Libby Gray Macke, director of a Glenview outfit called “Project Reality”, has a letter in today’s Tribune promoting abstinence-only education. Ms. Macke is herself an abstinence educator and, as such, has a reason to continue to promote such folly as abstinence-only which has been proven time and again to simply not work as intended.

Ms. Macke refers to an earlier Trib article (originally from the Associated Press) which reported on a Mathematica Policy Research study that showed students in abstinence-only programs had their first intimate experience at the same average age as students who were not in such classes — 14.9 years old (which is younger than the national average of 16). That study conducted research in areas as varied as Milwaukee, Miami, and rural Virginia and Mississippi. Others have questioned the implications of the study’s release, given that so many Federal tax dollars are given to such programs under the direction of the conservative Bush Administration.

Unfortunately for Ms. Macke, the program she runs (Project Reality) is misnamed. In her letter defending her livelihood of abstinence-only education, Ms. Macke refers to not just one but three other studies as proof the Mathematica Policy study is wrong.

But she avoids reality by failing to name any of her referenced studies so we have no way to gauge their accuracy or relevance. She might as well have told us that an increase in cricket chirping helps promote abstinence… that’s just as helpful.

Ms. Macke also seems to have ignored reality by griping about what she claims is a flaw in the Mathematica study’s methodology. She says the study cannot be trusted because the abstinence-only study subjects and the control group subjects were all in the same schools, and could thus talk to each other, presumably about sex ed.

News flash to Ms. Macke: kids talk to each other whether they go to the same school or not. Welcome to the electronic age where a kid isn’t a kid without cell phone ears and keypad hands.

And lest ye think I’m simply tearing hole after hole in Ms. Macke’s weak, self-interested arguments… there is plenty of evidence from other legitimate research to bolster the Mathematica study Ms. Macke is disingenuously trying to critique.

Finally, Ms. Macke says only ‘just say no’ to sex programs come under attack (the good ol’ woe-is-me-I’m-such-a-lone-martyr defense) and that people don’t question the effectiveness of ‘just say no’ programs against drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Which, like so many other aspects of Ms. Macke’s letter, is also just plain wrong. There are plenty of folks who question the effectiveness of those programs, but given Ms. Macke’s conservative leanings it’s unlikely she would agree with them either.

Now don’t get me wrong. I firmly believe abstinence education ought to be a major component of any comprehensive sex ed class. Abstinence from all forms of sexual activity is the only way to completely avoid STDs, pregnancies, and emotional harm. Parents also ought to play a much larger role in teaching their children the responsibilities and possible results of intimacy so their children (even if “mature”) can be truly expected to be accountable for their actions.

More to the point, I am certain Ms. Macke has what she considers to be the best interests of our youth at heart. She has every right afforded her as a citizen to believe what she wants to believe, ignore what she wants to ignore and promote what she wants to promote. But, she also has a responsibility, as an educator of our children and a recipient of our tax money, to be accurate, honest and open. Sadly, she is so clearly not.

If you’d like to help clear the air and demonstrate the lack of reality in Ms. Macke’s claims, write the Trib: ctc-tribletter@tribune.com