New National Standards Address Sexuality Education for All Grades

This from Curriculum Matters:

A new set of standards outlines the minimum that students should learn about their sexuality from their earliest years in school until they leave high school.

The standards, developed over the last few years by dozens of health and education experts, say that by the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to use the proper name for body parts, including male and female anatomy. By the end of 5th grade, they should be able to define sexual abuse and harassment. By the end of high school, they should be able to describe common symptoms of and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, according to the standards released today with the backing of four national health education groups.

Three groups—Advocates for Youth, Answer, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States—led creation of the standards. At the time the project was conceived, the hope was that federal spending on abstinence-only sexual education would eventually be extinguished (which isn't yet the case ) and something would be needed to teach sexuality, comprehensively. Still, despite the federal government's continued support for abstinence-only sex education programs in schools, a growing number of states are opting to go beyond abstinence-only and take a more-comprehensive approach to sex education in public schools. For example, many Texas schools have shifted away from an abstinence-only approach.

A 2007 congressionally mandated study found no statistically significant beneficial effect on the sexual behavior of young people participating in abstinence-based programs...

Bristol Palin is paid $262,500 for abstinence campaign

UPDATED
Dancing With the Stars alum Bristol Palin, the daughter of vice presidential candidate turned reality TV star Sarah Palin, never went to college or held a full-time job, but she earned more than the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009.

According to tax papers unveiled April 6, 2011, the younger Ms Palin was paid $262,500, in 2009, for 20 days of work as an ambassador for teen-pregnancy prevention by the non-profit group the Candie's Foundation.

The high school grad was paid another $70,000 in 2010 for less than two weeks of work.

In 2009, John Roberts — a 56-year-old Harvard Law alum — earned $223,500 to helm the federal judicial system of the United States.

Apparently abstinence advocacy is more lucrative.

Palin's job was to help shape "the way youth in America think about teen pregnancy and parenthood," a goal of Candies, and the foundation says she has been more effective than the non-famous teen spokesperson's used by another group.

"We know that Ms. Palin's work has had a positive effect on creating awareness about teen pregnancy," Candie's spokeswoman Ali Tyrangel said in a statement.

Bristol made headlines as a teen mom in 2008 during her mother Sarah Palin's run for vice president. She demonstrates her value in this video from her Candie's campaign while on "Dancing with the Stars." Her "pause before you play" tag line is delivered with Jersey Shore's The Situation.



But some students at Washington University in St. Louis didn't want to be the ones signing Palin's paycheck.

Palin had been invited by the school's Student Health Advisory Committee to be the keynote speaker on a panel during Washington University's upcoming Sexual Responsibility Week, aka Sex Week, until "growing controversy among undergraduates over the decision to pay for her talk with student-generated funds" prompted Palin and SHAC to mutually cancel her appearance, the school said in a statement Friday. A Facebook protest was credited with halting Palin's appearance for which would have been paid between $15,000 and $30,000 of student-generated funds.

The initial debate over sex education in American schools was over whether or not the schools even had a role to play. Many parents believed that it was exclusively the parents' role to impart or withhold information about human sexuality. But by the 1970s and 80s, anxiety over growing teen pregnancy rates, and then AIDS, tilted public opinion in favor of schooling. Policies requiring sex education in the schools expanded.

Having lost the debate over whether there should be sex education in the schools, advocacy groups changed course in an attempt to tailor that instruction toward abstinence-only. The first grants for abstinence-only began, in 1981, under the provisions of The Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA). Sponsored by congressional opponents of family planning, AFLA became famous for its "fear-based" curriculum.

Since 1996, over $1 billion in federal and mandatory state funds have been allocated to promote abstinence-only sex education among young Americans (Boonstra, 2009). Specifically, these funds increased from $73 million in FY 2001 to approximately $158 million in FY 2005 (Kantor, Santelli, Teitler, & Balmer, 2008).

Abstinence-only programs are funded through three main sources: The AFLA, Title V of the Social Security Act (Title V), and the Community-Based Abstinence Education program (CBAE) (Weiser & Miller, 2010).

In 2004, US Congressman Henry Waxman (D, CA) called for an extensive evaluation of the abstinence-only education that was funded through these programs. The “Waxman Report” concluded that 80% of these programs contained false information about contraceptives, risks of sexual activity, and abortion; blurred the boundaries of religion and science; and contained a number of general science errors (Weiser & Miller, 2010).

Another study in 2007, which was mandated by Congress and conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, examined over nine years of data regarding the effectiveness of abstinence-only education and concluded that none of the programs it examined were shown effective. That same year, Congress rejected the Bush Administration’s request to expand the funding for CBAE by $28 million. The era of big increases for abstinence education was over.

Evidence mounted that abstinence-only programs were ineffective in stopping or even delaying sex. In some cases, perhaps even dangerous. A 2009 study in the journal Pediatrics found that teens who take virginity pledges are just as likely to have sex, but less likely to use contraception or to be tested for sexually transmitted infections (STI). In the wake of such results, the number of states that declined federal dollars grew. As of 2009, 23 states and the District of Columbia had opted out.

During his presidency Barak Obama has shifted policy in favor of comprehensive sex education. This program supports evidence-based models of sex education that provides medically accurate information including accurate information about birth control and disease prevention - and it cuts out abstinence-only funding.

Researcher Douglas Kirby (from the nonpartisan group National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) examined 48 comprehensive-sex education curricula, in 2008, and found that approximately two-thirds had resulted in decreased frequency of sexual intercourse, increased use of contraceptives, or decrease in the number of sexual partners reported (Boonstra, 2009).

Obama proposed nearly $178 FY million for comprehensive sexual education in 2010 (Weiser & Miller, 2010) - which one assumes is being axed in the current budget impasse.

The Kentucky Department has remained "neutral" on the issue as Title V funds are channeled through the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Health and Family Services spokeswoman Beth Crace Fisher told KSN&C that "Kentucky receives $839,352 for Title V Abstinence State Abstinence Education grant each year for five years. This grant requires a match of 43 percent of the project’s total dollars. Matching funds will be in-kind support and local dollars. No matching funds are from Kentucky’s general funds."

But the Cabinet has a very different take on the abstinence-only research.

Fisher says, "The money is being used to implement either the Choosing the Best™ (CTB) curriculum or Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) curriculum for fifth through eighth graders in participating counties. These evidence-based curricula have demonstrated success in reducing teen pregnancy rates, sexually transmitted infections and HIV. The Department for Public Health awarded grants to 29 local health departments representing 56 counties."

See:
Weiser, D. & Miller, M. (2010). Barack Obama vs Bristol Palin: Why the President’s sex education policy wins. Contemporary Justice Review, 13

Boonstra, H.D. (2009). Advocates call for a new approach after the era of ‘abstinence-only’ sex education. Guttmacher Policy Review, 12 (1), 6-11.

Kantor, L.M, Santellli, J.S., Teitler, J., & Balmer, R. (2008). Abstinence-only policies and programs: An overview. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 5 (3), 6-17.

SNL's Julia Sweeney on Sex Ed in the Home

This from Minnesota Public Radio:

Proof that kids say the darndest things. Then they say more darn things.

Advocates rally for sex education

This from the Courier-Journal:

Advocates for sex education in the public schools rallied in the Capitol Thursday in support of legislation that would require schools teaching the subject to use a science-based curriculum.

Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Louisville Democrat who is sponsoring House Bill 119, said the measure is needed to protect teens not only from teenage pregnancies but also from sexually transmitted diseases.

“We're in the 21st century,” Marzian said in expressing outrage that sex education standards are not in place in the schools. “You would think teaching sex education was teaching voodoo or whatever.”

She said she decided to sponsor the legislation after her daughter, a public school teacher, told her of questions her students asked during health class that were based on wrong assumptions.“It terrified me,” she said.

Sex education isn't currently required in public schools. Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said a 1980s law requiring it was repealed by the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act.

Marzian's bill requires that a school teaching sex education must use age-appropriate, culturally sensitive and medically accurate information and not limit instruction to discussion of abstinence or contraception...

Sex advice website for primary kids angers Aussie parents

This from Venkey On Your Side:

Outraged parents are demanding the withdrawal of a sex education website
endorsing abortion and giving pre-teens information about sexual pleasure.

The controversial site, thehormonefactory.com, has been approved as a student resource for Queensland Year 7 classes.

Educators say that it is a valuable, fun tool that helps children entering their teens learn about their bodies, but parents are angry over the site's description of abortion as 'a relief' and claims certain hormones make teens "feel sexy"...

Australian Family Association Queensland president Ken Francis warned that the website was potentially dangerous to the "physical and mental health of our children" and was unsuitable for Year 7 students...

However, Family Planning Queensland educational services director Cecelia Gore backed the website, insisting Year 7 was the "crucial time" for sex education because research showed students dealt better with sexual encounters if they had been educated beforehand...

An Abundance of Caution?

I usually read the Eastern Progress at lunch. Today I chuckled from salad to dessert.

This from the Eastern Progress, Photo by Rachel Stone:

Safe is Sexy at EKU

While some students are showering their sweethearts with flowers, cards and over-sized stuffed animals this Valentine's Day, others may be giving a gift that's a bit more exciting than heart-shaped boxes of chocolates...

Kelsey Bennett, a freshman nursing major, and Mary Turner, a freshman physical education major, both from Elizabethtown, race to put condoms on fake penises during a sex education event...

Is it just me, or is this the funniest safe sex picture since Mandy Pepperidge, frustrated by Gregg Marmalard's lack of concentration, snapped off the latex gloves?

What's with the goggles? Are Eastern girls are being warned to protect themselves against the dreaded "snapback?" Or are those things loaded?

Meghan Scott, a health educator for student health services, said the programs are important because of the dangers involved with having sex.

1 in 4 teen girls has sexually transmitted disease

This from MSNBC:

Virus that causes cervical cancer most common, infertility second

CHICAGO - Startling government research on teenage girls and sexually transmitted diseases sends a blunt message to kids who think they’re immune:

It’s liable to happen to you or someone you know.

In the first study of its kind, researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found at least one in 4 teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

The most common one is a virus that can cause cervical cancer, and the second most common can cause infertility. Nearly half the black teens in the study had at least one sexually transmitted infection, versus 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens.

The study, released Tuesday at an STD prevention conference, has adolescent-health specialists pointing to possible reasons and offering potential solutions.

Blame is most often placed on inadequate sex education, from parents and from schools focusing too much on abstinence-only programs. Add to that a young person’s sense of being invulnerable.

“This is pretty shocking,” said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital in New York.

“To talk about abstinence is not a bad thing,” but teen girls — and boys too — need to be informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex, Alderman said.

Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some diseases.

Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD...

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Press Release.

A truce in the sex ed wars?

Right now, both sides of the

sex education debate
still insist that education

can change sexual activity.

As best as we can tell,

they're both wrong.

New York - Hey, check it out: Abstinence education doesn't work!

It's fun to be right, that's for sure. So my fellow liberals have been gloating since last April, when an exhaustive five-year study showed what we always suspected: Kids receiving "abstinence education" are no more likely to delay sexual intercourse than their peers.

Politicians are starting to notice, too. Although the federal government continues to finance abstinence education, 11 state health departments rejected it this year. Even more, three states are considering laws that would ban any sex education program that isn't supported by "science" or "research."

But here's what most liberals won't admit: We don't have solid evidence for our own favored forms of sex education, either. So if the law requires science-based sex ed, we might have to change our entire approach...

This from the Christian Science Monitor.

Abstinence-Only Programs Don’t Work, Study Finds

Students who participated in sexual-abstinence education programs partially funded by the federal government were just as likely to have sex, and had the same number of sexual partners, as those who did not take part in the programs, a federally mandated report said today.

Both groups of youths—those who participated in abstinence education, and those who participated in other health education programs available in their areas—had a median age of first intercourse of 14 years and 9 months.

However, those students who participated in the abstinence programs were just as likely to use contraception as those who did not. Some critics of abstinence education programs have argued that they reduce rates of contraception usage.

~
The enactment of Title V, Section 510 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 significantly increased the funding and prominence of abstinence education as an approach to promote sexual abstinence and healthy teen behavior. Since fiscal year 1998, the program has allocated $50 million annually in federal funding for programs that teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for school-age children. The matching block grant program, resulted in a total of $87.5 million annually for abstinence education programs.

In the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress authorized a scientific evaluation of the
Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Education Program.

The report presents final results from a multi-year, experimentally-based impact study focused on four selected abstinence education programs: (1) My Choice, My Future! in Powhatan, Virginia; (2) ReCapturing the Vision in Miami, Florida; (3) Families United to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (FUPTP) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and (4) Teens in Control in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Based on follow-up data collected from youth four to six years after study enrollment, the report presents the estimated program impacts on youth behavior, including sexual abstinence, risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and other related outcomes.

Findings indicate that youth in the program group were no more likely than control group youth to have abstained from sex and, among those who reported having had sex, they had similar numbers of sexual partners and had initiated sex at the same mean age. Contrary to concerns raised by some critics of the Title V, Section 510 abstinence funding, however, program group youth were no more likely to have engaged in unprotected sex than control group youth.

More states abstain from federal sex-ed funds

In an emerging revolt against abstinence-only sex education, states are turning down millions of dollars in federal grants, unwilling to accept White House dictates that the money be used for classes focused almost exclusively on teaching chastity.

This from the Los Angeles Times.

Sex Lady's lesson: Save yourself

Districts take her up on offer to teach course on abstinence for free

Photo by VERNON BRYANT / Dallas Morning News

Jennifer Waters calls herself the Sex Lady. She likes to play matchmaker with Miss Tape and unwitting teen boys.

She slaps a piece of clear tape across Julian's arm. He winces.

"It's gonna hurt when I take it off," the lanky boy protests.

"But it's fine now, isn't it?" Ms. Waters whips back.

The puzzled looks on 18 eighth-graders at Carrollton's Arbor Creek Middle School brighten. The Sex Lady has made her point: Bad relationships hurt.

Ms. Waters, who was born to an unwed teen mother, teaches abstinence courses for free to schools and church groups across the country. The Allen, Lewisville and Princeton school districts have all brought her in, spurning larger and more costly programs.

Texas law requires sex education courses be abstinence-based. Some Lewisville middle schools had been contracting with Dallas-based nonprofit Aim for Success, which claims to be the nation's largest abstinence educator.

But not all schools could afford a price tag that averaged $2,000 per session. And those presentations generally were given to entire grade levels. Ms. Waters speaks to smaller groups – one class or sometimes two combined classes at a time.

This from the Dallas Morning News.