Proposed Legislation: The Responsible Education About Life (or REAL) Ac
Amanda [Doh!*] of Sexual Evolution points out an encouraging impending bill before Congress.
On Friday, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) will introduce an Act that would create the first federally funded comprehensive sexuality education. The Responsible Education About Life (or REAL) Act would fund science-based, medically accurate, age appropriate health education in public schools. Considering the fact that $1.4 Billion has been wasted on Abstinence-Only programs with no proven track record, I think it's about damn time for a change. Don't you?
Actually I believe Abstinence-Only programs *do* have a record but the problem is that the outcomes are that
- They do delay the age of first sexual experience but only by a matter of months compared to no sex ed at all
- When they do discontinue abstinence recipients of A-O education are less likely to have protected sex and therefore are *more likely* to transmit diseases and wind up with unplanned, unwanted pregnancies.
The REAL act instead proposes instead a comprehensive approach that *includes* articulating the merits of abstinence (which I think is totally fine) but also includes establishing boundaries, discussion and negotiation, and tells people about different forms of contraception, how to use them, and their plusses and minuses.
The REAL Act would fund programs with important characteristics, including:
- Being age-appropriate and medically accurate;
- Not teaching or promoting religion;
- Teaching that abstinence is the only certain way to avoid pregnancy or sexual transmission of diseases;
- Stressing the value of abstinence while not ignoring young people who have had or are having sex;
- Providing accurate information about the health benefits and side effects of all contraceptives and barrier methods as a means to prevent pregnancy;
- Providing information about the health benefits of condoms and other barrier methods as a means to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV;
- Encouraging family communication about sexuality;
- Teaching skills for making responsible decisions about sex, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances and how not to make unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances; and
- Teaching that alcohol and drug use can affect the ability to make responsible decisions.
The REAL Act would allocate $206 million a year over five years to allow states to implement comprehensive approaches to sex education in the schools -- approaches that include information about both abstinence and also contraception and condoms, from perspectives of both values and public health.
Sounds pretty wonderful to me, a nice plank in the you can do so here. I'd appreciate it.
[* I got my wires crossed and initially attributed this to RenegadeEvolution. My apologies to both. --fl]
So... actually, I write Sexual Evolution. Renegade Evolution has her very own (fabulous) blog.
Also, the studies that have demonstrated that abstinence-only sex education even delays first sexual experiences have been weak at best, but I think that when it comes down to it you and I are on the same side, so who am I to nitpick?
[Dang it all, I'm looking for the link I got that from and can't find it. It was from from a group blog of one of the people who's now blogging at TAPPED. But yeah, we both agree the overall effect is counterproductive and not worth perpetrating. Thanks, Amanda. Oh, and I've corrected the link. Thanks for that too and please accept my apologies. --fl]