Positive results are rarely accidental

The AP is reporting that teen condom use is way up and the corresponding birth rate in that age group is falling sharply. This is not a coincidence. Teens are not stupid and most will make a responsible decision if they have the tools and knowledge to do so. Teach them how to protect themselves and they will. Make condoms available to them and they will use them. The proof:

Education campaigns that started years ago are having a significant effect, said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based nonprofit group that focuses on prevention of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

"I think the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the efforts in the '80s and '90s had a lot to do with that," Wagoner said of the improved numbers on teen sex, condoms and adolescent births.

"We need to encourage young teens to delay sexual initiation and we need to make sure they get all the information they need about condoms and birth control," he said.

For this reason, I damn near go ballistic when I hear the sex police whining that "abstinence only" sex education is the morally correct method to combat teen pregnancy. That approach is dumb, irresponsible, and, in my view, immoral. Look, teens are going to have sex. Their hormones are commanding them to do so. Practicing abstinence swims against the current of nature and will result in a high degree of failure. Teaching only abstinence needlessly endangers that entire population when they become sexually active. Knowing that, does it not make sense to give teens the information they need to protect themselves?

The answer is yes Joe, of course it does, and this study confirms the effectiveness of a comprehensive strategy.