A Congress-mandated study released on Friday shows that students who participated in abstinence-only education classes exhibited nearly the same sexual behaviors as students who did not take the classes, according to The Associated Press.
The study, which was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., showed that students who attended one of the four abstinence-only classes included in the study first had sex at around 14.9 years, approximately the same time as the students who did not take the classes. The study also found that students who took one of the abstinence classes had similar numbers of sexual partners as students who didn't attend the classes, the AP reported.
Officials in the Bush Administration said people shouldn't make sweeping conclusions based on the study's results because the four programs included in the study were some of the first to be established after Congress changed U.S. welfare laws in 1996, according to the AP.
Critics have said on numerous occasions that they did not believe the abstinence-until-marriage programs promoted by the federal government worked. The government spends $176 million annually on abstinence education programs, the AP reported.
