clear, as we document in two new scientific papers in the Journal of Adolescent Health. They don’t work, and they don’t prepare young people for life. Abstinence-only now has a new name: “sexual risk avoidance.” A new name doesn’t fix the fundamental problem. read more

Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs don't work. To date, 11 states have evaluated the impact of their abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. None has been shown to reduce teen sexual activity. read more

Keeping abstinence in the title makes it sound like waiting until marriage is the real solution – but information about other issues is what makes the program work. Thus, these programs are not really abstinence-only. read more