SEX SCHEME: Works on boys, not girls

NEW YORK - A middle- school programme in the United States aimed at changing children's attitudes towards sex helped keep boys from having sex for the first time, researchers say. But it's not working on girls.

The reason for the gender difference is not clear, but the study authors suspect pressure from girls' older boyfriends may have outweighed the programme's messages.

Researchers followed more than 2,800 sixth-graders for three years to see if those in the programme, dubbed Draw the Line/Respect the Line, would have different attitudes and behaviours when it came to sex.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that by ninth grade, 19 per cent of boys who were in the programme had started having sex, compared with 27 per cent of those who did not take part.

But the programme seemed to make little difference in the case of girls in the programme: 20 per cent had had sex by ninth grade, versus 22 per cent of other girls.

Dr Karin Coyle, who led the study, said the programme was designed to give kids basic information about the potential consequences of unprotected sex, as well as ways to avoid having sex. -- Reuters