Schools stumble over sex education

Dr. Carerra believes strongly in the need for what he calls a "holistic" approach to sex education for young people.

He worked for two decades attempting to educate low-income teens about sex in hopes of reasoning them out of irresponsible behavior and teenage pregnancies. But he never felt his message fully got through.

"I finally saw that what I needed to do to get my sexuality message to stick was to deal with all the rest of their lives," he says.

He saw the kids around him using sex in an effort to find power, influence, or love. What they needed, he realized, was not just to learn about the consequences of sex outside marriage, but also to understand all the other avenues to success and self-esteem available to them.

"They needed help with school, jobs, sports, arts, someone to talk to, and someone to talk to about sex," he says.

The program Carerra founded now operates nationwide, focusing on mentoring, counseling, job opportunities, companionship, and sex ed for low-income teens.

A recent three-year survey of 12 of its sites showed that students participating had one-third fewer pregnancies and births than teens in a control group.

Yet such success is far from the norm in the US.

According to figures compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, in Washington, between 10 and 40 percent of US teen girls will get pregnant before the age of 20 - double the rate in Britain and 10 times that of the Netherlands.

Some insist there is a link between such statistics and a weak sex ed system.

"Other industrialized nations do a much better job" of giving their young people information about sex, Kreinin says. "They are more comfortable and it is reflected in their kids' behavior."

Yet there is some encouraging news. The number of high school students who say they've never had sexual intercourse rose by almost 10 percent between 1991 and 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Some speculate that teens today may be reacting against what they perceive to be an overly permissive society. Supporters of abstinence-only programs hope that this could be a sign that their message just might be getting through.

But whatever the cause, say some who work with teens, it doesn't lessen the imperative need to learn to communicate better with young people on this topic.

In society today, "our technology is unbelievable," says Carerra. "But when it comes to talking about sex, we're still antediluvian."

Sometimes the best way to talk to kids about sex is not to talk about sex at all, some argue. At least not all the time.

"I love this program because they said, 'Let's not focus on the fact that so many teens have babies and you could be one of them,' " says Nickey-Ann Leon, a junior in college, majoring in communications. "Instead they said, 'Let's focus on the fact that you're intelligent and can do many things with your life.' "

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