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FLE
To the Editor:
The fact that Virginia Governor George Allen proposes to repeal statewide “sex education” requirements at a time of increasing birth rates and sexually transmitted disease cases among teens in Virginia and nationwide is a reflection of inaccurate information about the education these programs provide and their importance to the lives of our state’s children.
Allen’s argument that family life classes do no^ receive his support because the teen pregnancy rate has not declined in the last couple of decades is as absurd as would be a proposal to drop math courses because students’ SAT scores in the subject are unsatisfactory. Instead, we need to look at how to further strengthen family life courses and develop additional support mechanisms to help alleviate the problem while examining more seriously how this nationwide crisis can be addressed.
In fact, contrary to Allen’s assertion, family life education programs, especially those that reach younger adolescents during critical, impressionable ages, do, indeed, have an impact. An example of a nationwide program which has demonstrated success for the past seven years with middle school student is Project Taking Charge, operated under the auspices of the American Associaiton of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) and funded by the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Abstinence-oriented and schoolbased, the program helps youth and their parents understand the connection between sexual activity, early childbearing, educational achievement, and occupations! goals. Research has shown that participating adolescents experienced changes in sexual knowledge and attitudes and were significantly less likely to initiate sexual intercourse six months after completing the program than were adolescents who had not participated in this educational program. The project is now in its second phase, El Future es Mio, focusing on Hispanic youth and their parents.
As you can see. Project Taking Charge, like other family life education, offers much more than sex educaiton. These programs present material on sex and sexuality in conjuncion with information on: values;
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