But kids aren't 100% abstinent.
In April, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Governement Reform received testimony from American Public Health Association, The U.S. Institute of Medicine, The American Psychological Association, and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
They all agreed. Programs teaching U.S. schoolchildren to abstain from sex have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins.
"Vast sums of federal monies continue to be directed toward these programs. And, in fact, there is evidence to suggest that some of these programs are even harmful and have negative consequences by not providing adequate information for those teens who do become sexually active," Dr. Margaret Blythe of the American Academy of Pediatrics told the committee.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official Charles Keckler said the Bush administration believes abstinence education programs send the healthiest message.
Source: Will Dunham, Experts Say US Sex Abstinence Program Doesn't Work: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN23459576
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