Kara's Message to Congress about Abstinence-Only Programs

Dear Representative Marshall,

Our society is one of information; the TV and internet being the two most popular sources of that information. With children and teens, their friends also play a large role in where they get information. What they learn from TV, the internet, and their friends is often, understandably skewed or just completely wrong. Schools are supposed to then be a place where kids can get balanced and accurate information. What happens when its not? On the topic of sex education most schools don't offer balanced, accurate, and complete information because teachers are told to teach abstinence-only-until-marriage as a sex EDUCATION course. Abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education teaches that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy and STDs. Courses like this are prohibited from supporting the use of contraceptives. The teachers either don't mention contraceptives or simply focus on their (often exaggerated) failure rates. The most common way that these programs try to convince teens not to have sex until marriage is by using fear, shame, and religious beliefs to tell these kids that sex outside of marriage is wrong.

Also these classes regularly fail to address commonly held myths; such as you can't get pregnant if you have sex standing up. You would think that any person with common sense would know that you can get pregnant no matter what position, but these children don't and we're not teaching them any differently. As of 2003 over 80% of the abstinence-only curricula contained false, misleading, or distorted information. Four in ten sex ed teachers either don't teach about contraceptives, including condoms, or teach that they are ineffective in preventing pregnancy or STDs, as complying with the guidelines set forth for an abstinence-only program. Numerous studies have shown that abstinence-only courses have little impact on the attitudes teens have about sex or what age they begin having sex.

Actually, its been shown that abstinence-only courses have a negative impact on a teen's willingness to use contraceptives, such as condoms, to prevent pregnancy or STDs because these teens have been taught that they don't work. Sex education that includes information about abstinence and contraception does not send a mixed message, but those students are more likely to delay sex and use protection when they do begin having sex than those students who receive abstinence-only courses.

Four in ten girls get pregnant at least once before age twenty. One out of every four, about three million, sexually active teen gets infected with an STD every year. Half of the forty thousand new HIV infections each year are to people under the age of twenty-five. On average, two young people get HIV every hour of every day. By their late teens at least ¾ of teens have had sex, and more than 2/3 of those have had two or more partners. About 40% of males don't receive any education about birth control or STDs before they begin having sex. Almost 50% of 7th-12th grade students want more facts about birth control, STDs, pressure to have sex, how to talk to a partner about protection, and what to do in the event of sexual assault. Our children want the information. Isn't it our job, as an informed society, to educate these kids? I think it is.

Over $170 million are spent on these abstinence-only courses each year; almost $1 billion to date, with little to show for it. American teens still get pregnant more than teens in any other developed country. Teens still account for almost half of the about 19 million new cases of STDs each year. What we're doing isn't working. If we want to protect our teens and future generations than we've got to change something. Sex is a sensitive subject in our society. People's reluctant ness and even unwillingness to discuss this sensitive, complicated, and often just plain awkward subject is completely understandable. Our children and teens need to know the facts, though. We should be able to put aside our embarrassment and pride and accept the fact that most teens are going to have sex and it's our job to prepare them for the risks. We need to stop funding programs that do more harm then good and start funding programs that promote safety and knowledge. As a teen, I'm asking you to think about me and my safety. I believe I deserve that.

--Kara Thomas

Tell Congress to help people like Kara: http://capwiz.com/mobilize/issues/alert/?alertid=9859926