{"id":242513,"date":"2010-01-28T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rhrealitycheck.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/27\/sex-education-mississippi-why-just-wait-just-doesnt-work"},"modified":"2010-01-31T07:31:59","modified_gmt":"2010-01-31T12:31:59","slug":"sex-ed-in-mississippi-why-just-wait-just-doesn%e2%80%99t-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/242513","title":{"rendered":"Sex Ed in Mississippi: Why ‘Just Wait’ Just Doesn\u2019t Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nThis week, Planned Parenthood in Mississippi<\/a>
\nand the Sexuality Information and Education
\nCouncil of the United States (SIECUS)<\/a> released a report on the saturation
\nof taxpayer-funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs throughout the state
\nof Mississippi and the status of sex education,
\nor lack thereof, provided in Mississippi
\npublic schools. The report, titled Sex
\nEducation in Mississippi: Why \u2018Just Wait’ Just Doesn’t Work<\/a><\/em>, details
\nthe poor sexual health outcomes among adolescents in Mississippi, the state’s
\nheavy investment in abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, and the lack of
\nsex education required in public schools.\n<\/p>\n

\nKey
\nindicators for health among Mississippi’s
\nadolescents present a bleak picture. Mississippi has the
\nhighest teen birth rate in the country. Young
\npeople in the state also rank above the national average for rates of risky
\nsexual activity, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),
\nincluding HIV. The state’s poor sexual health outcomes make it clear that young
\npeople lack access to the adequate sexual and reproductive health information
\nand care they need to protect themselves and make safe and healthy decisions.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe
\nreport also makes clear that the federal government’s heavy investment in
\nabstinence-only-until-marriage funding over the past few decades has
\npromulgated a myriad of state
\npolicies<\/a>, state agencies, and community-based organizations focused on
\npromoting an abstinence-only-until-marriage ideology throughout the state. The trickle-down effect of the funding for
\nabstinence-only-until-marriage programs and the industry it created has
\nimpacted states throughout the nation, with a disparate impact on Southern
\nstates, and this could not be truer in Mississippi.\n<\/p>\n

\nThough
\na shift away from abstinence-only-until-marriage programs is taking place at
\nthe national level spurred by overwhelming
\nevidence<\/a> proving these programs to be ineffective, they continue to prosper
\nin Mississippi.
\nFederal funding for such programs may
\nhave just started
\nto dry up in favor of more comprehensive approaches to sex education<\/a> that
\ninclude information about abstinence and contraception, among other topics;
\nhowever, Mississippi continues to see a steady stream of
\nabstinence-only-until-marriage programming and it will take time and vigilance
\nbefore a shift away from the abstinence-only approach is seen in the state.\n<\/p>\n

\nPlanned
\nParenthood in Mississippi and SIECUS partnered together to take a closer look
\nat the information students are receiving in public schools and the messages
\ndelivered by school-based and community-based abstinence-only-until-marriage
\nprograms reaching youth across the state of Mississippi. We found that
\nMississippi school districts and the Mississippi Department of Human Services
\nabdicate their responsibility to provide medically accurate information to
\nstudents and instead rely on failed
\nabstinence-only-until-marriage programming. It is clear from the evidence
\ndetailed in the report that a fundamental change is needed in how Mississippi educates its
\nyoung people and prepares them to be sexually healthy adults.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe
\nmajority of sex education programs in Mississippi,
\nwhether provided by schools, state agencies, community organizations, or
\nchurches, take an abstinence-only-until-marriage approach, and messages
\npromoting abstinence-until-marriage are pervasive in the state-appearing on
\nbillboards, print media, in radio and television ads as well as in formal
\nprograms. Young people in Mississippi are
\npractically bombarded with messages about staying abstinent until
\nmarriage. In addition, many of these
\nprograms, media campaigns, and activities are supported by federal funds.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn
\nFiscal Year 2008 alone, Mississippi
\nreceived $5,742,594 in federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage
\nprograms, which was the eighth
\nlargest funding amount awarded to any state<\/a>. By far, the largest recipient of
\nabstinence-only-until-marriage funding in the state is the Mississippi
\nDepartment of Human Services (MDHS) which received a total of $1,428,753 for
\nFiscal Year 2008. With its federal
\nfunding, MDHS operates the "Just Wait" Abstinence Program which includes a
\nstatewide media campaign, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, conferences,
\nan annual rally, and school presentations that reach youth throughout the state
\nof Mississippi.\n<\/p>\n

\nMississippi schools do not fare
\nmuch better in providing accurate sex education to students. State law does not
\nrequire schools to teach sexuality education or provide instruction in HIV,
\nSTD, or pregnancy prevention; however, if schools choose to teach any of these
\ntopics, state law requires that they stress abstinence-only-until-marriage.\u00a0 Furthermore, many schools have ceded sex
\neducation to outside groups that are allowed to conduct classes and other
\nactivities in the schools with little-to-no oversight. Students are therefore at risk of receiving
\ninaccurate and ideologically biased instruction. The lack of any statutory requirement to
\nprovide evidence-based, medically accurate sexuality education, and the
\nreliance on outside groups providing abstinence-only-until-marriage instruction
\nin the schools, has resulted in a myriad of different, but equally ineffective,
\nprograms which leave young people at risk.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn
\nMississippi’s
\nclassrooms, the impact is real. The information and programs delivered to
\nstudents use fear and shame tactics to
\npromote abstinence until marriage, reinforce antiquated gender stereotypes that
\nimpose a double standard on young women, provide outright, inaccurate
\ninformation, and use outdated materials-some which are 20 years old. For
\nexample, the Leland
\nSchool District
\ndistributes a pamphlet to students, entitled "The Truth About…Sex &
\nLove."\u00a0 It states, among other things, that
\nsex outside of marriage "is playing Russian Roulette with your emotions,
\nself-respect, health, and your [sic] future."\n<\/p>\n

\nIn
\nanother example, some information provided to students is wholly outdated.
\nInformation on AIDS included in the 1994 edition of, Fearon’s Health (2nd ed.),
\na textbook used in Forest Municipal school district, gives students a history
\nlesson on the epidemic rather than providing any current information. Its most recent statistics for AIDS are from
\n1991, including statistics indicating a mortality rate from 1981-1991 of 64
\npercent. By contrast, the estimated AIDS mortality rate in 2006 was 38 percent.\n<\/p>\n

\nTo
\nmention just one other egregious example, of which there are many, the "Not
\nNow" abstinence-only-until-marriage program, delivered to students in four
\nMississippi Delta counties, has students participate in a mock wedding
\nceremony. As part of the ceremony, the
\nbride presents the groom with a dirty sneaker as a wedding present. The dirty sneaker signifies "a lifestyle of
\nimpurity" and relays the message that no sock (representing a condom) could
\never fully protect the foot from dirt and diseases. The groom, on the other hand, gives the bride
\na clean sneaker representing his "purity up until marriage." At the end of the wedding activity, the
\nstudents "pledged to remain pure" and bring clean tennis shoes to marriage. While
\nthis is awful messaging in and of itself, research also shows that 88 percent
\nof students who pledge to remain abstinent until marriage fail to keep this
\npledge and have the same STD rates as those who didn’t take a pledge. They are
\nalso less likely to use contraception when they do become sexually active.\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat
\nis made clear by this report is that Mississippi is failing to provide young
\npeople with the information they need to make healthy decisions and avoid
\nunintended pregnancy and STDs, including HIV\/AIDS. Most disturbingly, the Department of Human
\nServices, which is seen as a trusted state agency, plays a large role in
\ndisseminating this ineffective programming to young people instead of equipping
\nthem with public health information that is medically accurate and based in
\nscience.\n<\/p>\n

\nEvery
\nmajor medical and public health organization in this country and around the
\nglobe<\/a> agrees that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are not best for
\nyoung people and believe in the importance of providing comprehensive sexuality
\neducation. It is time for Mississippi to follow
\nthe route that we know works in meeting the health needs of our young people:
\nend abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in the state and implement
\ncomprehensive sexuality education. Public policy in the Mississippi must be made to follow the
\nevidence and commit to a bold new plan to implement comprehensive sex
\neducation.\u00a0 The taxpayers and young
\npeople of Mississippi deserve nothing less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, Planned Parenthood in Mississippi and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) released a report on the saturation of taxpayer-funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs throughout the state of Mississippi and the status of sex education, or lack thereof, provided in Mississippi public schools. The report, titled Sex Education in Mississippi: Why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4823,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4823"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}