Study: Teenage 'virginity pledges' are ineffective

The policy manual for the Board of Education has this to say about sex education:

AIDS and SEX EDUCATION

All students in grades 5-12 shall receive Acquired-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) instruction and abstinence-based sex education (emphasis by me) as set forth in the Alabama Course of Study: Health Education standards. Teachers are encouraged to notify parents prior to instruction on these topics. This policy shall be printed in the Parent/Student Handbook annually."

A recent Washington Post story has this to say about that:

"Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today. The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge," but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers."

As I was reading this article, I immediately recalled a poignant moment recently as I was dropping my son off at his school. After he got our of the car, I spotted a typical middle school girl carrying a stack of books that she held in front of her belly. As she walked by me, I could not help but notice her protruding, pregnant belly.

I happen to believe that a radiant pregnant woman is in intensely beautiful sight under normal circumstances. But this was no normal circumstance. This was a middle school little girl who (if statistics are to be believed) is pretty much doomed to a life of poverty along with the child she is bringing into this word.

I can't help but wonder what, if anything, my school system could have done to prevent thie tragedy. Is this school system, the parents and this school board brave enough tackle this delicate issue?

Are we willing to admit that abstinence education does not work and institute programs that have been proven to work? The cynic in me thinks perhaps not. But we must try.