Sexual Abstinence Programs

Best Practices

 

Background Information on the Problem

There has never been a time in this country’s history when the threat to our children’s well-being was greater than it is now. Even before antibiotics and the eradication of many of the childhood infectious diseases, most children grew up strong and healthy.  Today’s threat comes not from untreatable physical disease, but from the very cultural structure we have erected over the past 40 years. “There’s so much pressure on young people to have sex that being a teen in America can be like living in a wind tunnel” (The Naked Truth).

 

When children as young as 12 are already sexually active, they are robbed of their childhood. There is good reason for the protection of the sexual innocence of children. It is the period of time in a human’s life span when the groundwork for physical, social and psychological development is laid. Lynn Ponton, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco and author of The Sex Lives of Teenagers, says that this early initiation into sexual behaviors is taking a toll on teens’ mental health. The result, she says, can be “dependency on boyfriends and girlfriends, serious depression around breakups and cheating, lack of goals—all of these things at such young ages” (Mulrine).

 

A recent meta-analysis of studies of teenage sexual activity by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (Manlove, Franzetta et al., 2004a) suggested the following patterns:

 

  • Many young teenagers have had sexual inter­course. Approximately one in five teenagers have had sexual intercourse before the age of 15 (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2003);

 

  • There are significant gender and racial/ethnic differences regarding the likelihood a teenager will have sex before age 15. Boys (particularly Black and Hispanic boys) age 14 and younger are more likely to have had sex than girls the same age, and 34 percent of African Americans report having had sex before age 15 compared to 19–21 percent of Hispanics and 14–16 percent of White teens in this age group; and

 

  • Family socioeconomic status is associated with early sexual intercourse. Adolescents from families with higher incomes and higher education­al levels are less likely to be sexually experienced than those from families with lower incomes and less education

 

  • Adolescents living in two-parent families are less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior.  Teenagers living in two-parent families, especially with two biological parents, first have sex at a later age than those from single-parent homes due partially to higher household income and more parental monitoring.

 

  • Adolescents who have sex at an early age have more sexual partners over time. Compared to adoles­cents who delay having sex for the first time, teens who have sex at a younger age have more lifetime sexual partners.

 

  • Adolescents who have sex at an early age have low rates of contraceptive use. Sexually active young teens are less likely to use contraception than those who first have sex at an older age.

 

  • Young, sexually active adolescents are more likely to have older partners and to be involved in coer­cive sexual relationships. Young adolescents who have sex, especially girls, are more likely than teens who delay having sex to have a partner who is sev­eral years older than they are—a problem because teens with older sexual partners are less likely to use con­traception and are more likely to become preg­nant/cause a pregnancy than those who partner with someone their same age..

 

  • Early sexual experiences are often non­voluntary. Many girls who have sex at a young age (for example, 24% who had intercourse before age 14) report that their first sexual experience was not vol­untary.

 

Manlove, Franzetta et al. (2004b) also found that:

 

  • Higher amounts of unsupervised time are associated with risky sexual behaviors. Adolescents with extensive unsupervised time have more opportunity to engage in risky sexual behav­iors.

  • Adult supervision is strongly linked to reduced sexual risk behaviors among teens, a circumstance that may lead to more dire consequences for boys than for girls.  This is one reason why after school programs can be very effective in reducing sexual activity and other unwanted risky behaviors.

  • Teens who believe that they have future opportunities have incentives to postpone sexual involvement, use contraception more consistent­ly, and avoid unwanted pregnancies or births, which may partially explain why education and career opportunities may help teens steer away from risky sexual behavior. Teens with higher edu­cational aspirations are less likely to become sexual­ly active at a young age.  Adolescents with higher grade point averages are more likely to delay sexual initiation and to use contraception the first time they have sex.

 

The good news is that a recent report in the Journal of Adolescent Health (2004) found that teenage pregnancy rates of 15 -  17 year olds declined 33% between 1991 and 2001, and 53% of that was attributable to delayed initiation of sexual intercourse (47% was due to better contraceptive use).  According to the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey produced by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), overall sexual intercourse rates by adolescents grades 9-12 between 1991 – 2003 decreased 14% although sexual activity among girls is now higher than boys, and Hispanic and especially African-American teens experienced a notable increase in sexual activity in the last two years.

 

In a culture awash with hedonism, sex, and promiscuity, it’s next to impossible even for the most protective, committed, serious, concerned parents to preserve that important space for their children. Most parents are either unaware of the consequences, or they are unsure of what they can and should do about it. The advice, all too often, has been to make sure their children have the facts and are using protective devices.

 

The thrust of sexual abstinence programs is that this strategy is simply not good enough. In the first place, condoms do not score very high when it comes to protecting from STDs or even unwanted pregnancies. In the second place, it simply encourages children to engage in sex too soon, ignoring perhaps the most serious threat—the threat to their healthy development and growth into mature adults.

 

But parents can make a difference.  Consider this example:

 

“Karl Nicoletti wasted no time when it came to having ‘the talk’ with his son, Chris. It happened five years ago when Chris was in sixth grade. Nicoletti was driving him home from school and the subject of girls came up. ‘I know many parents who are wishy-washy when talking to their kids about sex.’ I just said, ‘No, you’re not going to have sex. Keep your pecker in your pants until you graduate from high school.’ . . .

 

“Today, the 16-year old from Longmont, Colo., vows he’ll remain abstinent until marriage. So does his girlfriend, 17-year-old Amanda Wing, whose parents set similarly strict rules for her and her two older brothers. ‘It’s amazing, but they did listen,’ says her mother, Lynn Wing” (Ali and Scelfo, 2002).

 

In physical terms, a sexually transmitted disease may alter the course of a child’s life forever. HPV—human papilloma virus—is known also as genital warts; many of its strains mean a lifelong disease. Most strains cause cervical cancer in women and penile cancer in men. No research demonstrates that condoms help prevent this disease. HIV causes AIDS and at this time there is no cure. For males, condoms help about 85% of the time if used correctly and consistently, but there is not much evidence that they protect females. Chlamydia can take away a woman’s ability to bear a child. No research has demonstrated that a condom is an effective preventive measure. Herpes is a virus that has no cure, is painful, and can be passed to newborn babies. Condoms offer little protection here. (Abstinence Educators Network, Inc. [AEN]). In all, says AEN, there are 25 STDs.

 

When Title XX (Adolescent Family Life Demonstration Projects) was created by the Department of Health and Human Services, it reported that in 1978, 1,100,000 teenagers had become pregnant. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that 22 years later (2000), that number was 821,810—a 25% decrease.

 

The crisis of too much too soon with American teenagers can be solved but not easily. Many programs across the country are addressing these issues, some with notable success. Through these years since 1978, much has been accomplished and learned about what works to successfully intervene in these young lives and to steer them toward more purpose-driven futures.

 

Risk and Protective Factors Influencing Sexual Behavior in Youth

 

Risks in Middle Childhood

Little is understood about the identification, development, expression, and prevention of precursors of risky sexual behavior occurring during middle childhood.  Between ages six and 12 years, children spend more time with peers, in formal learning environments, and away from parents.  This period

of expanding cognitive competence may be the ideal time for the development of sound health habits.  Recent research indicates that later elementary school-age children may be more receptive to learning about AIDS than children in junior high school. 

 

What is known is that risky sexual behavior occurs at younger ages and contributes to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, in adolescents.  With only palliative treatment for HIV available, it is imperative that researchers identify preventive measures to

halt the AIDS epidemic, especially among minority adolescents and marginalized populations.  One effective method to prevent STDs and pregnancy is to deter the initiation of early sexual intercourse.  Because interventions are more effective when initiated prior to sexual debut than after sexual activity has begun, new interventions should be introduced during middle childhood prior to sexual experimentation in adolescence.

 

 

Psychosocial and Contextual Influences on Adolescent Sexual Behavior

There are several psychosocial and contextual factors that influence adolescent sexual behavior and may also exert an influence on younger children

 

Psychosocial Risk Factors
  • low self-esteem
  • low self-efficacy
  • temperament (e.g., impulsivity)
  • values (e.g., young persons who don’t value abstinence are more likely to engage in sex)
  • stress
  • early and steady dating

 

School factors influencing sexual behavior include the following:

 

School Risk Factors
  • poor school performance
  • lack of motivation
  • lack of future educational plans
  • low educational level of parents
  • lack of school safety
  • diminished sense of attachment to school
  • being retained a grade in school

 

 

Living in impoverished areas or with high levels of violence is also related to the onset of sexual activity.

 

Much research has been done on the influence of parents, families, and peers on the sexual behavior of adolescents. 

 

Family and Peer Risk Factors
  • Lowered parental monitoring and presence
  • single parenting
  • parental divorce or separation during early adolescence
  • homes without mothers
  • being the child of a teen mother
  • maternal employment outside the home during the formative years
  • poor parent-child relationships
  • parent-child communication
  • parental attitudes about premarital sex
  • sexually active peers and siblings
  • the perception of friends' involvement in sexual activity

 

It is not known whether these same psychosocial and contextual influences serve as precursors of risky sexual behavior for six- to 12-year-olds.

 

Protective or Resilience Factors in Adolescents

Resilience factors are the qualities that foster successful adaptation and transformation processes, despite risk and adversity.  Recent studies indicate that nonresilient adolescents are more likely to initiate a variety of risky behaviors than resilient adolescents.  These factors may also operate during middle childhood.

 

Protective factors within the individual child include problem-solving abilities, trust, helpfulness, positive self-esteem, feeling of control over one's life, planning for future events, optimism, social and academic

competence, cognitive skills, creativity, and easy temperament.  Involvement in prosocial activities

and religiosity (measured usually by church attendance) are also factors which help prevent sexual activity.  Caring relationships exhibited by parent(s), caregivers, mentors, and teachers provide resilience and support for children. 

 

High academic expectations from parents and school personnel likewise have a positive effect on students and promote lower rates of problem behaviors such as dropping out of school, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and delinquency.   Better family functioning, higher intelligence, and psychological well-being are markers of fundamental adaptation systems protecting child development in the presence of severe adversity.  Other resilience factors include closer parental monitoring, more adults in the household, higher educational aspirations, and student engagement.

 

Many of the risk factors and their antecedents identified in adolescents have not been studied in younger children.  Not all children exposed to risk factors go on to participate in risky sexual activity, perhaps because of resilience factors, personality types in combination with parenting styles, or developmental and environmental assets.

 

All of these risk and protective factors can serve as key goals/outcomes for your proposal (of course, you wouldn’t try to target them all!).  It is to this part of your proposal we now turn.

Typical Program Goals

This goals section has been removed.  In the full document it describes the kind of language you should put in your proposal for your program goals/objectives.  Some goals are mandated by the federal government; other goals are typical for programs that get funded in this area and that work.

Typical Program Strategies

The program strategies section has been removed.  In the full document it describes the kinds of abstinence-promotion strategies that research says will work and that federal agencies funding abstinence like to see.  You can use these strategies to help you design your own program.

Sample Logic Model for a Sexual Abstinence Program

Note: A logic model will help you demonstrate exactly how all the elements of your program fit together.  Some RFPs require it, others don’t, but it is almost always a good idea to include one.  Many of our program design guides include one or two sample logic models to prime your thinking.   You will see other logic models in the funded proposals we give you.

 

Typical Program Evaluation

The program evaluation section has been removed.  In the full document it describes the kinds of program evaluations you can do.   In addition, in the Rapid Proposal Center, we give you a complete primer on designing a good program evaluation and we point you to additional resources for each program area to help you decide on your evaluation design for that funding program.

 

References

Section removed.

 

 

What to Do Next: Three Options

 

Are you thinking about developing and getting funding for a sexual abstinence program?  As you can see, this program design guide is pretty comprehensive, and will give you all the essentials of designing a program.  If you don’t cover these essentials in your proposal, it will not be funded, guaranteed (you’ll notice that mentoring RFPs ask you to discuss these elements, and they are looking for very specific things to reassure them that you know what you are doing—and with our Guide, you will!). 

 

After you cover these essentials, you can then utilize your own creativity and the goals of your nonprofit or faith-based organization to go beyond the essentials to include additional elements.

 

You now have three options. 

 

Option One: Subscribe to the Rapid Proposal Center

Subscribe to the Rapid Proposal Center and get access to this guide and all the Toolkits we have.  This is by far the most cost-effective option you have.  We cover many different program areas and your subscription gives you access to all of them and the additional areas we are adding every month.

 

To subscribe to the Rapid Proposal Center on a quarterly basis and gain access to dozens of proposal resources, click here.  Remember, it’s risk free with our 100% money back guarantee.

 

Option Two: Rapid Proposal Toolkit for Sexual Abstinence Programs

You can purchase a Toolkit for this area.  Each Toolkit includes:

 

1)      The full version of this Program Design Guide;

2)      One-year subscription to the Funding Opportunity Bulletin for this program area’

3)      One or more proposals that were funded by the federal government for this area;

4)      Outlines of all major programs offered by the government for this program area; and

5)      Links to additional resources

 

These tools—the tools we offer in the Rapid Proposal Toolkits for each grant area—will greatly speed your ability to write your proposal the next time the government or a foundation announces the availability of funds.

 

To purchase the Sexual Abstinence Proposal Toolkit, click here.  Just $85.00

 

Option Three: Get This Guide Only For Free

You can request this guide for free.  Each nonprofit or faith-based organization can request one of our program design guides for free.   It’s our way of letting you explore what we are offering you and how valuable it will be for your fundraising efforts.

 

To “spend” your free trial option on the Sexual Abstinence Program Design Guide, simply register with us and, in addition to the Guide, you'll also receive our free email newsletter called “Fundraising Strategies”.  We'll email you the Guide within 2 business days.

 

 

 

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