Experts worry nation’s on brink of teen sex surge
WASHINGTON — The long decline in sexual activity among U.S. teenagers, hailed as one of the nation’s most important social and public health successes, appears to have stalled.
After decreasing steadily and significantly for more than a decade, the percentage of teenagers having intercourse began to plateau in 2001 and has failed to budge since then, despite the intensified focus in recent years on encouraging sexual abstinence, according to a new analysis of data from a large federal survey.
The halt in the downward trend coincided with an increase in federal spending on programs focused exclusively on encouraging sexual abstinence until marriage, several experts pointed out. Congress is debating funding for such efforts, which receive about $175 million a year in federal money and have come under fire from some quarters for being ineffective.
The problem with abstinence education is that it doesn’t provide facts, which is what young adults need; it merely provides a course of action.