BOSTON -- Claiming that lessons about abstaining from having sex until marriage are not working for thousands of students, the Patrick administration has decided not to re-apply for the federal funding that pays for them.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Gov. Deval Patrick said the message in the poster is not getting through to kids, so he's pulling the plug on federally funded abstinence-only sex education. Planned Parenthood said studies back the governor's decision.

"The only approach that has been scientifically proven to work is comprehensive sex education. That includes information about abstinence but also about birth control and protection methods," said Angus McQuilken of Planned Parenthood.

The abstinence-only curriculum was put together by Healthy Futures, an organization based in Dorchester. Last academic year, Healthy Futures taught about 5,000 middle-schoolers in a dozen districts.

The agency has seven teams of men and women who go to health classes and deliver the message in five sessions. The program's director said cutting the program will hurt students.

"I do absolutely. I don't think they're getting that message anywhere else, and we see from the comments that we get from the students that it really is making a difference," said Rebecca Ray, of Healthy Futures.

A survey done last year reveled only 9 percent of Massachusetts voters believe abstinence-only until marriage was the best way to teach sex education. Eighty-three percent believed abstinence needed to be included with information about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases.

Seventy-six percent strongly or moderately agreed teaching abstinence only is not realistic.

Even so, the Rev. William Dickerson said that he believes the abstinence-only message is better than nothing.

"Just as we promote anti-violence and we still see violence, we still see homicides, we should continue to promote anything that's positive as it relates to our young people, even if it seems as if they're not listening," he said.