The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began a task force to analyze 83 studies of contraceptive-based sexual education programs. The report concludes that group-based comprehensive risk reduction programs will reduce some of the negative consequences of adolescent sexual activity, writes the North Carolina Family Policy Council.
However, two members of the task force, Irene Ericksen and Danielle Ruedt, conclude that contraception focused sex education programs, “do NOT demonstrate effectiveness in three critical outcomes—teen condom use, teen pregnancy, or the spread of STDs.” All areas that CSE programs claim are stronger at than abstinence based curriculums.
The two dissenting opinions are written in a formal Minority Report which argues that the CDC’s report is fundamentally erroneous because it does not take into consideration different types of sex education programs. According to Ericksen, “the report combined widely divergent types of sex education programs into a single analysis, and then attempted to draw across-the-board conclusions.”
The result—a report that unanimously confirms contraception-focused sex education as effective when some programs are not. According to the Minority Report, the CDC’s findings are misleading and policy makers should be aware of the falsified information before citing the task force as a primary reason to support contraceptive-based sexual education programs.
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