TEXASTexas received $17,345,764 in federal funds for
Texas Sexuality Education Law and Policy
Sexuality education and STD/HIV-prevention education are also included in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Health Education, which are written by the Texas Education Agency. Parents or guardians may remove their children from any part of sexuality education instruction by submitting a written request to the teacher. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy. Recent Legislation Bill Requires Medically Accurate Human Development and Sexuality Education Legislation Aims to Expand Acceptance, Tolerance of Homosexuality Anti- Discrimination in Public Schools Bill Introduced Legislation Aims to Create an Opt-In Policy for Schools Legislation Expands Definition of Human Sexuality Education Events of Note Board Disregards Advisory Panel; Chooses Crisis Pregnancy Center Program for Middle School The Dreamcatcher program, which had operated in the district for the last three years, was apparently shelved this year because of a disagreement over funding. The Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) had been receiving $195,519 a year from the Texas Department of Health to support the program as a part of the Title V federal abstinence-only-until-marriage funding stream. The company that produces Dreamcatcher claims it consulted with the ECISD and applied for the grants on behalf of the district to implement its program in middle schools. At a September board meeting, however, the deputy superintendent implied that the grant was obtained without the district’s input and suggested that new materials be used.2 District administrators then gave the members of the Health Advisory Council two replacement abstinence-only-until-marriage programs to review. One of the programs was the Life Center’s TASK program. Members of the council rejected both programs and instead advocated for a more comprehensive approach, suggesting that the Dreamcatcher program remain and supplemental information about contraceptive options be added to the curriculum. The council members’ recommendations were met with indifference and scorn. One member reported getting a “nasty” email from the deputy superintendent and another said of the board, “I think they have an agenda already planned, and they’ve already made their decision.”3 Another member commented, “They chose a program that wasn’t curriculum-based. I don’t understand how that is good for our kids. I know more is needed than three hours a year.”4 The director of the Life Center touts her program as discussing “the myth of safe sex using factual information and character building.”5 The Life Center materials provided to the district state that condoms offer “virtually no protection whatsoever” against Chlamydia, genital herpes, and HPV and are only proven to offer some protection against two STDs. The director the Life Center assured the district that the statistics used in the program come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH); however, fact-checking by reporters has found that the Life Center’s statistics do not match information available on the CDC or NIH websites, and a CDC official has remarked that “those statistics are not ours.”6 The board’s decision to use the Life Center program, despite these questionable materials, stands as final. The board president did suggest that more programs might be added in the future but Health Advisory Council members and dissenting board members were pessimistic. Nude Sculpture Costs Art Teacher Her Job The teacher, a 28-year veteran and winner of the Star Teacher award two years ago, was encouraged by her principal to take the 89 fifth graders to the museum.8 Despite the fact that parents signed a permission slip for the trip, after one child returned home and reported having seen a nude statue, an unnamed parent filed a complaint that led to the reprimand of the teacher.9 The teacher was placed on paid leave while the school board reviewed her contract. The board was initially set to terminate the teacher immediately but, instead, decided to allow her contract to expire without renewal. District officials have claimed that there were other ongoing issues involved in this decision but the teacher claims that she had never received any negative feedback before the trip. Many parents were shocked by this turn of events and questioned what consequences it would have on the art program. One parent explained, “Our main concern right now is what’s going to happen to the children and what’s going to happen to the art program at Fisher Elementary. It is the best art program. That’s the reason we moved to this neighborhood. It’s because of the teachers.” She went on to say, “It was a principal-approved trip. What’s the big deal?”10 The teacher has sought legal counsel and is determining how best to proceed.11 SIECUS will continue to monitor this situation. Health Departments Take Action in Response to High STD Rates For ten years, Lubbock has recorded the highest number of Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections in the nation, and 36% of the cases are in young people ages 15–19.12 Health department officials say the public schools are not talking enough about STDs.13 Texas law requires an abstinence-only-until-marriage approach in all sexuality education classes, but the community of Lubbock has been engaged in a debate over the appropriateness of this message since 2001.14 Some changes are being made. According to a spokesperson for the Lubbock Independent School District, the new health textbooks place more of a focus on STDs and mention unintended pregnancies. In addition, teachers can now answer questions about birth control options; they had been censored in the past. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District has also noticed alarming STD rates with 26.4 Chlamydia cases reported per 1,000 girls ages 13–18 in 2004.15 A San Antonio official explained that education needs to start earlier, saying, “We know that it’s difficult, but this is not just talking about the birds and the bees. It starts when they’re little in order to gain their trust, and we want that communication with the parents to start as early as possible. We know that it’s a difficult topic, but the fact is that these rates [of STDs] are going up.”16 According to a survey sponsored by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, parents also support comprehensive sexuality education. Researchers surveyed a random sample of parents in Bexar County and found that 80 percent of respondents wanted their children to learn about contraception starting in middle school.17 In contrast, only 13 percent of respondents supported abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District proposed using its “Project WORTH (Working on Real Teen Health)” to facilitate meetings on the topic of “Sexually Transmitted Diseases and San Antonio Teens.” The program is first presented to parents and then, the next day the same information is presented to students. District officials accepted the Metropolitan Health District’s proposal and tried to maximize the number of high school students enrolled in the program. “We agreed to it because it was something that we believe is important to offer our community,” said the district health coordinator. “We have a high risk here in the district,” she continued.18 Texas State Board of Education Attempts to Limit Students’ Access to Information The state board is trying to reclaim the power to severely restrict information in health textbooks. In order to do this, it has asked Attorney General Greg Abbott to review a law that has been used to limit its power. In contrast, teachers’ groups and other progressive nonprofits are urging Abbott to uphold the law. At that time, the Texas legislature sought to curb the board’s abuses and passed legislation that prohibits the state board from rejecting books that are factually and academically correct and meet manufacturing standards. The board initially fought this legislation in 1995, but the then-Attorney General said that the law was constitutional and appropriate.20 Board members hope that Abbot will disagree. The president of the Texas Freedom Network, however, hopes the ruling stands. “Our children’s education should not be held hostage to the personal agendas of elected officials on the state board. The Legislature properly and clearly acted in 1995 to prevent board members from editing textbooks based on their own political and religious beliefs.”21 Novel, Censored for Sexual Content, Reinstated by School Board A parent of a student complained to the school that the book was sexually inappropriate and offensive to Christians.22 As a result, the school offered the student an alternative reading assignment. Unappeased, the parent petitioned the school district to ban the book stating, “I have a responsibility to the country and our community to speak up for the values that will strengthen our society.”23 A committee of students and teachers deemed the book appropriate for the classroom. The school superintendent, however, overruled that decision and removed the book. “The tone of the book does not support, in my opinion, the effort by our state Legislature to encourage abstinence outside the bonds of marriage,” he said.24 Enraged over the censorship, the committee then appealed the superintendent’s decision to the school board. Teachers, parents, and students voiced their support of the book. One student said, “Attempting to ban this novel is doing exactly what the book professes to be wrong.”25 Author Margaret Atwood, herself, wrote an editorial in a local newspaper, debunking the arguments put forth by the parent. “The Handmaid’s Tale is a good deal less interested in sex than is much of the Bible,” she said.26 Texas Fetal Protection Law Sends 19-Year-Old to Prison for Life ThePrenatal Protection Act, which became law in Texas in 2003, defines an “individual” as “an unborn child at every state of gestation from fertilization until birth,” and allows “criminal prosecution or civil action for a preventable injury or death of a fetus.”28 Twenty states have similar laws recognizing a fetus at any stage of development as a victim under homicide laws.29 Basoria cannot be prosecuted because the law does not extend culpability to the pregnant woman or any source of legal medical care she may receive. Flores, however, is treated as a stranger under the statute and can be prosecuted as if he had randomly attacked Basoria. The ACLU has expressed “serious reservations about legislation designed to protect fetuses, because it can endanger women’s rights by reinforcing claims of ‘fetal rights’ in the law.”30 Legislation that grants full rights to fetuses is in tension with Roe v. Wade, which says that for the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment, a fetus is not a person. Such legislation provides a foundation for opponents of choice to argue for continued restrictions on abortion.31 Young People Use Films to Advocate for Comprehensive Sexuality Education The Education of Shelby Knox, an award-winning documentary, follows Shelby Knox, a high school student in Lubbock, TX, who joins the local youth council and becomes a leader in advocating for improved sexuality education in her area schools. The film profiles her political awakening, as she goes from attending a True Love Waits virginity pledge ceremony with her parents to working with a group of gay and lesbian students at her school to form a Gay-Straight Alliance. Toothpaste, a film created by Kristal Villarreal, Laura Coria, Gladys Sanchez, and Amanda Ramirez, students at Mission High School in the Rio Grande Valley, TX, tells the story of two teen girls considering whether to have sex with their boyfriends. The students created the film after winning an annual contest hosted by Scenarios USA, an organization that pairs student screenwriters with Hollywood directors to make films about sexuality. According to the organization’s website, its aim is “to inspire teens to make healthier and safer decisions by offering them a creative approach to thinking through and discussing their lives, their choices, and their future.”32 The 16-minute educational film promotes the use of condoms, referred to as “toothpaste” in local slang. Both Shelby Knox and the students who created Toothpaste were inspired by the high incidence of teen pregnancy and unprotected sexual activity taking place in their hometowns. These young people hope their films provide evidence of the need for comprehensive sexuality education. The young women who wrote Toothpaste, all of whom are now attending college, said they would like to see Texas include information on contraception in its sexuality education policy. Ramirez explained, “Hopefully, the state will also realize the law they have—it’s not working.”33 Texas House Bans, But Does Not Define, “Suggestive” Cheerleading “Any adult that’s been involved with sex in their lives, they know it when they see it,” Edwards said.34 The bill and Rep. Edwards’ explanation took many by surprise, prompting ridicule and mockery by media outlets and even late-night comedians. A correspondent from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart quipped that in order for cheerleaders to recognize whether their routines were suggestive “they would have to become involved with sex in their own lives.”35 Despite its vagueness, Edwards argued that the bill, which would give the state education commissioner the authority to request reviews of high school performances, is a teen pregnancy prevention tool. Lacking any evidence, he asserted that, “overtly sexual performances” are a distraction for students that result in teen pregnancy, high school dropouts, and the spread of sexually transmitted disease.36 Edwards, who in the past has also crusaded against explicit song lyrics and Internet pornography, felt that “people were waiting for something to be done” about what he views as another symptom of the deterioration of morals in America.37 The Senate version of the bill died at the end of the legislative session. Even if the bill had been approved by the Senate and Republican Governor Rick Perry, it was unlikely to have much effect. The American Civil Liberties Union had deemed it redundant because state law already prohibits public lewdness by students on or near a school campus. New Study on Adolescent Access to Reproductive Health Care Released Researchers wanted to assess the potential economic costs that would result when adolescents do not seek reproductive health because their confidentiality is compromised. Using previous data on how young people would react to parental notification, researchers constructed a model to estimate, for a one-year period, the effect of an anticipated decrease in services on pregnancies, births, abortions, and untreated STDs among girls under 18 using publicly funded reproductive health care services in Texas.39 Using this model, the researchers estimated that reporting and consent requirements for youth would result in a rise in unintended pregnancies, births, and abortions among teens using publicly funded family planning clinics in Texas, as well as a rise in cases of untreated Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Additionally, the researchers found that these outcomes would cost $43.6 million per year, of which $33.7 million would come directly out of the pockets of Texans.40 The authors of the study caution, however, that these costs only account for the direct publicly funded medical expenditures such as STD screening and treatment, and prenatal care, delivery, and infant care for the first year. These figures therefore underestimate the cost to individuals and society because infants born to teen mothers often require other expenditures such as neonatal intensive care, hospitalization, public assistance, education, and special services. Girl Scouts Face Criticism from Pro-Life Waco According to the executive director of the Bluebonnet Council of Girl Scouts, the group does not take any stance on abortion or sexuality education and none of the money from the cookie sales goes to Planned Parenthood or any other organization. It does, however, allow the national Girl Scouts logo to be put on posters for Planned Parenthood of Central Texas’ summer sexuality education seminar held annually for fifth through ninth graders. More than 20 other groups sign on to these posters as well; Pro-Life Waco has yet to go after any of the other groups as aggressively. The director of Pro-Life Waco explained that he thought up the boycott when the Bluebonnet Council honored Central Texas Planned Parenthood’s director in May. He explained, “When I saw the head of Planned Parenthood held up as a role model to little girls, that was great irritation to me.”42 The boycott received national attention. The communications director of the Circle T Council, which serves over 1,200 Girl Scout troops in four counties, remarked, “I think it’s unfortunate that the girls have gotten caught in [this] agenda.”43 Two of the 400 Girl Scout troops in the Central Texas district have disbanded as a result of the Planned Parenthood connection; however, the boycott did not seem to work as Pro-Life Waco had hoped. The executive director of the Bluebonnet Council of Girl Scouts said that there were few reports of adults turning down cookie sales because of the boycott. In fact, in Waco, the boycott seemed to have resulted in increased cookie sales. As a result of the controversy, however, the Bluebonnet Council of Girls Scouts decided to discontinue its relationship with Planned Parenthood. Pro-Life Waco ended its boycott of the cookies in March 2004. One parent, however, started a new troop for girls, affiliated with the Christian-based American Heritage Girls. The parent said, “I felt like the Girl Scouts’ morals were definitely lacking, and the girls needed another choice.”44 Judge Rules Against GSA in Lubbock, TX A U.S. District Judge ruled in favor of the school district, however, saying, “the local school officials and parents are in the best position to determine what subject matter is reasonable and will be allowed on LISD campuses.”45 He ruled that the decision not to allow the group to meet on-campus is “an assertion of a school’s right not to surrender control of the public school system to students and erode a community’s standard of what subject matter is considered obscene and inappropriate.”46 The GSA members were disappointed with the ruling. However, the school board president was pleased, saying of the decision, “It confirms our policy as a district, and I think it accurately reflects the community perspective as a whole.”47 Texas Board Restricts Educational Information, Embraces Discriminatory Language Advocates of comprehensive sexuality education argued that the books did not fulfill the Texas state curriculum standard, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, which requires that students are able to “analyze the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of barrier protection and other contraceptive methods.”48 Only one of the four textbooks mentioned condoms as a way to help prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS. In the other three books, information about contraceptive options, including condoms, was found only in the Teachers’ Editions. The publishers argued that this information not only adhered to state standards but also allowed for local control of what information was made available to students. Advocates disagreed. “Because this basic information is not in Students’ Editions, most students will never see it,” explained the chief executive officer of the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas. “Families know that making sure our kids have the most accurate and reliable information is the best protection we have for raising safe, healthy, responsible adults.”49 According to the Brownsville Herald, a Scripps Howard Texas Poll taken in August 2004 found that 90% of Texans prefer that “age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education that includes information on abstinence, birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases of HIV” be taught in the public schools.50 Before the board made its final decision, a second argument over the definition of marriage erupted. One member of the Texas Board of Education, who sends her own children to private school, made the argument that the textbooks could not be in accordance with the Texas Marriage Act unless marriage was clearly defined as a “lifelong union between a husband and a wife.” She was concerned that “neutral words in the book such as ‘couples’ and ‘partners’ are inclusive to same-sex marriages and mislead students.”51 Two publishers, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, a division of Harcourt, Inc., and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., agreed to the board’s demands that marriage be defined as a “lifelong union between a husband and a wife” and that when referring to relationships, the words ‘people’ and ‘individuals’ be replaced with “man and a woman.”52 The president of the Texas Freedom Network criticized the board’s decision. “Four million teenagers will rely on these textbooks for information that is accurate and up-to-date. Instead of doing the responsible thing and providing high school students with life-saving information about sex and health, the state board of education has left them to fend for themselves and get information from each other and sources like the Internet and MTV,” he said.53 As the second largest textbook purchaser in the United States after California, the Texas School Board of Education’s decisions influence the buying options for other states and educational resources for scores of students across the nation. Texas’s Youth: Statistical Information of Note54
Dallas, Texas
Title V Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding SIECUS reviewed two of the curricula produced by Choosing the Best, Inc.: Choosing the Best LIFE (for high school students) and Choosing the Best PATH (for middle school students). These reviews found that the curricula name numerous negative consequences of premarital sexuality activity and suggest that teens should feel guilty, embarrassed, and ashamed of sexual behavior. 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).” Choosing the Best PATH says, “Sexual activity also can lead to the trashing of a person’s reputation, resulting in the loss of friends.”57 SIECUS reviewed WAIT Training and found that it contained little medical or biological information and almost no information about STDs, including HIV/AIDS. Instead, it contains information and statistics about marriage, many of which are outdated and not supported by scientific research. It also contains messages of fear and shame and biased views of gender, sexual orientation, and family type. For example, WAIT Training explains that, “men sexually are like microwaves and women sexually are like crockpots….A woman is stimulated more by touch and romantic words. She is far more attracted by a man’s personality while a man is stimulated by sight. A man is usually less discriminating about those to whom he is physically attracted.”58 One sub-grantee, Abstinence America, sponsors the “Sex Is Not A Game” campaign throughout the Houston area with public service announcements that target teenage moviegoers in the area. Its mission “is to assist parents, pastors and teachers in reaching every child in America with the simple message that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives and their sexuality. However, only when it is expressed within the context of His design will they experience its most exciting potential.”59 Abstinence America offers 8-12 week programs for fifth through eighth graders, and 1-4 day presentations for grades nine through twelve.60 In addition, it offers churches the opportunity to sponsor abstinence messages on billboards throughout Houston. Billboard messages include phrases like, “Parents…is your teen ready for sex?” and “Sex is not a requirement for graduation.” Abstinence America tells potential billboard sponsors, “In an effort to fulfill the mission as given from the Lord to assist pastors in reaching people of all ages, races and ethnicities with God’s truth about sex. We have taken advantage of Clear Channel Outdoor Public service program that allows us to deliver the message of sexual abstinence right in your neighborhood.”61 The Austin Crisis Pregnancy Center is one of two crisis pregnancy centers that are sub-grantees. 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. The Austin Crisis Pregnancy Center hosts the “Austin LifeGuard Character and Sexuality Education Program,” which sends speakers to twelve school districts in the Austin area. “Austin LifeGuard” also has an interactive website that includes games and quizzes for young people that rely on gender stereotypes. In the “love, sex, and dating” section, teens can take a quiz to find out if they are “dateable.” Depending on their answers to a series of questions, girls are told whether or not they are “dateable” based on how much information they give away about themselves to their potential boyfriend. A girl who gives away too much information is told that she is:
In LifeGuard’s “Pregnancy” section, teens see images of a fetus in different stages of development and are reminded that abortion providers in Texas are required by law to give women seeking an abortion a booklet titled “A Woman’s Right to Know.”62 The provision of this booklet, required by law since 2003 in Texas, is an attempt by anti-choice lawmakers in the state to dissuade women from seeking abortions and to intimidate abortion providers. This section of the site also incorrectly states that abortion may cause infertility and touts “post-abortion stress syndrome” as a possible side effect of abortion. Abortion is a generally safe procedure, and medically sound research has shown that first trimester abortions cause almost no long-term fertility problems. Moreover, there is no 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. The Corpus Christi Pregnancy Center, another crisis pregnancy center, offers “Lifestyle counseling based upon God’s Holy Word, promoting chastity before marriage and fidelity wihin (sic) marriage”64 and explains that it is “currently taking this message into local schools through our abstinence education program.”65 The Medical Institute, formerly known as the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, is another Title V sub-grantee. The Medical Institute works with the ChangeMakers seminar and focuses on adult community leaders to establish “a ‘Community Milieu’ that supports abstinence.” The Medical Institute holds seminars designed to develop action strategies to mobilize communities and build community-wide consensus, and is creating a media campaign to complement this project and further its reach. Title V Evaluation A state-sponsored evaluation of Texas Title V programs, completed in September 2004 and released in February 2006, revealed an increase in sexual activity following the implementation of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Texas. The Texas Department of State Health Services contracted with Texas A&M University to conduct the multi-phase evaluation designed to increase understanding of the state’s Title V “abstinence education” program. Five “abstinence education” contractors in Texas volunteered to participate in this phase of the study. Students who participated in these programs, and who received parental permission, responded to questionnaires prior to participation and directly following participation. Analysis of the data revealed that both the middle and high school study groups showed “no significant changes”in the percentage of students “pledging not to have sex before marriage.”67 In addition, the analysis revealed that following abstinence-only-until-marriage instruction, the percentage of students reporting having ever engaged in sexual intercourse increased for nearly all ages between 13 and 17 by the time of the post-test. The report notes that abstinence-only-until-marriage “programs appear to be operating without solid, statistical evidence of their effectiveness.”68 A co-investigator for the study explained, “Most of what we’ve discovered shows there’s no evidence the large amount of money spent is having an effect.”69 The co-investigator went on to say, “We didn’t see any strong indications these programs were having an impact in the direction desired…these programs seem to be much more concerned about politics than kids, and we need to get over that.”70 Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) and Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) Grantees There are five AFLA grantees: Baptist Children’s Home; Dallas Independent School District; Fifth Ward Enrichment Program; JOVEN; and Youth and Family Alliance, Inc. (dba Lifeworks). Fisher County Healthcare Development Corp (Rural Abstinence Education Coalition) serves numerous venues, including school districts, an alternative high school, and Boys & Girls Clubs.71 The curricula used in the presentations given through this program vary widely depending upon grades. For preschool through sixth grade, Fisher County Rural Abstinence Education uses Character First!, for grades six–eight, Why kNOw, and for grades eight–12, WAIT (Why Am I Tempted?) Training.72 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.”73 (See the Title V section for more information on WAIT Training.) Families Under Urban and Social Attack has a program called “HYPE (Helping Youth Prevent Engaging in Risky Behavior).” According to the organization’s website, HYPE provides youth “with the necessary information and skills needed to make a commitment to delay sexual activity until marriage, instilling and reinforcing values that support sexual abstinence.”74 HYPE uses the WAIT Training curriculum.75 Jordan Community Development Corporation runs the “Good Nests Abstinence Program.” Good Nests provides free abstinence-only-until-marriage programming for young people ages 12–17.76 According to its website, Good Nests “does not advocate or demonstrate contraceptive methods for teens,” unlike other programs “which incorrectly teach that birth control and abstinence are equally effective risk reduction strategies.”77 Good Nests also states that condoms have a high failure rate and “do not protect against some of the most common STDs including HPV….”78 According to the CDC, condoms are effective in the fight against HPV and cervical cancer. The CDC explains that “laboratory studies have demonstrated that latex condoms provide an essentially impermeable barrier to particles the size of HPV” and that “studies of HPV infection in men demonstrate that most HPV infections are located on parts of the penis that would be covered by a condom.”79 In fact, according to a University of Washington study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, consistent condom use can cut a woman’s risk of infection by 70 percent and protect her from developing precancerous cervical changes.80 Good Nests uses the Choosing the Best curricula, which include Choosing the Best WAY, Choosing the Best PATH, and Choosing the Best LIFE.81 (See the Title V section for more information on Choosing the Best PATH and Choosing the Best LIFE.) JOVEN was created by Benedictine nuns in 1986 but is no longer affiliated with them.82 According to its former CEO, the programs presented do not include information about contraception and STDs. “We stick to facts, but don’t get into details.”83 Longview Wellness Center is part of the East Texas Abstinence Program, a coalition that conducts abstinence-only-until-marriage programming for youth ages 12–18.84 The East Texas Abstinence Program runs Virginity Rules, a website aimed at young people which features videos, radio clips, and billboards. One of the videos, “Jeopardize,” features four young contestants playing a form of the television game show Jeopardy:
One of the billboards, called “Pageant Billboard,” displays five young women in beauty pageant crowns and sashes with the words, “We are Waiting for our Prince Charming: Decide Now. Choose Abstinence.”86 The organization also produces 30-second television spots that show youth from the coalition speaking about their pledge to remain abstinent until marriage.87 In one spot, a young woman states, “I pledge my virginity for my future husband. I pledge so my reputation won’t be questioned.”88 Research has found that under certain conditions these 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. 89 McLennan County Collaborative Abstinence Project (MCCAP) focuses on five health risk-behaviors (drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, tobacco) in its programs to “reduce negative risk behaviors” in young people.90 McCAP uses several different curricula: Teen-Aid for grades five and six, Choosing the Best for grades seven through twelve, Worth the Wait, and WAIT Training.92 Scott & White’s “Worth the Wait” program focuses on Gray, Hemphill, and Wheeler counties. It targets students ages 11-17 and their parents and uses doctors, nurses, social workers, and youth leaders to provide an abstinence message. Worth the Wait’s mission “is to educate adolescents and adults on the consequences of teen sexual activity including the medical, social, economic, and legal impacts.”93 Worth the Wait uses its self-titled abstinence-only program that was created by a physician for students in grades six–12. SIECUS reviewed the Worth the Wait curriculum and found that it covers some important topics related to sexuality such as puberty, anatomy, and sexual abuse, and that the curriculum is based on reliable sources of data. Despite these strengths, Worth the Wait relies on messages of fear, discourages contraceptive use, and promotes biased views of gender, marriage, and pregnancy options. For example, the curriculum claims that “teenage sexual activity can create a multitude of medical, legal, and economic problems not only for the individuals having sex but for society as a whole.”94 Worth the Wait’s website contains sample materials and lessons to be used in the classroom. The seventh grade lesson includes a section entitled “Body Language and Attire.” This section states, “Because males, in general, are more visually sensitive than females, males tend to respond physically to the visual signals that females send out. Therefore, it is very important that girls become aware of the importance of dressing appropriately.”95 Worth the Waitalso encourages students to carry a pledge card, a reminder “of your commitment to abstinence. It’s a lot easier to stick to your decision when you’ve made a pledge.”96 In addition, the program uses a media campaign to cover the entire Texas panhandle, which consists of 25 counties. Federal and State Funding for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in FY 2006
Title V Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Coordinator
Texas Organizations that Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education
Texas Organizations that Oppose Comprehensive Sexuality Education
Newspapers in Texas
References
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