According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, high school students are abstaining from sex in higher numbers than ever before.

The ones who do decide to have sex are taking precautions to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases by wearing condoms.

The consensus on this issue is that sex education programs are working.

They are fulfilling their stated purpose to inform teenagers about the potential hazards of sexual intercourse.

With that information in their own hands, teens are doing the right thing.

As a result, our nation’s children are better educated and safer.

For years, many groups that advocated celibacy as the only answer proclaimed that sex education would only increase the problem.

It was as if they honestly believed that children were unaware of their own nature as sexual beings and that ignorance would protect them.

While talking about sex with children is as necessary as telling them to look both ways before crossing the street, it doesn’t get done.

After so many years of insulating them from the subject, many parents find it excruciatingly embarrassing to talk about sex with their children.

Even if it were possible for all parents to get past their emotions and broach the subject, many are not qualified to inform their children about the medical consequences of sex beyond pregnancy. Even adults are misinformed when it comes to the facts about disease.

Professionals have all the required information at their fingertips and the emotional detachment to answer tough questions without blushing, cringing or changing the subject.

Any notion that sex education leads to promiscuity is also unfounded.

Often, it is curiosity about new sexual feelings that leads to sexual exploration. By informing students about their bodies and the consequences of their actions in an unbiased fashion, teenagers can and do make informed decisions about their bodies and their lives.

Now that the results are in, it is time to admit that sex education is successful and viable. What we need now is the continuing support of educational institutions to make sure our children are never left in the dark again.