Florida Revamps Sex Ed to Fight HIV Myths

I read this in poz.com and thought it was of interest. Take note, Oklahoma legislators!

Widespread misconceptions among Florida teens - including the belief that drinking a capful of bleach prevents HIV infection - have prompted lawmakers to draft a bill requiring more comprehensive sex education in the state's schools, the Miami Herald reports.

The bill - which the state Senate approved on April 1 - would still require Florida schools to emphasize abstinence as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. However, schools would now also be required to teach students about condoms, as well as about other forms of contraception and disease prevention.

According to the Florida Department of Education, half of the state's middle schools and a third or its high schools teach abstinence-only courses. The Herald reports that Florida has the country's sixth-highest teen pregnancy rate.

Last week, a panel of Planned Parenthood representatives spoke at a congressional briefing on the benefits of comprehensive sexuality education and the harm that can result from abstinence-only-until-marriage education. I thought you might be interested in reading the transcript of Bill Taverner's testimony. It is very good.

"Speak Up for REAL Sex Education"
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Congressional Briefing
March 27, 2008
Remarks by BILL TAVERNER

The Congressional briefing, attended by approximately 200 individuals, including press and congressional staffers, opened with remarks by Cecile Richards (President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America), followed by actress Kate Walsh ("Grey’s Anatomy" and "Private Practice"), teen peer educators Mildred Gamez and Melissa Carrera, Dr. Scott Spear (Medical Director, Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma), and concluded with remarks by Bill Taverner (Director of The Center for Family Life Education at Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey).

Following is the prepared statement by Mr. Taverner.

As an educator, I will resist the temptation to break you all up into small groups and discuss what we’ve heard so far. We are very fortunate to have teens with us who can articulate so clearly the misinformation they are receiving from abstinence-only-until marriage programs. Many teens who are subjected to these programs simply trust that the material being taught is honest, reliable, complete, and effective...just as any other course is that is taught in the schools.

Unfortunately, abstinence-only programs are not honest, reliable, or complete, and they are definitely not effective. A federal review of abstinence-only-until marriage programs found that 80% of the curricula contained "false, misleading, or distorted" information about sexual health. 80%! Would we accept that level of false, misleading, or distorted information for any other subject? Algebra? History? Driver’s ed?

Let’s imagine if driver’s education was taught the same way as abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Teenagers would learn, "Don’t drive until you’re married. I know you may have urges to drive, but if you do, you’re gonna die because seatbelts don’t work."

Does this sound crazy? Well, every day teens are being told that condoms do not work, even though they’re 98% effective when used correctly and consistently. But teens hear "Condom’s don’t work," so they say, "Why bother?" It’s no surprise that one in four young women in America has a sexually transmitted infection.

Does this happen anywhere else in the developed world? No. As Dr. Spear said earlier, teen STD rates in America are much, much higher than in any other developed nation – England, France, Germany, the Netherlands...and anywhere else where teens learn about both abstinence and other methods of protection. The same is true of teen pregnancy, teen births, and other teen health indicators. U.S. teen rates are off the charts, compared with countries that provide complete information.

Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs tell more lies: "If you have sex, you’re going to have psychological problems" and "If you have sex, you’re probably going to kill yourself." They admonish teens to wait until they’re married, even though marriage tends to happen in the late 20’s. And not everyone chooses to get married, or is granted the legal right to marry.

Nevertheless, Congress has wasted more than $1.5 billion on these dangerous programs. I call them dangerous because they deny teens life-saving information about birth control and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

Research authorized by Congress found that teens who participate in abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are no more likely than other teens to delay first intercourse; are no more likely to have fewer partners; and are no more likely to use condoms at first intercourse. Dr. Douglas Kirby, a national expert on program evaluation found no strong evidence that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have any impact on teen sexual behavior.

A study of more than 20,000 young people who made virginity pledges found that 88% of these teens failed to keep the pledge.

Let’s let that sink in a moment.

There are about 200 people in this room. If we all imagine we are teenagers making a pledge to be abstinent, everyone but the people in these first two rows would fail to keep that pledge! (Way to go, first two rows!)

Because abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are so dangerous, 17 states have refused to take the federal funding this year. Governors do not want to waste their limited state dollars on programs that have proven to be ineffective and harmful.

Parents and voters are overwhelmingly supportive of sex education. 82% of Americans want sex education, which includes both abstinence and other methods of contraception and prevention. 78% of Catholics (including me) want sex education; 76% of independent voters want sex education; and 72% of voters from "red states" want sex education.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher issued a Call to Action for "evidence-based" methods for sex education. Dr. Kirby found that two-thirds of evaluated sex education programs had positive effects on teen sexual behavior, including delaying first intercourse and improving contraceptive use.

It’s time for Congress to stop wasting money; to acknowledge the successes in other nations; to honor the wishes of American parents and voters; to listen to what the experts are saying; and to get real about sex education. Thank you.

Thank you, Bill!