Putting Teens At Risk: A Report on Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in NC Schools
The NARAL-ACLU report shows that several abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula used in NC counties:
- Inflate the failure rates of condom usage
- Mislead students into believing that condoms are ineffective in protecting against STD’s and unintended pregnancy
- Give biased and inaccurate information about abortion
- Promote gender stereotypes as medical fact
Since 1997, the federal government has spent more than a billion dollars on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs despite research indicating that many such programs contain inaccurate information. Some studies show that abstinence-only programs actually deter teens from protecting themselves from unintended pregnancy or disease when they start having sex. In recent years, North Carolina has received more than 1.5 million dollars a year in federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programming in the state.
Click here to read Putting Teens At Risk: A Report on Abstinence-Only-Until-Marraige Programs in NC Schools
Additional resources:
2004 Congressional report on the content of federally funded abstinence-only education programs.
2003 Parent Opinion Survey about Sex Education by NC Dept of Public Instruction. Of parents surveyed, 90.5% of NC parents think sexuality education should be taught in the public schools, and of these, 80.1% support condom demonstration in the schools.
2004 The State of Adolescent Sexual Health in NC
Dr. Rebecca Bach's article, The State of Sex Education in North Carolina: Is Abstinence-Only Education Working?*, in Spring 2006 Sociation Today.
See this Oct 31, 2006 article in the Washington Post, "Abstinence message goes beyond teens."
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