If anyone is still looking for evidence that an abstinence-only approach to sex education programs in our schools isn't working, they need only read the 2007 South Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

That recently-released report tells us that 46 percent of South Dakota high school students have had sexual intercourse. Additionally, the state health department reports that almost 17 percent of high school-age girls in South Dakota have had four or more sexual partners.

At the very least, those numbers suggest the sad reality that the federal government's decade-long abstinence-only approach to sex education has not been effective. And on the heels of alarming news by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that one in four teen girls in America has a sexually transmitted infection, those abstinence-only programs are not only ineffective, but dangerous, too.

That's especially true in South Dakota, a state where the incidence of teen girls who report more than four sexual partners is higher than the national average. Nationally, 11.3 percent of teen girls have had more than four sexual partners. In South Dakota, the number is 16.9 percent.

Since South Dakota girls are having sex at higher rates, it is logical to assume that they may be experiencing higher rates of sexually transmitted infections as well. Those infections put them at higher risk of infertility, certain cancers and HIV/AIDS.

Certainly, the abstinence message is a valuable piece of any sex education program and an important message for youths to hear. Abstinence from sexual activity is the surest way to prevent sexually transmitted disease.

But it must not be our only response to teenagers who live in a highly sexualized culture. In addition to education about responsible decision making and healthy choices, they also need accurate information about contraception and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

In the last decade, more than $1.5 billion in federal dollars has been spent on abstinence-only programs. It is time for Congress to insist that schools, agencies and youth programs that administer those programs add comprehensive sex education that help limit the spread of sexually transmitted infections and diseases to the mix.

The health of a generation of teenage girls depends on it.