Abstinence-only sex education funding to stop BY JESSICA M. PASKO The Associated Press
Federal and state funding for abstinence-only sex education will end in New York and state money will now go to programs deemed more effective, officials announced this week. The state received up to about $3.7 million annually from the federal government for abstinence-only programs since 1998, according to state Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton. Another $2.6 million in state money was allocated each year for the programs. As of Oct. 1, those state funds will be redirected to expand comprehensive sex education programs, state Health Department Commissioner Richard Daines said. “The Bush administration’s Abstinence-Only program is an example of a failed national health care policy directive, based on ideology rather than on sound scientific-based evidence that must be the cornerstone of good public health care policy,” Daines said in a statement posted on the agency’s Web site Thursday. New York does not mandate sex education and leaves it up to individual school districts and communities to devise their own curriculums. Most abstinence-only programs in the state are operated by religious organizations, according to a recent New York Civil Liberties Union report. Programs run by the state include discussion of abstinence along with information about preventing pregnancy and disease, according to Daines. State officials decided in July not to apply again for funds under the federal program and the organizations that got the money were informed their contracts wouldn’t be renewed after Sept. 30. “We’re very unhappy,” said John Graham of Catholic Charities in Onondaga County, one of the organizations that received the federal funding. “Refusing the money from the federal government puts a lot of programs in jeopardy.” Graham said he wishes the issue could be resolved without the loss of funding. “We were having a pretty effective program with the families and children we were working with,” he said. “And now, we’re not able to do that.” At least 11 other states have rejected the federal Title V funding for abstinence-only programs — including New Jersey, California, Maine and Montana — in the last couple of years. This year’s annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in November will feature a panel discussion on states’ decisions. “It’s very clear that New York was not where New York should be. To put scarce state resources into comprehensive, medically accurate sex education programs is just brilliant and I am thrilled,” said JoAnn Smith, president and CEO of Family Planning Advocates of New York. “Young people need real information to make healthy choices. And they don’t just need it now, they need it for their whole life.” In 2005, New York’s teen pregnancy rate was 60.7 per 1,000 — nearly 40,000 teenagers between 15 and 19 became pregnant, according to the state health department. “We don’t look upon the $3.7 million as being a loss to the state because money invested in programs where several scientific studies have shown that it doesn’t prevent teen pregnancy is not money well spent,” said the health department’s Hutton.
How did they ever expect abstinence to work when there is hardly anyone saying, 'no you shouldn't', when almost everyone is saying 'yes you can'? And they do!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
New York state wise to drop abstinenceonly education
The New York State Health Department has just announced that it will abstain from participating in a federally funded abstinenceonly program. Ten other states had already made that choice, and it is the right one. The reasons they’ve done so are the same ones why Congress should de-fund this and other abstinence-only efforts: they are an ideological fantasy that doesn’t work. Since 1998 the federal government has spent more than $1.5 billion overall for abstinence-only programs, which teach (mostly) middle-school-age kids to wait until marriage to have sex. One of those programs, Title V, provides $50 million a year to states, with a 75 percent match requirement. In the last 10 years New York has received up to $3.7 annually, and kicked in another $2.6 million of its own each year. Pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, are serious problems; and there’s no denying that for these reasons, as well psychological and emotional ones, young people are better off waiting to have sex. They need to hear that message — and they do as part of most comprehensive sex education programs, including Planned Parenthood’s. But they also need to know how their bodies work, and how to protect themselves from pregnancy and STDs if they do choose to have sex — and the reality is that many will, regardless of what they are told. In fact, the federal Department of Health and Human Services this summer announced the results of a multiyear study of a wide range of abstinence-only programs. It found program group youth were no more likely to have remained abstinent than others; that they initiated sex at the same age, with the same frequency and same number of partners. They were also just as likely to use condoms, even though the program prohibits any mention of them except in terms of failure rates. An earlier study, by Rep. Henry Waxman in 2004, found that 11 of the 13 most commonly used curricula contained misleading, inaccurate and false information, including exaggerating the failure rate of condoms. New York will forgo the $3.2 million annually, most of which goes to religious organizations, but it will redirect the $2.6 million to comprehensive sex ed programs. Where it should have gone all along.
Young people need birth control facts First published: Monday, October 1, 2007
In response to "No to abstinence funds": The state health commissioner's announcement that the state is rejecting federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs is a tremendously important step. Abstinence-only programs deprive young people of vital information to help them guard against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
The New York Civil Liberties Union just released a report showing that the funds were used in New York to teach programming that includes scientific inaccuracies, bias, sex stereotypes, and religious content.
But the state's rejection of these funds does not solve the problem. Real sex education that includes complete information on prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is still not required in New York schools. And community groups in New York still receive over $5 million directly from the federal government for abstinence-only- until-marriage programming, bypassing the state government entirely.
This funding was up for reauthorization Sept. 30; Congress considered increasing it by $27 million nationwide.
New York's refusal to accept federal funds should send a strong message to Congress that no more federal dollars should be spent here, or anywhere else in the country on ideologically driven programs that do not work. And the state Legislature should do everything within its power to ensure that all New York young people have access to complete and accurate information so that they can protect themselves and grow up to be healthy adults.
GALEN SHERWIN Director, NYCLU Reproductive Rights Project New York
Young people need birth control facts First published: Monday, October 1, 2007
In response to "No to abstinence funds": The state health commissioner's announcement that the state is rejecting federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs is a tremendously important step. Abstinence-only programs deprive young people of vital information to help them guard against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
The New York Civil Liberties Union just released a report showing that the funds were used in New York to teach programming that includes scientific inaccuracies, bias, sex stereotypes, and religious content.
But the state's rejection of these funds does not solve the problem. Real sex education that includes complete information on prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is still not required in New York schools. And community groups in New York still receive over $5 million directly from the federal government for abstinence-only- until-marriage programming, bypassing the state government entirely.
This funding was up for reauthorization Sept. 30; Congress considered increasing it by $27 million nationwide.
New York's refusal to accept federal funds should send a strong message to Congress that no more federal dollars should be spent here, or anywhere else in the country on ideologically driven programs that do not work. And the state Legislature should do everything within its power to ensure that all New York young people have access to complete and accurate information so that they can protect themselves and grow up to be healthy adults.
GALEN SHERWIN Director, NYCLU Reproductive Rights Project New York
I do not have young children any longer. They are all married with children of their own. And maybe I'm just getting old. Why does the NYS government have to do everything within its power to ensure that all New York young people have access to complete and accurate information so that they can protect themselves and grow up to be healthy adults.
Is it that the parents don't want this responsibility any longer or is it that the government took this responsibility from the parents?
One can only hope that the first rise in the teen birth rate in 15 years, reported by the National Center for Health Statistics this week, is an aberration, and not the reversal of a positive trend that began in 1991. But the increase was substantial — 3 percent — and, coming on the heels of a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this summer which reported the first upswing in teen sexual activity in several years, is further evidence that the federal government’s abstinence-only approach might need rethinking. Teen pregnancy must be discouraged at all costs because teens, almost as a rule, aren’t mature enough (except physically) to have babies. It almost certainly puts them at a long-term disadvantage — most teen mothers don’t finish high school and end up living in poverty, for example. It does much the same to their kids, which generally increases the costs to government and society. “All costs” means doing more than simply advising them to abstain from sex until marriage. It means giving them comprehensive sex education, which in addition to that advice, also teaches them about how their bodies work, about sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, etc. The door is now open for such a program in New York, which this summer joined 10 other states in rejecting federal aid because of attached strings requiring that they teach abstinence-only. Now the state Legislature should pass the Healthy Teens Act, which would provide money for comprehensive sex ed programs. The fact is, abstinence-only education doesn’t work. Yet another federal study, done over the course of several years by the Department of Health and Human Services and released this summer demonstrated that. It found that teens exposed to a wide range of abstinence-only curricula were no more likely to abstain from sex; that they first engaged in sex at the same age, and with the same frequency and same number of partners, as teens not given such education. Teens from abstinence-only programs were also just as likely to use condoms, even though the program prohibits any mention of them. The situation regarding this blip in the teen birth rate certainly bears watching and — should it continue — addressing.
Funny how in the 60's is was all about 'free sex'. 40+ years later, we need a government program teaching kids how NOT to have sex and the forms of birth control available AND if you do get pregnant, you can have an abortion. I believe that perhaps this can all be a bit of an oxymoron. And what really frosts me is to think that the GOVERNMENT needs to set the guidelines. God, they can't even govern themselves let alone the teens. IDIOTS!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Sex education teaches values of respect, honesty First published: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
In response to the ongoing debate over sex education, John O'Brien wrote your paper Nov. 30 that the "value-free'' approach taught in our schools for 40 years has led to an epidemic of teen pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases. If this statement were true, I would be as concerned as Mr. O'Brien
However, there are no state guidelines regarding what students should receive in the way of sex education, except a requirement for basic information about HIV/AIDS. And before the abstinence-only federal grants, there were no funds designated for schools to provide sex education. As a result, what students learn varies dramatically from school to school and from teacher to teacher. Thus, the idea that medically accurate, comprehensive sex education has been taught in our schools for 40 years is a fallacy. I applaud Gov. Spitzer's decision to forgo federal funding linked to abstinence-only programs. Repeated studies have demonstrated that abstinence-only sex education programs are ineffective. The most recent studies were released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and by the University of Florida. If we want to reduce the number of teen pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases, we should be encouraging our New York state senators to pass the Healthy Teens Act. This act would provide schools with funds to improve and expand age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education programming. This kind of programming does not have to be -- as O'Brien alludes -- "value neutral.'' In fact, it promotes such important values as honesty, mutual respect and responsibility. Western European countries do have important lessons for us in the United States. Let's stop being afraid to give our youth the information and guidance they need to make healthy and responsible decisions about sex and parenthood. SARA J. KREMER Albany
I have read several articles lately stating that sex education programs that advocate abstinence are outdated and simply won’t work. The main argument in defense of their opinion is always that teens will have sex no matter what you do, so you might as well teach them how to do it safely. I would like to express my opinion that this is a ridiculous attitude to have. We can, and do have, an extraordinary influence on children’s behavior starting from the day they are born. We have an influence every time they see what we watch on TV, the words we use, how we talk to each other, how we show respect and we show love to our spouses. Kids learn by example. And the biggest example in their lives is their parents. Values and appropriate behaviors need to be taught by the parents. We would never use this philosophy of trying to make unsuitable behaviors safe for drug users, or criminals, so why then with our children? There has been a steady decline of moral values in this nation for several decades now, and I believe that we should all assist in stopping that decline. JEREMY KERGEL Ballston Lake
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