Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder - California's teen birth rate has dropped over 40 percent in the past 11 years. To what do we attribute this statistic? Why, education of our teenage population on sexual abstinence AND birth control. The article reports that California is "the only state that refuses to accept federal sex-education money." And that fact is what allows schools in the state to expand the curriculum to not only teach that abstinence is the only foolproof method for the prevention of pregnancy and STDs but also provides students with information about birth control, if they have parental approval. Wow, being armed with information can help to combat a problem! Who would have thunk it?