Peter L. Benson and Eugene C. Roehlkepartain are co-directors of the Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence in Minneapolis. Benson is investigator and co-director for Search Institute’s new Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence. He wrote Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers (2008) and has more than a dozen other publications.

Karen-Marie Yust is an associate professor of Christian education at Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va. She is a minister in both the United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ denominations and is the author of Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives.

In January 2006, Journal of Adolescent Health published a review of U.S. sex education policies and programs, concluding that the government’s push for abstinence-only education is “morally problematic” and threatens teens’ human rights to “health, education and life.”

Bob Ditter is a therapist and author who specializes in working with youth and their families. He is a consultant for the American Camping Association and has worked with summer camps since 1982.

The U.S. government report on the first-year impact of four abstinence-only education programs.

A backgrounder on abstinence-only sex education programs. Results, delayed since 2004, were eventually released 2006. The backgrounder is provided by Mathematica, a social policy research firm.

Read a May 17, 2013, article by the Orlando Sentinel about one women’s religious mission trips with youth groups.

The Guttmache Institute seeks to advance sexual and reproductive health through research, policy analysis and public education. Contact Rebecca Wind.

See an October 2008 Barna Group survey about mission trips.