Bill Kaczor, Associated Press
April 1, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Some Florida teens believe drinking Mountain Dew or
smoking marijuana will prevent pregnancy and that swallowing a capful
of bleach will prevent HIV/AIDS. One reason those dangerous myths have
spread is the state's reliance on abstinence-only sex education, say
advocates of a bill to require a more comprehensive approach in
Florida's schools.

The measure narrowly won approval from a Senate committee Tuesday.
Under the proposed legislation, schools would still be required to
teach abstinence as the only sure way to prevent unwanted pregnancies
and sexually transmitted disease, but they would have to teach more
about sex. It would require, for example, teaching about condoms and
other methods of birth control and disease prevention.

The bill's chances, though, remain slim with the annual 60-day
legislative session nearly half over. The bill would have to clear
three more committees before getting a Senate floor vote. The House
version has yet to get a committee hearing.

"Young people are getting too little information too late," said Jenna
Cawley, director of education for Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando.

Cawley urged the bill's approval as she told the Senate Education
Pre-kindergarten-12th Grade Committee about the Mountain Dew, marijuana
and bleach myths.

Opponents, including anti-abortion activists, claimed the bill's
requirements would result in more, not fewer teen pregnancies as
supporters argue.

"The only healthy, 100-percent effective way to prevent disease and
pregnancy is abstinence," said Alison Lambrechts, a field coordinator
for Project Reality, which provides sexual, alcohol and drug abstinence
materials for schools.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ted Deutch, D- Boca Raton, said Florida's
current approach isn't working because the state has the sixth-highest
teen pregnancy rate nationally.

He cited a recent University of Florida study showing the state's
sex education programs vary widely in content, get little class time
and that some students miss out entirely. Half of the middle schools
and a third of high schools teach abstinence-only courses, according to
the Florida Department of Education.

The committee voted 4-3 for the bill (SB 848). One Republican,
Senate President Pro Tempore Lisa Carlton of Osprey joined the panel's
three Democrats in favor of the bill. The other three Republicans voted
no.