"Is abstinence for conservatives? Or is it just an excuse because you're not getting any?", these unsure questions remain unanswered. But dramatic new evidence that abstinence-only sex education can succeed in educating youngsters has gained importance. The college students can be made to understand the obvious health benefits to refrain from sex or have safe sex using condoms. The study states that abstinence is the only sure way of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

In Dallas, two elementary schools offer a voluntary program called SMART (Students Making Abstinence Real Today). Standard coursework informs about basic human biology, trains to resist peer pressure, maintenance of self-esteem and an explanation of sexual harassment.

"That sends a message to people that you can do abstinence-only, but you need to be smart about it," said David Wiley, president of the American School Health Association.

The important results showed that by the end of two years, about half of the students in the health-only class probably had sex at least once, compared with about a third of the students who took the abstinence-only course.

Jemmott, a critic of other abstinence-only programs said that he would be very happy if other researchers who had developed effective comprehensive interventions in the past would turn their skills and experience to the creation of abstinence-only interventions".