North Carolina, Pittsburgh Weigh Changes To Abstinence-Only Sex Education Curriculums

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 06 Feb 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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The following summarizes recent news coverage of proposals regarding sex education curriculums in North Carolina and Pittsburgh.

~ North Carolina: Lawmakers and health advocates in North Carolina this week promoted legislation that would require both abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education for students in grades seven through nine, with parents choosing which option their children would receive, the AP/Raleigh News and Observer reports. Abstinence-only sex education predominates in North Carolina school districts under current law, and a long process is required before districts can offer sex education curriculums that discuss contraceptives. Peter Morris, medical director for Wake County Human Services, said he hopes curriculum changes would lead to a decrease in sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies (AP/Raleigh News and Observer, 2/3).

~ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Public Schools administrators this week proposed abandoning the school system's current abstinence-only sex education curriculum in favor of a more comprehensive curriculum that includes discussions on contraceptives, alternative lifestyles and abstinence, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The administrators said the change would align Pittsburgh with other urban school districts, including New York City and Washington, D.C. According to the Post-Gazette, the district has been studying a possible curriculum change for more than a year, and a parents' group has urged the district to adopt a comprehensive approach. The new program would continue to stress abstinence as the most effective way to avoid unintended pregnancies and STIs, administrators said. Contraceptives would not be distributed, nor would their use be demonstrated. The new curriculum would coincide with a new health curriculum already planned for students in kindergarten through grade 12, the Post-Gazette reports. Jerri Lippert -- executive director of curriculum, instruction and professional development -- and Frances Doyle -- senior program officer -- said recent data showing that 14% of births in Pittsburgh in 2008 were to women younger than age 20 demonstrate the need for a sex education curriculum change. Lippert and Doyle also said that 24% of births to black women in the city in 2008 were to women younger than age 19 (Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/4).

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