comprehensive sex education

Senator Deutch seeks more comprehensive sex education program

Senator Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton) wants local schools to teach a more comprehensive based sex education program.

"We need comprehensive sex education, which includes abstinence," said Deutch. "We know the sure form way to prevent pregnancy is by not having sex, but we need to ensure that our schools have comprehensive, medically accurate and age appropriate scientifically based information to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancy as well.”

Parents Encourage Schools To Talk Sex

SANFORD, Fla. -- Some local parents want Seminole County's public schools to talk about sex. The school system has an abstinence-only curriculum, but some parents said they believe that puts kids in danger.

Volusia to expand sex-ed curriculum

By LINDA TRIMBLE
Education writer

DELAND -- Sex education classes in Volusia County schools are about to be expanded to include information on birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases beginning in eighth grade.

Editorial: Failure to reduce children having children extremely costly; socially, financially

February 2, 2009 

Concerned health experts are scratching their heads trying to determine why the nation's teen birth rate suddenly increased after declining for about 15 years.

Various claims have put the blame on abstinence-only education; on comprehensive sex education; the media, including TV and movies, for glamorizing young mothers; and on demographic and cultural changes.

Most, however, seem to agree that pre-teens must become more aware about the consequences of teen pregnancy and births.

Letter to the Editor: Teach What Works

Abstinence-only programs are ineffective and put our youth at risk.

A study of some of the strongest abstinence-only programs by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health provided further evidence.

The study showed that teenagers who pledge to remain abstinent until marriage were just as likely to engage in sexual activity as those who do not make this pledge.

Even more alarming, those who made "virginity pledges" were significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control.

Letter to the Editor: Keep Teens Healthy

Miami Herald, January 8, 2009

Re: the Jan. 7 story U.S. teen birth rates end 14-year drop:

Amid the news that teen birth rates rose after a 14-year decline, Planned Parenthood again calls on elected officials to support the Healthy Teens Act. This common-sense legislation will help ensure that teens receive the information they need to protect themselves against unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

Teen birth rates up in 26 states

The newest and most detailed data on teen birth rates shows significant increases in 26 states and represents most regions of the USA.

"To see 26 states with statistically significant increases is fairly remarkable," says Paul Sutton, a demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the data Wednesday. "We're seeing increases in both the number of teens having births and also the rate at which they are having births. Both of them are going up."

CDC: Mississippi has highest teen birth rate

ATLANTA -- Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen birth rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, a new federal report says.

Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, according to new state statistics released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The teen birth rate for that year in Texas and New Mexico was more than 50 percent higher.

Sexually spread diseases on rise

ATLANTA - Sexually spread diseases, for years on the decline, are on the rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting a record, government health officials said Tuesday.

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