Sex lecturer Keith Deltano strapped Jeff McGowan to a table in the middle of the Greenbrier Middle School gymnasium Thursday morning.

Then, Mr. Deltano held a cinder block high above the eighth-grader's groin and screamed, "Is 10 percent good enough? Is 10 percent good enough?"

The faux threat by Mr. Deltano was part of an exercise to stress the 10 percent to 30 percent failure rate of condoms before an assembly of about 300 seventh- and eighth-graders at Greenbrier Middle.

It is an exercise he performed many other times this week during his abstinence-based sex talks at all of Columbia County's middle and high schools.

Before binding him to a table, Mr. Deltano asked Jeff whether he would be satisfied with a 90 on a math test, despite missing 10 percent of the answers. Jeff responded yes.

Then Mr. Deltano stressed that a 10 percent risk is not acceptable if it means a teen's life might be destroyed.

"Virginity never fails," he said.

In his comedic lecture to Greenbrier's middle schoolers, Mr. Deltano told them condoms help against pregnancy and the spread of HIV but are much less effective against preventing the spread of skin-based sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes. He also informed them that STDs can be transmitted through oral sex, not just unprotected intercourse.

"I didn't know that about oral sex," said Derek Oland, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Greenbrier Middle.

He said he intends to remain a virgin until he's married, as does 14-year-old eighth-grader Hilary Matfess.

"I have an open relationship with my parents, but there were a lot of things he said I didn't know," Hilary said.

Hilary said she was unaware of the controversy over Mr. Deltano's lecture to middle-school pupils. She said she thought the lecture was funny, informative and necessary.

"In today's society, these are the kinds of facts and figures we need to know," Hilary said. "This was something that I'm going to remember for a long time."

Columbia County school board member Regina Buccasfusco, who has been an opponent of Mr. Deltano for what she called his "crass" humor, attended the Thursday night session for parents and was not impressed. She said his material was toned down, but she still thought his routine was inappropriate.

"I'm still not comfortable with the humor, and I think the students would be better served with something more sustainable," she said, comparing the humor to the Comedy Central cartoon South Park.

She also said she did not think Mr. Deltano's approach would have a lasting impact on the students.

But Chona Ashley, from Martinez, whose 14-year-old son heard Mr. Deltano on Monday at Columbia Middle School, said she thought the presentation was excellent. She said she wanted to attend to experience what her son did, because he had a lot of questions.

"It was excellent," she said. "I base everything on the Bible, and he mentioned a lot (of what we teach at home) without depending only on the verse."

Linda Hopkins, of Evans, the mother of a 14-year-old boy, said she was not put off by Mr. Deltano's humor.

"I think it's good for children because of the way the media has so much inappropriate sexual content," she said.

Reach Donnie Fetter at (706) 868-1222, ext. 113, or donnie.fetter@augusta chronicle.com.