Key Findings of the C-BAC Program
Prepared by: Alice Skenandore, Executive Director & Janet W. Hagen, Ph.D., Evaluator
Across the nation, in the Teen Pregnancy Prevention field, there are six major concerns that are considered when evaluating programs. They are:
- Postponement or delay of sexual initiation
- Reduction in the frequency of sexual intercourse among sexually active teens
- Reduction in the number of sexual partners/increase in monogamy
- Increase in the use of effective methods of contraception and/or condoms among sexually active teens
- Reduction in the incidence of unprotected sex among sexually active teens
- Reduction in the number of pregnancies
The Community-Based Abstinence Program (C-BAC) was presented during an average of 70 class periods throughout the school year at the Oneida Nation Tribal School for 5 years for the students in the eighth grade. Those students are currently aged 12 to 19. The C-BAC program did not teach contraception methods.
The C-BAC program taught the students lessons on how to set goals, how to discern the character of themselves and others, how to determine their own personal values and healthy relationship building skills. We also gave the students experience opportunities to practice these skills.
WWGP conducted a survey at Oneida Nation High School in November 2007. 76 students responded to the survey: 55 C-BAC and 21 non C-BAC. We believe that the results that we have from the High School survey reflect a difference for the students who had the C-BAC Class when compared to the results from the Non-C-BAC respondents. We have listed below some of the key findings of the survey, especially around the major concerns outlined above.
Regarding reporting initiation of sexual intercourse:
In response to the question, “Have you ever had sexual intercourse?”
58% of C-BAC students reported having had sexual intercourse.
95% of Non C-BAC students reported having had sexual intercourse.
Important Note: Teens who reported that they have never had sex were skipped past all subsequent questions relating to sex. Therefore, the following results were from 32 C-BAC students and 20 Non-C-BAC students, all of whom reported being sexually active.
With regard to age of initiation of first sexual experience:
Only teens who did report having had sex were asked this question:
“How old were you the first time you had sex?”
- 31% of sexually active C-BAC respondents said they began at age 14 or under.
- 62% of sexually active Non C-BAC respondents said they began at age 14 or under.
With regard to age of partner:
Only teens who did report having had sex were asked this question:
“How old was your partner the first time you had sex?”
- 31% of sexually active C-BAC respondents reported that their first partner was 2 or more years older.
- 45% of sexually active Non C-BAC respondents reported that their first partner was 2 or more years older.
With regard to birth control use:
Only teens who did report having had sex were asked this question:
“The last time you had sex, did you/your partner use a condom?”
- 50% of sexually active C-BAC students reported using a condom.
- 75% of sexually active Non C-BAC students reported using a condom.
This response seems to support the common assertion that youth who are taught “abstinence-only” classes will not know how to take precautions against pregnancy and STD’s if and when they do decide to become sexually active.
However, when asked about general behaviors:
Only teens who did report having had sex were asked this question:
“When you have sex, do you use birth control?”
- 72% of sexually active C-BAC students reported using a condom or birth control pills.
- 50% of sexually active Non C-BAC students reported using a condom or birth control pills.
This response seems to oppose the common assertion that youth who are taught “abstinence-only” classes will not know how to take precautions against pregnancy and STD’s if and when they do decide to become sexually active.
With regard to number of sexual partners:
Only teens who did report having had sex were asked this question:
“During your life, how many different partners?”
- 40% of sexually active C-BAC students reported having just 1 partner
- 20% of sexually active Non C-BAC students reported having just 1 partner
These results are magnified when you consider that more C-BAC students have still not begun having sex. It is important to remember that the students who answered “no” to the first question in this section were skipped over this question and are therefore not counted. In five years, if we could follow the same set of students surveyed, according to this pattern, we would likely see that the C-BAC program had an enormous positive impact on the number of sexual partners for these youth.
A few memories from the C-BAC years
The people who work with the youth enjoy healthy relationships with one another. The students visited places like UW-GB Newist television studio to experience new ways of learning.
The classroom where the students were taught was always adorned with their dreams and goals. The C-BAC students were able to engage in learning about life from a perspective of developing plans for their futures and making informed choices.
One especially important area of concern that remains for us is that the refusal skills of our Oneida C-BAC students seem to be low. In another community, we found that the C-BAC students were less likely to be “talked into” having sex but here we found that:
Only teens who did report having had sex were asked this question:
“The first time you had sex, how did it happen?”
- 13% of sexually active C-BAC students reported “I didn’t want to do it but he/she convinced me.”
- 5% of sexually active Non-C-BAC students reported “I didn’t want to do it but he/she convinced me.”
This result indicates that our C-BAC students are less able to assert refusal.
Note: In national surveys of youth who are sexually active, many of the youth report wishing that they hadn't started having sex.
Among all of the youth (both C-BAC and Non-C-BAC) who reported that they had started having sex:
- 12%reported that they wished they would have waited.
- 51% reported that in some ways they were glad they started and in other ways they wished they had waited.
- 37% reported that they were glad that they had started.
Only about 1/3 of the students, in this survey, who started having sex reported that they were “glad I started when I did.” 2/3 of the Oneida High School students who completed this survey reported at least some regret at having started having sex.
Wise Women Gathering Place is very proud and pleased to report these findings to the Oneida Nation School Board and Oneida Community. We believe that these results show that the collaboration begun by Oneida and WWGP in the work of the Community-Based Abstinence Culture Program has benefited the people very much and has illuminated problem areas where we need to concentrate more effort. We remain committed to continue to work toward solutions.
Thank you.