BuzzFlash notes this Reuters story about morality in the ultimate Bush state:

Texas Teens Increased Sex After Abstinence Program

Abstinence-only sex education programs, a major plank in President Bush's education plan, have had no impact on teenagers' behavior in his home state of Texas, according to a new study.

Despite taking courses emphasizing abstinence-only themes, teenagers in 29 high schools became increasingly sexually active, mirroring the overall state trends, according to the study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University....

"The jury is still out, but most of what we've discovered shows there's no evidence the large amount of money spent is having an effect," [Dr. Buzz Pruitt, who directed the study,] said.

The study showed about 23 percent of ninth-grade girls, typically 13 to 14 years old, had sex before receiving abstinence education. After taking the course, 29 percent of the girls in the same group said they had had sex....

But wait! The good folks at the Abstinence Foundation beg to differ:

Opponents of truth and common sense are working hard to make abstinence education look bad. Unfortunately, it isn't working. Most recently, a study by Texas A & M University is drawing headlines across the state questioning the results of abstinence education. The flawed study, however, fails to have a control group by which to compare its results. When compared with the general teen population (data found in the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance), teens who participate in abstinence education programs have significantly lower sexual activity rates....

But there's a tiny problem with their analysis: the key number isn't the overall rate of sexual activity, it's the increase. For instance, the survey the Abstinence Foundation is citing for comparison shows that the overall percentage of Texas males who've had sex goes up from 45.5% in the ninth grade to 56.6% in the tenth. For the kids surveyed by Texas A&M, the percentages go up from 24% in the ninth grade -- when they haven't yet had abstinence education -- to 39%. If you're keeping score at home, that means that in each case about 20% of the boys left in the inactive pool become active. So where's the improvement?

Texas is just a mess on this score. As a Salon story from last year notes, the Union of Concerned Scientists found that

During President Bush's tenure as governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000, for instance, with abstinence-only programs in place, the state ranked last in the nation in the decline of teen birth rates among 15- to 17-year-old females. Overall, the teen pregnancy rate in Texas was exceeded by only four other states.

And you can't help wondering just what the hell is in the abstinence curriculum in the schools studied by Texas A&M. Back in December, of course, we learned about one abstinence textbook that

tells the story of a knight who married a village maiden instead of the princess because the princess offered so many tips on slaying the local dragon. "Moral of the story," notes the popular text: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess."

A fuller quote from that passage is in the Readings section of the February Harper's; you can read it and other curriculum excerpts at this blog, Here's a favorite of mine:

It is hard for many of us to understand terrorism and why someone would have such hatred in their heart that they would deliberately kill innocent people. Today I would like to introduce you to another form of terrorism that gets little, if any, attention - the terrorism that our youth face every day.

At one time the definition of an adult was someone who had left childhood behind and taken on the responsibilities of life. In contrast, today "adult" means being able to view and participate in all types of perverse activities that depraved minds can imagine. We actively seek to eliminate terrorism from our land; please help us actively seek to eliminate this corruptive terrorism that is stealing our children's future.

Hunh???

(Oh, by the way, the Salon article is available without the day-pass hassle at this perfectly harmless link with a rather embarrassing URL.)