Abstinence and Safer Sex Among Adolescents

To the Editor: Although it is interesting to see reported that safer sex methods will have an effect even 1 year after the introductory sessions, it disturbed me greatly to note that the mean age of the enrollees in the study by Dr Jemmott and colleagues¹ was 11.8 years. I suggest to the authors that the proper intervention was not education, but rather to contact the appropriate authorities, including child protective services and the police. Sexual activity for 11- and 12-year-olds is by definition, sexual abuse. In my state of Texas, if I am aware of sexual abuse of a minor, I am required by law to report it to the appropriate authorities. For Jemmott and colleagues to ignore this aspect of their research was an outrage. In his Editorial, Dr DiClemente² also completely missed the broader issue of child sexual abuse. I agree with the authors that sexual activity and STI are significant problems in these young children, but I believe the proper intervention is not sex education classes, but the timely application of social resources to stop child sexual abuse.