Sex-ed bill fails in state senate

Sex-ed bill fails in state Senate

By Cara Matthews, The Journal News (Lower Hudson Valley), July 4, 2006

ALBANY - Advocates who think sex education in New York's schools is short on education say they will return to the Capitol next year to fight for legislation that would fund "age-appropriate and medically accurate" curriculum on sexuality.

"We live to work again another year," said JoAnn Smith, head of Family Planning Advocates, one of the lead groups pushing for the law.

In New York, schools have to teach students about AIDS and HIV, but sex education is not required. Sex-education programs vary greatly among school districts.

"New York still has an enormously high rate of teen pregnancy and one of the highest sexually transmitted disease infection rates in the nation. That's unacceptable. Our kids deserve better," Smith said.

The legislation passed the Democrat-controlled Assembly 126-15 in early April. It never made it to the floor of the GOP-led Senate for a vote. It passed the Assembly and died in the Senate last year, too.

There is increasing support for the bill in the Senate, said Sen. Nicholas Spano, R-Yonkers, who backed the bill in his house.

"It's very important for us to have not only an optional program but an age-appropriate sex-education curriculum that is made available to our young people to teach them about sexually transmitted diseases as well as sex education other than abstinence only," he said.

The Healthy Teens Act would set up a grant program through the state Department of Health. School districts, boards of cooperative education services, school-based health centers and community organizations would apply for money. The initiative would be funded later, through the regular state budget process.

Getthefactsny.com, a Web site created by promoters of the bill, uses the following statistics to make the case for the legislation

In 2000, 44,000 New York teens became pregnant.
Rates of gonorrhea are the highest among young people ages 15 to 24.
More than four in 10 teens in New York have sexual intercourse before graduating from high school.

Smith said there was a groundswell of grass-roots support for the bill from parents and teens. New York State United Teachers, the powerful union, favored it, she said.

There is significant opposition to the Healthy Teens Act.

The New York State Catholic Conference believes youngsters should receive a consistent message that abstinence is best and not have that watered down by information on contraception, spokeswoman Kathleen Gallagher has said.

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a Christian lobbying group, opposed the bill on the grounds that sex education in public schools has failed.

"Teens are more educated now about sex than any other generation in history and they're more promiscuous as well," the Rev. Duane Motley wrote in a position paper. "Study after study shows that comprehensive sex education leads to experimentation."

Smith has said that having more information about sex leads to less promiscuity.

The state Department of Health receives federal money for abstinence education programs, which it distributes to schools and community groups.

Federal funding for abstinence programs was $3.7 million in fiscal 2005-06, and the state supplemented that with $2.6 million, said Kim Volean of the state Department of Health.

Abstinence and related pregnancy-prevention programs have helped reduce teen pregnancies, Volean said.

"We've made a tremendous commitment reaching youth and their families statewide on this issue and continue in our efforts to increase public awareness of the importance of abstinence and living healthy lifestyles through our comprehensive prevention initiatives," she said.

There are millions more in federal dollars for abstinence education that go directly to groups and don't pass through the Health Department, Smith said.

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Dentry, a student at Corning East High School in Steuben County, said sex education is a key component in a complete education. Teaching abstinence as the only option is not realistic, she said.

"I think that for those people who aren't willing to make that choice, it's definitely important for them to receive a full education as far as how to protect themselves from STDs and pregnancy prevention and just healthy relationships in general," Dentry said.

About the law
The Healthy Teens Act would promote sex education that

is age-appropriate and medically accurate.
does not teach or promote religion.
teaches that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases but does not ignore adolescents who are having sex.
provides information about the health benefits and side effects of contraception to prevent pregnancy and reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
encourages family communication about sexuality.
teaches students how to make responsible decisions about sexuality, including how to avoid and how not to make unwanted verbal, physical and sexual advances.

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