TENNESSEETennessee received $6,613,689 in federal funds for
Tennessee Sexuality Education Law and Policy The Code also protects sexuality education teachers:
Sexuality education is not required; however, the state code explains that if any county in Tennessee has pregnancy rates higher than 19.5 pregnancies per 1,000 females ages 15–17, then every school district in that county must implement family life education in accordance with curriculum guidelines provided by the state board of education. This education must emphasize abstinence until marriage and must include instruction in the prevention of HIV/AIDS- and sexually transmitted disease (STD). Family life education must be taught for four years after the release of the initial teen pregnancy rates. If the school district fails to implement family life education, then the county must do so. If the school board does not implement family life education, the commissioner of education for the state is instructed to withhold state funding. According to Tennessee Code, if a sexuality education program is developed in any school district, “in developing the plan, the state board shall consider such programs and materials as Sex Respect, Teen-Aid, and the 3-R Project of the South Carolina departments of education and health.” The state also recommends a plan for curriculum development, which includes building community and parental support for family life education. Schools must hold at least one public hearing. If, upon implementation of family life education in a school district, more than 50 parents or guardians with children enrolled in the school district complain about the program, the state department of education must audit the school district “for the purpose of evaluating the quality and effectiveness of the plan of family life instruction.” The state department of education must then recommend how to make the instruction more effective and how to build parental and community support for the program. School districts may use health care professionals and social workers to assist in family life education. Such instructors must be individuals “upright of character and of good public standing.” According to Tennessee law, HIV/AIDS-prevention courses may not be required for graduation. In addition, all instruction and materials related to HIV/AIDS prevention must place “primary emphasis on abstinence from premarital intimacy and on the avoidance of drug abuse in controlling the spread of AIDS.” Tennessee Code allows students to be removed from sexuality education classes upon written request of their parent or guardian. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy. Recent Legislation Legislation Requires Review of Family Life Curricula Bill Rewards Five Model Programs Events of Note Oak Ridge Board of Education Approves GSA The Gay-Straight Alliance first brought its proposal to the school’s student council for approval. Before the council could vote, the staff advisor intervened explaining that further discussion of human sexuality was needed first. Despite the staff members’ suggestion, the student council took a vote and unanimously approved the club. The Tennessee ACLU sent a letter to Oak Ridge High School’s principal, reminding the school that under the Equal Access Act the club has a right to form. The issue was brought to the attention of the school board by a parent who suggested that the club did not abide by school policy. The parent argued that since permission is required before students can participate in sexuality education classes, similar permission would be required for this club.2 The school board and administrators disagreed, explaining that the GSA has a legal right to form and operate like any other club at the high school.3 One of the club’s founders responded to the victory: “We now have permission to have our club and will be looking forward to creating a more tolerant community at ORHS.”4 On May 29th, Stark reported on the blog that his parents made him apply to Refuge, a fundamentalist Christian program, which “exists to be a Christ-centered ministry for the prevention or remediation of unhealthy and destructive behaviors facing families, adults, and adolescents.”5 In Stark’s case, the goal of the program was to change his sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Stark expressed a resistance and hopelessness over the prospect of attending Refuge. “Even if I do come out straight, I’ll be so mentally unstable and depressed it won’t matter,” he wrote in his blog on May 30th. Refuge offers programs lasting two or six weeks. They are held in a “park-like” setting from 9am–5pm, after which participants retreat to a hotel with a legal guardian. Refuge is a subsidiary of Love in Action International, which offers a range of similar programs. A confidential email sent from Refuge to Stark’s parents that Stark copied and posted on his blog outlines the strict rules of Refuge, including lengthy sessions of solitary confinement, isolation, and extreme restrictions of attire, correspondence, and privacy, sanctioned by Biblical quotations. Love in Action International is an affiliate of Exodus International, the most prominent informational and referral organization in the “ex-gay” movement. Founded in 1976, the Exodus network includes over 150 secular and religious programs, counselors, and therapists in 17 member nations, predominantly the U.S. and Canada.6 Attempting to eliminate same-sex desires is referred to as “transformational ministries” by many religious groups while most secular groups refer to it as “reparative therapy.”7 The practice of reparative therapy holds little weight among mental health professionals. Most professional mental health organizations believe that reparative therapies carry a significant risk of perpetuating symptoms of anxiety, depression, and self-hatred rather than relieving them. The American Psychological Association (APA), in collaboration with ten major health professions, has stated that “the most important fact about ‘reparative therapy’ is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions.”8 The APA declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973. After receiving complaints from supporters of Stark and the Queer Action Coalition, a grassroots organization formed in response to Stark’s struggle, Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS) launched an investigation into allegations of child abuse at the Love in Action campus. “Emotional abuse is difficult to prove in the state of Tennessee,” explained a representative of Childhelp USA in Knoxville. “You have to document that the child is undergoing depression or suicidal ideation, that he can’t sleep or can’t eat.”9 On June 27th, the DCS determined that the child abuse allegations were unfounded.10 The Tennessee Department of Health and the Department of Mental Health and Human Developmental Disabilities also scrutinized the case to determine if Love in Action offers therapeutic services for which it is not licensed.11 A spokesperson for Love in Action, however, insists that the program is a spiritual, not counseling, center and he said he will remove references to therapy from its website.12 Tennessee’s Youth: Statistical Information of Note13
Memphis, Tennessee
Title V Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding Sub-grantees include the Boys and Girls Club, a Girl Scout troop, crisis pregnancy centers, school-based programs, and faith-based organizations. The sub-grantees target young people ages 10–17 and their parents by running local media campaigns and other activities, including in-school programs. The sub-grantees use a variety of abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula, including Choices; Choosing the Best LIFE; Me, My World, My Future; Signs of Life; Road Rules for Real Life; Postponing Sexual Involvement; Sex Can Wait; Sex Respect; SMART Moves; Why kNOw; and Worth Waiting For.16 SIECUS reviewed Choosing the Best LIFE and found that it names numerous physical and psychological consequences of premarital sexual activity, suggests that sexually active teens will never have happy futures, and implies that only teens with low self-esteem and poor judgment become sexually active. For example, Choosing the Best LIFE states that “relationships often lower the self-respect of both partners—one feeling used, the other feeling like the user. Emotional pain can cause a downward spiral leading to intense feelings of lack of worthlessness (sic).”17 SIECUS reviewed Sex Respect and found that the curriculumrelies on messages of fear and shame, inaccurate and misleading information, and biased views of marriage, sexual orientation, and family structure. According to Sex Respect, “There is no way to have premarital sex without hurting someone.” Sex Respect implies that young people who become sexually active lack values, self-esteem, and principles: “Many young teens who have been brought up with principles and values may have already decided they want to save sex for marriage.” The curriculum is also not appropriate for public schools as it remains patently religious. For example, Sex Respect uses Biblical language in giving young people dating advice: “Set ending time for your date before you go out. Be home on time. Don’t invite your date in. Lead yourselves not into temptation.”18 SIECUS reviewed Why kNOw and found that it offers limited information about important topics in human sexuality such as puberty, anatomy, and human reproduction, and no information about sexual orientation and gender identity. The information that is included is outdated, inaccurate, and misleading. In addition, Why kNOw relies on negative messages, distorts information, and presents biased views of gender, marriage, family structure, sexual orientation, and pregnancy options. For example, the curriculum tells students that the tradition of lifting the bride’s veil during a wedding shows that “the groom [is] the only man allowed to uncover the bride,” and demonstrates “her respect for him by illustrating that she [has] not allowed any other man to lay claim to her.”19 Title V sub-grantees in Tennessee include three crisis pregnancy centers: Hope Clinic for Women, Hope Resource Center, and the Women’s Care Center. Crisis pregnancy centers typically advertise as providing medical services and then use anti-abortion propaganda, misinformation, and fear and shame tactics to dissuade women facing unintended pregnancy from exercising their right to choose. Make this summer sex-free! You have way too much going on to complicate it with sex. Be free from worry, disease and life-changing complications; be smart about your choices. You are in control of your destiny. Enjoy choosing the right path. Your future spouse will thank you.22 BHNE’s relies heavily on messages of fear and shame and medical misinformation on its website. Its website lists some of the permanent life changes that have “ruined young people’s lives” as a result of their decisions to be sexually active in their teen years:
BNHE also misinforms its audience about critical topics such as HIV transmission and condom effectiveness. For example, its website suggests that HIV can be spread by “blood or secretions from an infected person coming into contact with another person’s skin.” In truth, HIV cannot be spread if blood and secretions come into contact with unbroken skin. In addition, BNHE warns that “small viruses may pass through tiny defects in the latex” of condoms.24 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “…latex or polyurethane condoms provide a highly effective mechanical barrier to HIV.”25 Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) and Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) Grantees MyChoice2Wait uses the Choosing the Best curricula: Choosing the Best PATH for grades seven and eight, Choosing the Best LIFE for grades nine through twelve, and Choosing the Best SOUL MATE as a follow-up for grades ten through twelve.28 SIECUS reviewed Choosing the Best PATH and found that it provides endless information on the negative consequences of premarital sexual activity and utilizes a variety of tactics to suggest that teens should feel guilty, embarrassed, and ashamed of sexual behavior. For example, Choosing the Best PATH asks students: “How does being sexually active as a teen affect how a person feels about himself or herself?” The suggested answer is: “Can feel sad about losing virginity, loss of self-respect, blames self for getting pregnant or contracting an STD.” It goes on to say, “Sexual activity also can lead to the trashing of a person’s reputation, resulting in the loss of friends.” 29 (See the Title V section for more information on Choosing the Best LIFE.) MyChoice2Wait also encourages youth to download and print a pledge card from its website.30 Research has found that under certain conditions such pledges, most commonly called virginity pledges, may help some adolescents delay sexual intercourse. When they work, pledges help this select group of adolescents delay the onset of sexual intercourse for an average of 18 months—far short of marriage. Researchers found that pledges only worked when taken by a small group of students. Pledges taken by a whole class were ineffective. More importantly, the studies also found that those young people who took a pledge were one-third less likely to use contraception when they did become sexually active than their peers who had not pledged. These teens are therefore more vulnerable to the risks of unprotected sexual activity, such as unintended pregnancy and STDs, including HIV/AIDS. Further research has confirmed that although some students who take pledges delay intercourse, ultimately they are just as likely to contract an STD as their non-pledging peers. The study also found that the STD rates were higher in communities where a significant proportion (over 20%) of the young people had taken virginity pledges.31 Christ Community Health Services describes its mission as providing “high-quality health care to the underserved in the context of distinctively Christian service. We recognize that Jesus Christ is the true healer of individuals and their communities and the source of our ability to serve. We seek to know Jesus and to make Him known.”32 Christ Community Health Services runs the “Choices” program, geared toward youth ages 12–15 in Memphis and Shelby County.33 “Choices” is an outreach program “devoted to helping teens reach the decision to save sexual activity until after marriage.”34 Hope Resource Center is a crisis pregnancy center that describes itself as “a multifaceted Christian ministry addressing the issues of sexual health, unplanned pregnancy, and post-abortion recovery.”35 Hope Resource Center has several professional affiliations, including Care Net, and the National Abstinence Clearinghouse.36 Care Net “promotes more than 1,000 evangelical pregnancy centers across North America.”37 Hope Resource Center states on its website that it uses ultrasounds on women who are determining their options: “Women in unplanned pregnancy can receive a free ultrasound, which often is the determining factor in their decision to carry.”38 The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), Society for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS), American College of Radiology (ACR) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) all discourage the use of ultrasound machines for the non-medical, non-diagnostic purpose of manipulating a patient’s decision.39 Hope Resource Center runs an abstinence-only-until-marriage program called “Just Wait.” Just Wait’s website contains online games and quizzes geared toward youth. “The Relationship Quiz” reinforces negative gender stereotypes. For example, the “correct” response to the question, “Does what girls wear affect the way they may be treated on a date?” is “Yes, especially if they are dressed with provocative clothes (like when their skirts look more like belts than skirts).”40 The “correct” answer to the question “How are guys and girls turned on sexually in a relationship?” is “Guys are turned on visually (by what they see) and girls are turned on auditory (by what they hear).”41 Just Wait also includes a media campaign with billboards and television commercials. The closing message on the television commercials “Dreams” and “Wedding Night” is “Don’t give in. Just wait.”42 Silver Ring Thing is described on the Knoxville Leadership Foundation’s website as “a faith-based program” that “contains a faith message.”46 Knoxville Leadership Foundation states that the Silver Ring Thing portion of its initiative has reached more than 7,000 students and that “over 4400 teens pledged themselves to sexual purity, symbolized by wearing the silver ring.”47 Silver Ring Thing is a multi-media chastity event created by a Pennsylvania-based organization of the same name. In August of 2005, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ordered SRT to submit a “corrective action plan” if it wanted to receive an expected $75,000 grant for that fiscal year. This was in response to a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed against HHS, accusing the administration of using tax dollars to promote Christianity.48 In documents filed in federal court in Boston, the ACLU alleged that SRT’s activities, brochures, and website were “permeated with religion” and use “taxpayer dollars to promote religious content, instruction and indoctrination.”49 The program is aimed at young people and graduates sign a covenant “before God Almighty” to remain virgins and earn a silver ring inscribed with a Bible passage reminding them to “keep clear of sexual sin.” Many of the events are held in churches and, in filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the organization described its mission as “evangelical ministry” with an emphasis on “evangelistic crusade planning.”50 Crew, another abstinence-only-until-marriage program of the Knoxville Leadership Foundation, consists of “a group of students dedicated to influencing their peers to make good choices, particularly about SEX.”51 Presentations given by Crew are conducted for their peers and are “high-tech, high-energy shows.”52 In order to join Crew, a young person must make “a commitment to remain abstinent until marriage.”53 Crew members are in junior high and high school, and attend summer camp together every year.54 Life Choices Pregnancy Support Center, Inc., is a crisis pregnancy center that lists among its services “information on RU-486 and the morning-after pill” and “pre-abortion education.”55 However, the information given about these topics is incorrect. For example, Life Choices Pregnancy Support Services discusses the morning-after pill, or emergency contraception (EC), in its “Abortion Procedures” section and then describes it as “an early abortion.”56 In fact, emergency contraception, also referred to as “the morning-after pill,” is a high dose of regular birth control pills that can reduce a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant by 75 to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. Many people confuse EC with the RU-486 or mifepristone, often called the “abortion pill.” EC is not the same thing and cannot end a pregnancy. EC works by delaying or inhibiting ovulation or inhibiting implantation. If an egg has already implanted in a woman’s uterus, EC will not terminate the pregnancy nor will it harm the developing fetus. In fact, research suggests that the availability of EC has led to a decrease in abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, emergency contraceptives accounted for up to 43% of the decrease in total abortions between 1994 and 2000, and an estimated 51,000 abortions were averted by women’s use of emergency contraceptives in 2000 alone.57 Life Choices Pregnancy Support Center, Inc. also states that an abortion causes risk in future pregnancies and lead to breast cancer.58 Abortion is a generally safe procedure, and medically sound research has shown that first trimester abortions cause almost no long-term fertility problems.59 Moreover, in February 2003, the National Cancer Institute convened a group of 100 experts on pregnancy and breast cancer risk who reviewed “existing population-based, clinical, and animal studies on the relationship between pregnancy and breast cancer risk, including studies of induced and spontaneous abortion” and concluded that induced abortion is not linked to an increase in the risk of breast cancer.60 Life Choices Pregnancy Support Center also states, “Some women experience strong negative emotions after abortion. Sometimes this occurs within days and sometimes it happens after many years. This psychological response is known as Post-Abortion Stress (PAS).”61 It then lists symptoms, including: sexual dysfunction; relationship problems; alcohol and drug abuse; and psychological reactions.62 There is no sound scientific evidence linking abortion to subsequent mental health problems, termed “post-abortion stress syndrome” by anti-abortion groups. Neither the American Psychological Association nor the American Psychiatric Association recognize “post-abortion stress syndrome” as a legitimate medical condition. 63 Nevertheless, abortion opponents often refer to studies that have been found to have severe methodological flaws or cite anecdotal evidence of this condition in an effort to scare women out of exercising their right to choose. Right Choices of West Tennessee spreads the abstinence-only-until-marriage message through drama troupes and peer and adult mentoring. According to its website, it “maximizes penetration throughout our four-county area using community-based, high-visibility special events.”64 Right Choices of West Tennessee has hosted speakers such as Pam Stenzel. Ms. Stenzel speaks to thousands of youth “about the consequences—both physical and emotional—of sex outside of marriage.”65 She also produces books, curricula, CDs, jewelry, and videos with the abstinence-only-until-marriage message. Ms. Stenzel relies on a message of fear and shame regarding sexuality instead of giving young people accurate information. For example, during her video Sex-Ed—No Screwin’ Around, Ms. Stenzel states, “If you have sex outside of one permanent monogamous—that means one partner who has only been with you—if you have sex outside of that context, then you will pay.”66 Right Choices provides abstinence-only-until-marriage programming for students in grades six through twelve. For students in grades six through nine, Right Choices uses the Why kNOw curriculum.67 (See the Title V section for more information on Why kNOw.) The Right Choices website has an “FAQ” section that stigmatizes already sexually active young people. For example, the answer to “What if teens have already engaged in sexual activity?” is “There are students who have already been involved in sex outside a faithful marriage relationship…. They may have already had an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, an STD, or felt heartbreak and a loss of self-respect.”68 Why kNOw is headquartered in Tennessee and reportedly reaches 15,000 youth every year.71 The Why kNOw curriculum is used by abstinence-only-until-marriage organizations in 37 states and nine countries.72 In addition to providing misleading and biased information, Why kNOw also presents Biblical references as facts, even though the program is used in public schools. For example, Why kNOw states, the “best guideline about love ever written” is from 56 AD, and then hands out a close paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4: “Real Love: is patient; is kind; does not envy; does not boast; is not proud; is not rude; is not self-seeking; is not easily angered; keeps no record of wrongs; does not delight in evil; rejoices with the truth; always protects; always trusts; always hopes; always lasts; [and] never fails.”73 (See the Title V section for more information on Why kNOw.) Federal and State Funding for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in FY 2006
Title V Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Coordinator
Tennessee Organizations that Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education
Tennessee Organizations that Oppose Comprehensive Sexuality Education
References
|
Home |
Publications |
Support SIECUS |
Links |
About SIECUS |
Site Navigation |
Search |
Donate |
Contact Us
Policy & Advocacy |
Media |
International |
Library |
Youth Development |
School Health Education Clearinghouse
copyright ©
1996-2007, SIECUS
Web Master: siecus@siecus.org
Print