Americans love Mother's Day. We love it so much
that we're collectively shelling out about $19 billion this
year on gifts, special meals, and cards. But when it comes to educating our
kids about how most women become mothers, we're much less conscientious.
Too
many of our children aren't learning about the connection between sex and
parenthood before it's too late. That means they lack the tools that help them
avoid pregnancy until they are ready to be parents.
The evidence of this struggle is clear. Although the teen birth rate recently fell to a record low, 750,000 American teens still get pregnant every year. In fact, U.S. teens are much more likely to become pregnant than teens in other countries with more comprehensive sex education and broader access to birth control.
Our teen
pregnancy rate remains high despite the fact that the vast majority of parents talk with their kids
about topics related to sex. Unfortunately, far fewer parents are covering
topics such as how to say no to sex and how to use birth control — two key ways that teens can
avoid unintended pregnancies.
Parents consistently say they would like help from
schools. In fact, multiple studies have shown that parents overwhelmingly
support school-based comprehensive sex education that includes information on
contraception.
A 2011 Planned Parenthood poll found, for example, that 90
percent of parents think high school sex education classes should address birth
control and 75 percent believe it should be covered in middle school.
Unfortunately, legislators in several states are
going the opposite direction. Tennessee , North Dakota , and Wisconsin
lawmakers have all recently passed sex education measures requiring school
programs to withhold critical sexual health information.
This legislation
requires schools to emphasize abstinence and prevents teaching balanced
information about birth control. The Tennessee
bill could allow schools or teachers to be sued for "encouraging" or
"condoning" nonspecific "gateway sexual behavior." More
than a few critics and reporters have speculated that handholding or kissing
could fall into that category.
On the federal level, conservative lawmakers have
continued to oppose funding for proven sex education programs. Hundreds of
studies have shown that programs that emphasize both abstinence and birth
control are more likely to help young people delay sex and avoid pregnancy than
programs that teach abstinence alone. In fact, there's so much evidence for
this approach that the federal government now designates funding for programs
that replicate it.
Still, even with the proven success of comprehensive sex
education, conservative lawmakers in Congress — who say they oppose wasteful
spending — snuck $50 million per year through 2014 into the Affordable Care Act to
fund unproven abstinence-only education.
The lawmakers who push abstinence-only education
say teens are less likely to have sex and become pregnant if schools emphasize
the dangers of sex outside of marriage and restrict teaching about
contraception. But they're out of step with what parents want, as well as with
all of the evidence about what actually works to help young people delay sex
and protect themselves when they become sexually active.
As the mother of a 13-year-old son, I know
firsthand the rewards and challenges of parenting. It's a commitment that no
one should enter into lightly or unprepared. That's why we parents want our
kids to delay having babies until they are ready for the responsibilities
parenthood requires.
As a sexuality educator, I frequently hear from parents
who want their kids to have access to useful information about sex and
sexuality at school and not just at home.
That's why this Mother's Day, moms across the
country would welcome the gift of effective school-based sex education. Believe
me, a well-prepared kid beats a sappy Mother's Day card any day.
Leslie Kantor is the Planned Parenthood Federation
of America's vice president of education. www.ppfa.org
Distributed via OtherWords (OtherWords.org)
Distributed via OtherWords (OtherWords.org)