This is for all those "holier than thou" types who feel that sex ed contributes to sexual activity at an early age. Read on, unbelievers! Reprinted without Permission from the K-W Record, Dec 16, 1993 "Sex Education not linked to promiscuity" Sex ed in schools does NOT lead to earlier or increased sexual activity in young people, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) analysis of 35 studies conducted in the U.S. and other countries. "The belief that sex and AIDS education may encourage sexual activity in young people is a powerful barrier to the introduction of HIV prevention programs for youth," said Michael Merson, Exec Director of the WHO Global Program in AIDS, referring to the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. "Yet all the evidence we have looked at suggests that the opposite is true." Of the 35 studies reviewed by WHO, 16 indicated that sex ed led to a DELAY in starting sexual activity; in those who were already sexually active, there was a decrease in sexual activity or increased use of safer sex practices. Seventeen other studies showed that sex ed was linked to neither an increase or a decrease in levels of sex activity. The WHO survey also found that programs promoting both postponement of sex and protected sex were more effective than programs that taught the value of abstinence alone. End of article. Hmmmm, well zealots, what say ye to this? Certainly abstinence alone is not enough because the reality is that people are just plain having sex and a younger age without knowing all the facts! SOLUTION: Get condom machines into the damn highschools so that the adolescents who ARE active can have access to them without feeling embarrassed and then using NO protection whatsover. Think of how many unwanted teen pregnancies MIGHT have been prevented had the Ministries of Education taken a proactive stance on this issue! Jason Sack P.S. I hate my own university's hypocritical views on this issue -we have hundreds of $$$ spent on "awareness" seminars by the Students' Council, the University Admin and the Residence Admins, but the only condoms available on-campus for purchase are in the 2 campus pubs and they are those cheap, thin condoms with names like "Arouse" and other two-bit bargain basement 'domes. If the UNIVERSITY was serious about this issue and preventing STD's and AIDS, and unwanted pregnancy, they would insist on having condoms which are of a better reputation available on-campus like SHIELDS, SHEIKS, TROJANS and other reputable brands, not this cheap crap! Hyprocites, I say!