Renee Walker is proof positive that one person can make a difference. Alarmed at some of the things her 11-year-old son was saying after attending a family-life program at his middle school in Concord, California, Walker decided to do some investigating. She discovered that the family-life program called CryBabies, which she had signed a permission slip for him to take and which lasted for eight days of his science period, was not the age-appropriate, accurate, unbiased sex-ed class she thought it was going to be. Although she hoped the program would be an excellent icebreaker to start talking with her son about issues regarding sexual health, Walker quickly realized he was not learning anything about puberty or prevention. CryBabies, which…
OP-ED: Back to School: Do You Know What Your Kids Learned in Sex Ed Today?
It’s that time of year again – all across the country kids are back in school. Parents have dutifully equipped their children with everything they might need to succeed – from backpacks to binders. And in turn, most parents assume that schools will do their best to equip their children with everything they need to succeed in life. Unfortunately, when it comes to sex education, there is little guarantee that your sons or daughters will get the information they need to help them make healthy decisions. Instead of providing medically accurate, age-appropriate, unbiased information about the benefits of abstinence, proper contraceptive use, and ways to prevent STDs, many schools teach abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula that include misinformation about the effectiveness of condoms…
States Continue to Turn Down Ederal AB-Only Dollars
The Washington Post reported today that at least 14 states have turned down federal funds to teach abstinence-only-until-marriage programs: The number of states refusing federal money for “abstinence-only” sex education programs jumped sharply in the past year as evidence mounted that the approach is ineffective. At least 14 states have either notified the federal government that they will no longer be requesting the funds or are not expected to apply, forgoing more than $15 million of the $50 million available, officials said. The jump in states opting out follows a series of reports questioning the effectiveness of the approach, including one commissioned by Congress that was released earlier this year. In addition, federal health officials have reported that a 14-year drop in…
REPORT: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform: The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs
United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform Prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman This December report evaluates the content of the most popular abstinence-only curricula used by grantees of the largest federal abstinence initiative. The federal government does not review for accuracy the curricula used in federally funded programs.