To: The North Carolina State Senate and Governor Roy Cooper
Defend Sexual Education in North Carolina
Prevent the dismantling of comprehensive sexual education in North Carolina by opposing the passage of NC Senate Bill 279.
Why is this important?
This upcoming Monday, the North Carolina State Senate will vote on NC Senate Bill 279, which has the potential to seriously affect sexual education in our state. Previously, sexual education in public schools in North Carolina was limited to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The Healthy Youth Act of 2009 brought about comprehensive sexual education, requiring all school districts to design programs in accordance with North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study for Comprehensive Health Education. NC Senate Bill 279 would remove the guidelines established by the Healthy Youth Act and instead would only require that individuals responsible for developing sexual education curricula and teaching materials for local school districts have a background in one of the following areas: education, adolescent psychology, behavioral counseling, medicine, human anatomy, biology, ethics, or health education. Such a change poses a significant threat to sexual education in North Carolina, and some have suggested would allow the return of abstinence-only-until marriage curricula.
Maintaining a comprehensive sexual education program in North Carolina is vital to the health of our youth. We have made significant strides in recent years in reducing teen pregnancy rates, which have fallen by almost 50% since 2000, and fell by 11% in 2013 alone. While we are on the right path, major disparities still exist, as pregnancy rates among Hispanic and African-American teenage females are almost double those in white teenagers. Participation from families, communities and religious organizations is vital in helping to achieve this goal, but we also must have comprehensive sexual education that is based on peer-reviewed, scientific evidence. By allowing individuals without any formal training in sexual education to dictate sexual education curricula, passage of NC Senate Bill 279 would represent a massive step in the wrong direction.
That is why I want you to join me in asking our elected representatives to oppose NC Senate Bill 279 and thereby support the health of young people throughout the state of North Carolina.
Maintaining a comprehensive sexual education program in North Carolina is vital to the health of our youth. We have made significant strides in recent years in reducing teen pregnancy rates, which have fallen by almost 50% since 2000, and fell by 11% in 2013 alone. While we are on the right path, major disparities still exist, as pregnancy rates among Hispanic and African-American teenage females are almost double those in white teenagers. Participation from families, communities and religious organizations is vital in helping to achieve this goal, but we also must have comprehensive sexual education that is based on peer-reviewed, scientific evidence. By allowing individuals without any formal training in sexual education to dictate sexual education curricula, passage of NC Senate Bill 279 would represent a massive step in the wrong direction.
That is why I want you to join me in asking our elected representatives to oppose NC Senate Bill 279 and thereby support the health of young people throughout the state of North Carolina.