Jennifer Kursman Columnist

Last week, the Arizona Senate Education Committee took a step into the 21st century by supporting a bill that aims to make sexual education in Arizona "medically accurate."

SB 1096 defines "medically accurate" as "supported by research, and recognized as accurate and objective by leading or organizations with relative expertise in the field."

Using sound information to educate students hardly seems like a radical idea. Yet the term "medically accurate" is extremely vague. Researchers frequently investigate the same issue, only to come to completely different conclusions.

For example, while many studies claim that condoms are a practically flawless defense against dangerous sexually transmitted diseases, other studies have concluded that condoms rarely help to prevent the same diseases.

Thus, rather than clarifying the gray areas of Arizona's health curriculum, this bill makes sex ed more confusing.

As the future decision-makers of society, students have a right to know the truth. But as we all learned in Philosophy 101, truth and reality are relative to the eye of the beholder.

While it may fail to clear up lesson plan dos and don'ts, the Senate bill hints at a broader national debate: How much emphasis should health classes give to abstinence, and how much should be taught about contraception?

In his last State of the Union address, Bush proposed doubling federal funding for programs that prohibit teaching about contraceptives. Lauded by conservatives around the nation, his budget would allot $270 million for programs that exclusively advocate abstinence.

It would seem that increased funding for sex education in schools could only help lower the U.S. teen pregnancy rate ÷ currently the highest among industrialized nations.

But teaching sex education without teaching about contraceptives only exacerbates the teen pregnancy problem.

Since hitting an all-time high of 62 births per 1,000 teenagers in 1991, the national rate declined in 2000 to 48 per 1,000. During the Clinton years, a two-pronged approach ÷ teaching about abstinence and contraception in tandem ÷ was widely credited for reducing the birth rate.

But in Arizona, the birth rate in 2000 exceeded 100 births per 1,000 teens, well above the national average.

But in Arizona, the birth rate in 2000 exceeded 100 births per 1,000 teens, well above the national average. Clearly, we aren't doing something right, as this is not exactly a figure to be proud of.

Among many other maladies, teen pregnancy contributes to a high school graduation rate of only one-third among teen mothers.

Teen pregnancy costs the United States an estimated $7 billion each year, and close to 25 percent of all teen mothers go on to have a second baby less than two years after the birth of their firstborn, fueling the cycle.

According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, two out of three girls have sex by age 18. In light of these statistics, what is the relevance of teaching only abstinence?

Obviously, abstinence is the only foolproof method for avoiding STDs and pregnancy.

But, because many teenagers are sexually active, teaching about contraceptives makes more sense than an abstinence-only curriculum.

The Arizona bill promoting "medically accurate" sex ed is a step in the right direction.

However, teaching the truth in health class should include a thorough discussion of contraceptive methods.

It is foolish and impractical to believe that allocating more money to emphasize abstinence alone will reduce America's high birthrate.

Arizona schools will likely use the Senate bill to argue the validity of specific research studies, which dances around the larger issue in sex ed: emphasizing abstinence without teaching contraception.

"Medically accurate" is an ambiguous term and an invitation to squabble.

Rather than fight over the idiosyncrasies in this new bill, Arizona's schools would be wise to focus more on teaching sexually active teens how to protect themselves via contraception.

Ignoring a problem never makes it go away.

Jennifer Kursman has fond memories of her middle school's sex-ed class. She is a biochemistry freshman and can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.