February 22, 2008Media Stories

Laura Bush's African AIDS Crusade
Time, February 18, 2008

Bush: Keep Abstinence in AIDS Program
The Associated Press, February 17, 2008

Actions Taken on Contraception Legislation in Maine, SD, VA
Medical News Today, February 10, 2008

Youth Celebrate the Fifth Annual Day of Purity with a Positive Message of Change
Standard Newswire, February 8, 2008

Opinion: Why Schools Should Teach Abstinence
Arizona Daily Star, February 7, 2008

Opinion: Curb Kids' Inappropriate Behavior
Austin American Statesman, February 6, 2008

Bush's 09 Budget Proposal Includes Increases for Abstinence-Only Education
Medical News Today, February 5, 2008

Herpes Drug Does Not Prevent HIV Infection
Reuters, February 4, 2008

Teens Offer Ways to Improve Sex Education
The Daily (NJ) Journal, January 29, 2008

Abstinence is Focus of Free Classes for Teens
The Winchester Star, January 28, 2008

Opinion: Abstinence is Proven Method for Avoiding Pregnancy, Disease
Anchorage Daily News, January 18, 2008

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.

Iowa School Boards Foundation (PDF)
The Iowa School Boards Foundation has received $50,000 from the QWEST Foundation
to be awarded to Iowa educators from kindergarten through twelfth grade who demonstrate innovative classroom uses of technology. The goal of the mini-grant program is to provide support to educators who utilize technological tools to deliver instruction based upon rigorous curriculum expectations and to increase the development of higher order thinking skills for all students.
Due date: March 14, 2008

Improving the Well-Being of Children - Native American Healthy Marriage Initiative
The Native American Healthy Marriage Initiative, which is funded by the Administration for Native Americans within the Administration for Children and Families, promotes planning and implementing culturally competent strategies for fostering healthy marriages, responsible fatherhood, and child well-being within the Native American community.
Due date: March 26, 2008

Recent Research

Risk of Female Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Acquisition Associated with First Male
Sex Partner (January 2008) – In this article, published in the Journal of Infectious Disease [Volume 197: 279-282], researchers determined that the percentage of university-aged women who acquired an HPV infection from their first male sex partner was high, and the risk increased when the partner had previous sexual partners. . Analyzing data from women who were enrolled before or within 3 months of first intercourse with a male partner, the study found that 28.5 percent were infected with the virus at the end of the first year, and almost half were infected by 3 years.

Sex and the Self: The Impact of Early Sexual Onset on the Self-Concept and Subsequent
Risky Behavior of African-American Adolescents (February 2008) ($15 fee for full article) –This study, published in the Journal of Early Adolescence [Volume 28 (1): 70-91], examined the effects of early sexual initiation on the self-esteem of 733 rural, African-American adolescents, ages 10 to 12. Results showed that African-American adolescents, and particularly boys, viewed themselves more positively after the initiation of early sex. Positive self-esteem, however, was related to subsequent risky sexual behavior and negative consequences from that behavior.

Other News/Misc.

Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Picture Cards
The cards, developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are a practical, illustrative educational tool when working with individuals exposed to or at high-risk of exposure to sexually transmitted infections. They may also be useful to those individuals who work with higher-risk populations in settings such as correctional facilities, STD and HIV prevention programs, and schools.

Upcoming Events

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

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.

ILLINOIS

What’s Interesting in the State of Illinois
Title V funds are administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services through the Illinois Abstinence Education program. Approximately 30 Title V grantees provide in-school and after-school programs to students ages 10 to 19 and promote abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage. The school-based programs are curriculum driven and taught over periods of up to 10 weeks in elementary, middle, and high school settings. The after-school programs are community oriented, and include motivational activities, seminars, workshops, town hall assemblies, and youth or church group activities. Media and other public and parental activities also occur.

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, run by the Department of Human Services, is designed to reduce first-time teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS through a combination of education, service delivery, and referrals appropriate to the youth's age, cultural background, and level of sexual experience. The programs can be abstinence only or comprehensive sex education.

There are also seven CBAE grantees and two Adolescent Family Life grantees in Illinois.

State Law in Illinois
According to Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/27‑9.1 and 9.2), all public elementary, junior high, and senior high school classes that teach sex education and discuss sexual intercourse must emphasize that abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only failsafe protection against unwanted teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. All sex education courses that discuss sexual intercourse must:

• be age appropriate;
• honor and respect monogamous heterosexual marriage;
• stress that students abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage;
• discuss the possible emotional and psychological consequences of preadolescent and adolescent sexual intercourse outside of marriage and the consequences of unwanted adolescent pregnancy;
• state that sexually transmitted diseases are hazards of sexual intercourse and statistics and medical information citing the failure and success rates of condoms in preventing AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases must be given to students.
• advise students of laws pertaining to the financial responsibility to children born in and out of wedlock, and males having sex with underage girls.
• discuss unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances, how to say no to unwanted sexual advances, and how to resist negative peer pressure; and
• provide parents with an opportunity to examine classroom instructional materials.

What’s Unique in the State of Illinois

One CBAE program in Chicago offers numerous educational services that promote healthy lifestyles for adolescents and parents in the Hispanic community. These services include abstinence education, relationship skills, marriage education, and parenting skills. A second abstinence program offers Family Life Education Services designed to complement existing programs offered throughout the community.  Services are designed to enhance family communication about personal issues and to aid in the prevention of unplanned teen pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. 

INDIANA

What’s Interesting in the State of Indiana
Through Indiana R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Reduces Early Sex and Pregnancy by Educating Children and Teens), the State Department of Health distributes Title V and State abstinence funding. Indiana R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a community-based grant program that supports programs that

• stress sexual abstinence until marriage;
• stress sexual abstinence throughout the teen years;
• delay pregnancy and parenting during adolescence; and
• focus on the physical, emotional, social, and economic benefits of abstinence.

Grantees provide these programs in a variety of youth-serving organizations, including schools, community organizations, and hospitals. Indiana R.E.S.P.E.C.T. also offers technical assistance workshops to assist its community-based grantees in their efforts to fight teen pregnancy at the local level.

Indiana R.E.S.P.E.C.T. strives to increase parent-child communication about family values and beliefs. The program's Web site includes numerous resources in English and Spanish for parents, teens, and educators. Educational materials and resources are available free to Indiana residents upon request.

There are also three CBAE grantees in Indiana.

State Law in Indiana
According to Indiana Code 20-30-5-13, throughout instruction on human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases, an accredited school must:

1. require a teacher to teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school-age children;
   
   
2. include that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems; and
   
   
3. include that the best way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and other associated health problems is to establish a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage.

In Indiana Code 20-34-3-17, the State board must stress the moral aspects of abstinence from sexual activity in any literature that it distributes to students and young adults about preventing HIV/AIDS transmission. The literature must state that the best way to avoid HIV/AIDS is for young people to refrain from sexual activity until they are ready as adults to establish, in the context of marriage, a mutually faithful monogamous relationship.

What’s Unique in the State of Indiana

One abstinence program, in Valparaiso, utilizes peer mentors to address abstinence topics for students in the classroom and the community. The program provides parents and educators with numerous resources, abstinence events, and abstinence facts. An interactive Web site for teens includes movies, games, and a “Dear Doc” section where teens can ask questions about relationships, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases.

A peer mentor abstinence program, located in Indianapolis, has trained tens of thousands of teenage mentors who have reached about 250,000 program participants through school-based, after-school, and summer programs that are presented in both English and Spanish. The program was designed using a positive youth development model to provide asset-building opportunities for high school students.

Quote of the Day

“I also think it's really important to have an abstinence piece for girls, who, a lot of times, especially with gender issues like there are across many parts of the world, think they have to comply with men. We want to get the message out to girls that they don't have to, that they can be abstinent, and to protect themselves.”

(First Lady Laura Bush, talking about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Time, February 18, 2008)