In some states in the U.S. girls take abstinence pledges which are offered as part of their sex education curriculum. Educators regard these pledges as controls on sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies. But do they work?

The results of a recent study suggest that these virginity commitments don’t achieve those goals. In fact, the test participants who took the abstinence pledge were found to have higher incidences of HPV (human papillomavirus) and unplanned pregnancies.

Researchers speculated that the girls who had taken the pledge were less prepared to discuss sex with their partners. Furthermore, abstinence-only sexual education classes tended to downplay the efficacy of birth control methods.

It is important to note that males were not included in the study so these results might not be the same for them.

Read the full article here:
Why Abstinence Pledges Don’t Work