Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > July > 22
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Real sex ed makes a difference
Two counties, next to each other, with nearly identical demographics — numbers that would suggest a high teen pregnancy rate.
One county is highest in South Carolina for teen pregnancy. The other is the lowest.
What’s the difference? One county has had a comprehensive sex education program for 24 years.
This fascinating story is on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal. I think you may have the be a subscriber to access the story, but here’s a taste:
One explanation for how Bamberg County has performed so well is one of the nation’s most intensive and long-running programs to prevent teen pregnancy. Its director, a 47-year-old former volleyball coach named Michelle Nimmons, leads an eight-person staff at the Denmark-Olar Teen Life Center in Denmark, one of the county’s two central towns.
They bombard boys and girls with hours of sex-education classes, “life skills” sessions to teach self-esteem and saying no to sex, practical guidance on contraception and other outreach programs that take place as often as basketball or track practice.
While many schools offer sex-education classes for just a few hours a year, often after school, scarcely a day goes by here without a class, one-on-one counseling session, or a free dinner for parents and their kids. Classes and individual counseling sessions are integrated into the school curriculum and meet during the school day.
Meanwhile, the federal government today exclusively encourages “abstinence only” sex education, which critics argue are far less effective.
Is this South Carolina example an argument for change?
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