Evaluation of Worth the Wait Program in AISD shows Positive Results in Sexual Activity among Middle School Students

Amarillo, Texas – Baylor University has documented success for the Worth the Wait Abstinence Education program in the Amarillo Independent School District among middle school students. Worth the Wait began in the AISD middle schools in January of 2003 after receiving a grant from the Amarillo Area Foundation and the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Before implementation began, a survey was done of middle school students to establish a baseline against which results of the survey each year would be measured. What the survey found was disturbing. Among 7^th and 8^th graders, 14.2 percent answering the survey had already become sexually active. Even more concerning, 65 percent of that 14.2 percent had already had four or more sexual partners.

Baylor University recently evaluated the results of the 2006 survey of middle school students, which showed a big improvement in sexual activity. Only 8 percent of 7^th and 8^th grade students was sexually active in 2006, and only 35 percent of those sexually active had already had four or more sexual partners.

“These results are extremely encouraging,” said Worth the Wait Executive Director Kenja Purkey. “Not only has the program had a positive effect on the number of teens delaying sexual initiation, it has also had an effect on the number of partners those who do become sexually active have. Both are important to reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It is also important to note that the science and health teachers teach students most of the Worth the Wait lessons in the schools. These results are the direct result of their hard work.”

The 2005-2006 school year was the fourth year of implementation of the abstinence education program, which begins in sixth grade and goes through eighth grade in middle school. It expanded to high school health in 2004, and also added an after school mentoring program at Bowie and Caprock schools in 2006.

Worth the Wait is a non-profit educational organization that has addressed abstinence since its inception in 1998. The purpose of Worth the Wait, through partnership with parents and the community, is to promote abstinence until marriage with a strong emphasis on the physical, emotional, and social benefits derived from an abstinent lifestyle.