Abstinence-Based Sex Ed Is Failing, Teens Say

Their city has one of the highest rates of teenage motherhood in California--evidence, a group of Santa Ana teenagers says, that the school district’s abstinence-focused curriculum for sex education isn’t working.

So these youths, tired of seeing their friends get pregnant and drop out, are asking the school board to change the way it teaches about sex.

“We feel the school board should be concerned,” said Maricela Sandoval, a senior at Century High School. “We want them to teach contraception, and how to deal with relationships.”

A majority of students are having sex, she said, and someone needs to tell them that, yes, you can get pregnant the first time.

Maricela is part of a group of 15 Santa Ana youths, male and female, recruited by the Campfire USA Orange County Council Speak Out program to research teenage pregnancy in the city.

Funded by a grant from the California Wellness Foundation, Campfire paid for snacks and transportation while the teenagers volunteered their time for 18 months, surveying fellow high school students about their sex habits and polling parents and teachers about what they would like to see taught in schools.

They are among 12 groups around the state that have received grant money from the Wellness Foundation to push for policies and education and that will prevent teenage pregnancy.

The youths already have been speaking individually with board members.

Armed with their research, they plan to go before the school board next month and demand that health teachers begin giving students more information about prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and how to get birth control pills or condoms in addition to counseling abstinence.

Currently, Santa Ana schools give students basic biological information, but emphasize abstinence, officials said. District officials also noted that teachers can tell students where to find numbers for family planning clinics in the phone book.

No one denies that the city struggles with a high rate of birth among its underage girls, some as young as 13. A 1996 UC Berkeley study found that Santa Ana was one of seven “trouble spots” in Southern California for teenage births, with more than 8% of girls ages 15 to 17 having babies each year. Other locations were Long Beach, Watts and San Bernardino.

In addition, the students found during their study that three out of five teenagers in the district say they are sexually active. According to their survey, 76% of teenagers in the district believe the curriculum needs to be changed, and 90% of Santa Ana parents said they would support efforts to revamp it. A majority of health teachers agreed that the curriculum needs improvement.

“Students know they should be using birth control,” Maricela said. “But they don’t know how to get it or how to use it.”

Many of the teenagers also said they think girls are pressured into having sex by their boyfriends, and they need more help in saying no if they want to.

Their concerns have some backing from federal sources: In June, the U.S. surgeon general released findings of a two-year study that found little evidence that teaching abstinence deters teenagers from having sex. The report found that those who had taken sex education courses were more likely to use protection than those who were told only to abstain from sex.

Several Santa Ana district officials said they are impressed by the youths’ research, but warned that the subject is complicated.

Board member Rosemarie Avila, in the past a proponent of abstinence-only programs, said she is keeping an open mind and will carefully consider what the teens have to say.

Board member Sal Tinejero said he agrees that the district needs to review the way it teaches sex education, but was quick to add that he opposes distributing condoms on campus.

“They have a good case. . . . We need to create a curriculum,” said Tinejero, who taught sex education when he was a teacher in the district before he was elected to the board.

He said that, though all district schools in Santa Ana emphasize abstinence and teach basic facts about the reproductive system, some teachers offer additional information while others do not.

Some ask students to write questions anonymously and put them in a hat so instructors can answer them.

Others, who may not be trained in health or sex education, have been known to turn bright red and cut short the discussion.

“Do I see a problem?” Tinejero asked. “I see a definite problem.”

Maricela agrees. She said she has seen too many of her friends drop their dreams of a college education for worries about the cost of disposable diapers.

Arcy Alvarez, an 18-year-old student at Cesar Chavez Continuation High School whose daughter Jacqueline is 19 months old, didn’t think she could conceive the first time she had sex.

She lives with her parents, and her fiance and father of her child has moved in.

Before she got pregnant, Arcy was a hard-working student at Santa Ana High School. She was on the tennis and swim teams and planned to attend a four-year-college. Now she has given up such dreams. Her new goal is to be trained as a medical assistant so she can get a job quickly.

“Everything has changed since I had my baby,” she said.

Arcy said she does not regret Jacqueline. How could she, when the little girl’s delighted smile and outstretched arms greet her every afternoon when she picks her up from the baby-sitter, a neighbor.

But she adds, “I think I would have liked to wait to graduate before I had a kid.”