A Washington, D.C.-based group has launched a national campaign to lobby for abstinence-only curricula and to elect representatives sympathetic to the approach. The National Abstinence Education Association's (NAEA) $1 million effort aims to attract 100,000 parent supporters for its "Parents for Truth" campaign in its first year, with a three-year goal of 1 million parents.
"There are powerful special interest groups who can far outspend what parents can in terms of promoting their agenda," said Valerie Huber, NAEA's executive director. "But we recognize that parents more than make up for that by their determination and motivation to protect their own children."
Congress is considering whether to authorize $190 million for abstinence-only programs. A series of studies found some abstinence programs to be ineffective, bolstering the position of 17 states that reject federal abstinence funds.
A three-minute NAEA video portrays one sex education course that is not abstinence-only as suggesting teens take showers together and give their partners condoms.
"Parents are being misled," Huber said. "They are told the content of curricula in their children's classrooms stress abstinence and just have information to make decisions in case they become sexually active. But most of these programs provide explicit how-to information that gives teens a green light for activities that put them at risk."
The "Be Proud! Be Responsible!" curriculum cited in the video teaches HIV prevention information to African-American males ages 13-19. Showering together was mentioned as an example of a behavior that entails little HIV risk.
"It's a classic fear and smear campaign," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a private nonprofit advocacy group. "It's absolutely misleading."
06/01/08
US Campaign to Promote Abstinence Begins
Source: Washington Post:: Rob Stein; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention