Exaggeration, Inaccuracy and Bias in Abstinence-Only-Until Marriage Curricula Used in New York State
According to the report, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in New York State often use commercially available curricula that contain serious flaws. Four of these curricula were reportedly used in New York State in 2004-2005: Sex Respect, Choosing the Best, WAIT Training and the Project Reality family of products.
The curricula are riddled with inaccuracies and distortions:
Choosing the Best, a curriculum used by seven programs across the state:
CLAIM: “Syphilis affects about 120,000 Americans each year.”
FACT: According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 32,000 reported cases of syphilis in 2002.
CLAIM: Condoms are ineffective in preventing pregnancy 15 percent of the time during the first year of use. “This means that over a period of five years, there could be a 50 percent chance or higher of getting pregnant with condoms used as a birth control method.”
FACT: The logic used to determine a 50 percent risk of getting pregnant is flawed. The risk remains the same from year to year and does not increase over time. Failure rates are largely due to inconsistent or incorrect use.
Project Reality, used by nine programs:
CLAIM: “If condoms were effective against [sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)], the increase in condom usage would correlate to a decrease in STDs overall—which is not the case. Rather, as condom usage has increased, so have rates of STDs.”
FACT: The CDC has established that condoms reduce the risk of chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV infection, and that there is a relationship between condom use and lower rates of cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).
The curricula often incorporate fear tactics:
Sex Respect, used by one program, suggests that, “The first step in prevention of damage to the human soul is sexual abstinence until marriage,” and that, “America [has] 20 years worth of crippled relationships to show for its experimentation with unleashed sexual activity.”
It suggests that “French” kissing can transmit HIV. Its materials warn that birth control pills, shots and implants increase the chance of future infertility, when, in fact, numerous scientific studies show that the risk is extremely low.
Project Reality, another curriculum used in the state, includes a parent/teacher guide listing the following consequences for premarital sexual activity:
WAIT Training, used by eight programs, warns that, “Teens are emotionally wounded due to broken hearts and emotions that result when they get involved with sexual activity. Premature, noncommitted [sic] sex is physically, emotionally, and socially detrimental to teenagers.” There is no support for the suggestion that most sexually active teens suffer emotional harm; in fact, a recent study concludes that “the mental health of most adolescents is simply not affected by first sex.”
The curricula often badly exaggerate the potential dangers of abortion:
The Choosing the Best LIFE teachers’ guide directs the instructor to ask: ‘“What are the possible consequences of choosing to have an abortion?” Suggested answers include, “[f]eelings of regret, shame, sadness, guilt; physical complications for girl; continued feelings of shame, sadness, regret; death of fetus.”
The implication that abortion poses serious physical or psychological risks is simply untrue. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures available and has an extremely low complication rate. Studies have failed to substantiate a causal relationship between abortion and any of these supposed psychological effects recited in these curricula.
The curricula often employ stereotypes that reinforce traditional and limiting gender roles:
WAIT Training teaches that “financial support” is one of the five “major needs of women,” and “domestic support” is one of the five “major needs of men” and offers the following advice: “Just as a woman needs to feel a man’s devotion to her, a man has a primary need to feel a woman’s admiration. To admire a man is to regard him with wonder, delight, and approval. A man feels admired when his unique characteristics and talents happily amaze her.”
The Sex Respect family of curricula includes a cartoon with a caption cautioning girls, “Watch what you wear. If you don’t aim to please, don’t aim to tease.”
The curricula display bias against lesbian/gay/bisexual/ transgender youth:
WAIT Training’s exclusion of LGBT students is explicit, stating that, “Due to the specific nature of this prevention effort it is designed to meet the needs of heterosexual relationships.”
Facing Reality actually encourages teachers to feel comfortable passing moral judgments on LGBT populations by assuring teachers that, “in order to preserve an atmosphere of intellectual freedom, [they] should feel confident that when examining health issues and moral implications of homosexual behaviors, they are not engaging in an assault on a particular person or group.”
Sex Respect introduces its discussion of HIV/AIDS with the following statement: “AIDS . . . the STD most common among homosexuals, bisexuals and [intravenous] drug users, has now made its way into heterosexual circles.” This perpetuates the false and dangerously stigmatizing notion that AIDS is a disease that primarily affects gay men and people with substance abuse problems. In fact, the population with the sharpest increase in HIV infections is heterosexual women of color.
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