The Top 10 Everything of 2011

In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months

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1. Abstinence-Only Education Does Not Lead to Abstinent Behavior

Top 10 annals of duh, abstinence education

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Let's see: You're 15, you're male, the last clear thought you had was about three years ago, before the testosterone tsunami blew every rational idea out of your head and replaced them all with just a single, monomaniacal goal — and it ain't getting a 1600 on your SATs. Behind door No. 1 is a 15-year-old girl — or boy, if that's your fancy — who is surely having similar thoughts. Behind door No. 2 is a middle-aged man with a stack of scary fliers, graphic slides and a lot of dark warnings about what will happen if you go within 100 yards of door No. 1. How could that not work? Still, the University of Georgia undertook yet another study that shows it doesn't. Maybe a fire hose.