December 3, 2007

Employment Opportunities

Abstinence Content Specialist
Assist in the development and implementation of technical assistance modules, conference calls, Web casts, and conferences for abstinence education grantees. Candidates must possess a bachelor's degree and a minimum of 7 years of general experience and 2 years of professional program-related experience. To apply, please send your resume to Karen Argueta by e-mail, careers@pal-tech.com, or by fax, (703) 522-2471. EOE/AA.

Media Stories

Hill Urged To Cut Abstinence Funding
Washington Times, November 30, 2007

Should Adolescents Abstain from Sex?
Today Show, November 28, 2007

Parents Are Urged To Talk to Kids Early About Delaying Sexual Activity
Indian Country Today, November 21, 2007

Risky Ingredients Can Lead to Adolescents Having Sex Early
Gannett News Service, November 20, 2007

Life Lessons: Adolescents Become Parents for a Day
WANE.com, November 19, 2007

Schools Should Teach Life Choices, Not Supply Birth Control
The Nashville Tennessean, November 19, 2007

Cases of Sexually Transmitted Infections Increasing Nationwide, Minorities Disproportionately Affected, CDC Report Finds
Medical News Today, November 15, 2007

Reported Sexually Transmitted Diseases Continue To Rise in United States
Medical News Today, November 14, 2007

Funding Opportunities

The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth maintains a listing of organizations identified as potential funding sources for abstinence education programs. The listing includes grant descriptions and contact information.

Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Community Fund is a national grant program that encourages community-based AIDS service organizations and cable systems to partner in joint outreach efforts or to produce and distribute new locally focused HIV/AIDS-related programs and public service announcements. Cable Positive allocates $150,000 to support two grant cycles each year. Grants of up to $7,000 are available for nonprofit organizations, with special consideration given to AIDS service organizations and their partnering cable systems and producers. Deadline: March 15, 2008.

Recent Research

Adolescent Sexual Debut and Later Delinquency (2007)
In this study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence [Volume 36: 141-152], researchers examined the relationship between the timing of sexual debut and later risks of delinquent behavior. The study found that adolescents who had an earlier sexual debut, relative to the average age of debut of their peers, were at greater risk of engaging in delinquent behaviors. The study also found that young people with later than average sexual debut are least likely to engage in delinquent behaviors. The findings also indicated that early or late sexual debut has consequences for delinquent behavior in young adulthood, in addition to the time of adolescence. The researchers concluded that adolescents who have sex at an early age are most likely not developmentally prepared to deal with the emotional and social consequences of their behavior.

Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior (2006) (PDF, 245 KB)
In this study published in Pediatrics [Volume 117 (4):1018-1027], researchers tried to determine whether or not exposure to sexual content in music, movies, television, and magazines predicted sexual behavior among 1,017 African American and White adolescents in 14 North Carolina middle schools. The study found that exposure to sexual content in the four different forms of media accelerated sexual activity and increased the students’ risk of engaging in sexual intercourse. Additionally, the study found that African American teens were more influenced by their perceptions of their parents’ expectations and of their friends’ sexual behavior than by media. The study also found that one of the strongest protective factors against early sexual behavior was clear parental communication about sex. Adolescents  who believed their parents disapproved of adolescent sex were less likely to have engaged in sexual intercourse by the time they were 16 years old than those who perceived less parental disapproval of adolescent sex.

Upcoming Events

National Abstinence Education Grantees Conference
January 28–30, 2008
Bethesda, MD
Registration: Open
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com

Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 5 through 7
April 2–3, 2008
Dallas, TX
Registration: TBA
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com

Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
CBAE grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 8 through 10
May 14–15, 2008
Denver, CO
Registration: TBA
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com

Abstinence Education Grantees Regional Training
CBAE grantees and State Title V Coordinators in Regions 1 through 4
June 23–24, 2008
Philadelphia, PA
Registration: TBA
Contact: abstinence@pal-tech.com

Other News/Misc.

Health Disparities Report
The Centers for Disease Control in November issued a new report entitled "Health Disparities in HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis in the U.S.: Issues, Burden, and Response." The report documents how some U.S. populations continue to be disproportionately affected by certain infectious diseases. Factors contributing to health disparities include poverty, unequal access to health care, and lower educational attainment.

Spotlight

The Abstinence Education E-Update Spotlight has highlighted various topics, from new Federal staff to effective State programs. Now, NCFY will highlight two States a month, looking at each State’s legislation, policy, and specific State features related to abstinence education. In particular, the Spotlight will underscore key points pertaining to abstinence education in each State’s law.

ARIZONA

What’s Happening in the State of Arizona
Arizona’s statewide Abstinence Education Program supports community-based prevention programs in their efforts to promote abstinence and healthy decisionmaking. The program includes a network of 12 local projects in 10 counties. The projects offer abstinence education and youth development activities, such as drama and community service clubs, in schools, youth centers, group homes, and detention centers. For additional information contact Dorothy Hastings, abstinence education coordinator, at hastind@azdhs.gov.

State Law in Arizona
Arizona law does not require schools to teach sexuality education. However, if a school chooses to teach sexuality topics, instruction must be age appropriate and stress abstinence.

What’s Working in the State of Arizona
Enrollment in Arizona’s abstinence education programs increased from 11,891 participants in 1998 to 32,741 in 2002. After participating in the program, students report feeling more knowledgeable about sexuality and more in control of their behavior and their decisions about sex. Of the reasons to abstain, health and personal values showed the highest significant increases in post-program testing of both pre-adolescents and adolescents in 2006. Parents who participated in a workshop expressed high satisfaction, with a majority saying that they felt more comfortable talking to their child about abstinence than they had before the workshop.

Arizona aims to reduce the pregnancy rate of 15 to 19 year olds by 20 percent between 2006 and 2015. The State is using multiple strategies to reduce adolescent pregnancy, including abstinence education, comprehensive sexuality education, and family planning efforts.

What’s Unique in the State of Arizona
The Arizona Department of Health Services’ abstinence-until-marriage campaign, Sex Can Wait, offers young people numerous online resources, including creative television and radio ads, a trivia game, and information about the benefits of waiting to have sex until marriage. One program, in Tucson, is addressing the language and cultural issues that arise when abstinence education is provided to migrant and Hispanic adolescents (ages 12 to 18) and their parents. Another abstinence program reaches children in the State through a combination of fitness, character, and abstinence education.

ARKANSAS

What’s Happening in the State of Arkansas
In fiscal year 2007, the State of Arkansas funded 10 Title V programs. The State also has two new CBAE grantees and one CBAE program in its second year of funding. For additional information contact Sheila R. Foster, abstinence education coordinator, at sheila.foster@arkansas.gov.

State Law in Arkansas
Arkansas law does not require schools to teach sexuality education or sexually transmitted disease and HIV education. If a school offers sex education, it must stress abstinence. State policy emphasizes “that every public school and public health department sex education and acquired immune deficiency syndrome prevention program shall emphasize premarital abstinence as the only sure means of avoiding pregnancy and the sexual contraction of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other sexually transmitted diseases.”

What’s Unique in the State of Arkansas
One abstinence program in Arkansas uses an abstinence coalition, made up of students, that promotes abstinence as a lifestyle. Students meet to encourage one another, to help each other remain abstinent, and to find ways to inform other students about abstinence. The coalition hopes to spread throughout Arkansas schools.