"What Doesn't Work " to Prevent Pregnancies and Births:
Sexuality Education Programs

The McMaster Teen Program is a sexuality education program that targets seventh and eighth grade middle school students. The program is administered as part of the school curriculum, and it was implemented in 11 schools in Hamilton, Ontario in the early 1980s. The goals of this program are to delay sexual initiation and reduce unintended teen pregnancy. The program consists of 10 one-hour sessions that are implemented over the course of 6 to 8 weeks. The McMaster Teen Program incorporates a co-educational, small-group approach and includes four components: 1) providing accurate information on adolescent reproductive health; 2) facilitating communication around sexual decisions; 3) developing problem-solving skills; and 4) practicing decision-making skills. The program costs approximately $280 (Canadian dollars) per student to implement, and training for the tutors ran approximately $1,100 (also in Canadian dollars). An experimental evaluation conducted one year after program completion found that male program participants were more likely to report always using birth control compared to males in the control group; however, this impact was no longer apparent at the 4-year follow-up. The program evaluation did not show an impact on sexual experience among males and did not affect sexual experience, contraceptive use, or pregnancy among females.


 
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