Listen to thisMISSISIPPI
Sex ed called right step: But one
expert says
evidence-based program needed
The first baby Dr. Helen Barnes delivered in 1970s Mississippi was to a 9-year-old girl.
It was a situation Barnes recently recalled to get clarification on what is meant by a sex education curriculum for "teens." Whether it's hygiene, health care or explanations of their changing bodies, children need to be informed in an age-appropriate way, she said.
And "if that's sex education, I'm with it," Barnes said.
Next year in Mississippi, a state that leads the nation in teen birth rates, schools will be required to provide sex education. Lessons about abstinence and forming healthy relationships will be incorporated into health and science classes.
Students' exposure to those lessons could be once or
several times a school year if their parents opt for them to participate.
The lessons may involve discussion of contraception, depending on the
curriculum school districts adopt.
But with 9-year-olds giving birth, the question is: Is that enough?
Simone Mackin of Starkville opted not to have her children participate in past sex education lessons at school. She said she didn't see the point and the children were in a better program at church. But she did ask the superintendent to adopt an abstinence-plus curriculum and is happy her local school board did that last week.
"We're not having success with teen pregnancy and we need to get better about it," Mackin said.
Parents have a responsibility to teach their children about sex, "but unfortunately not all of them do," she said.
Requiring schools to teach sex education is a step in the right direction, Mackin said. Parents can opt out, "but at least when they get that form home, they may think, 'I need to talk to my child about this,' " she said.
Her 16-year-old daughter said there occasionally were pregnant girls at school.
"It makes a lot more sense to me if they just acknowledge the fact that just telling the kids 'no' is not the answer or something that's going to work," Mackin's daughter said.
If students are informed about what could go wrong and prevention, "then they actually may listen," she said.
Mississippi's sex education legislation is "really a hodgepodge," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that focuses on prevention of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
It's good districts are required to decide what approach to take, Wagoner said, but "generally the Mississippi legislation is not science and evidence based."
"If you want to come to grips with skyrocketing rates of teen pregnancy in the state, you've got to become very pragmatic and you've got to put your resources into programs that work, that are proven to work."
The age-appropriate lessons generally begin in middle or high school as part of a health program, he said. Information generally includes instruction that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective way to avoid pregnancy and STDS as well as medically accurate information about condoms and birth control, he said. There would also be information on healthy relationships.
"It's extremely important, given the levels of violence against women in this country, given the levels of physical abuse that can occur within relationships, that young people get a really, really good grounding in what is a healthy relationship," Wagoner said.
By age 19, about 70 percent of American youth have had sex, he said. About 95 percent of Americans have had sex before marriage, he said.
"The abstinence only until marriage approach, quite
frankly, is denial," he said.
Mississippi school districts have until July to choose a sex education
curriculum approved by the state Department of Education. The department has
not yet been notified by any districts of their chosen sex education
curriculum, spokeswoman Wendy Polk said.
Still, there are ongoing conversations about which approach should be taken.
For example, in Rankin County schools, the issue will go
to school principals first, possibly in the spring, said Heather Burch, the
district's director of curriculum and instruction.
In Jackson Public Schools, efforts are under way to "gather as much
information as we possibly can to present to our board, to our staff, and to
our parent body," said Robert Mack, director of curriculum for math and
science. When the time comes to choose a sex education curriculum, officials
will be able to take the best evidence-based recommendation to the school
board, he said.
Some school boards around the state have already made those decisions. Last week, the Starkville school board voted to use abstinence-plus.
The logistics of how the curriculum will be implemented have not been determined, said Beth Sewell, interim superintendent of Starkville schools. There is a nurse in each school and one of their responsibilities is to help with related lessons and answering questions, she said.
There was little public opposition to implementing an abstinence-plus curriculum, she said.
"The parents that we heard from wanted our students to
have information that they needed to make good choices," Sewell said. "I
think that was the goal, to provide students information so they could make
wise, healthy choices for themselves."
Sanford Johnson, deputy director of Mississippi First, said he's heard many
stories of teens' misconceptions about sex. When they are discussed, adults
laugh, he said. "They're funny to us because we know better," he said. But
youth hearing the myths may not know the information is false, he said.
Mississippi First has partnered with the state Health Department and is working with 33 school districts, encouraging them to adopt Creating Healthy and Responsible Teens, an abstinence-plus curriculum. The districts get free help with implementation and teacher training.
Once incorporated into the general curriculum, the sex education instruction would involve about eight to 12 lessons, Johnson said. But it would be dangerous to limit sex education to those lessons alone, he said.
"After these lessons are over, after the programs have been completed for the year, you need to have that safe space" where students can ask questions, Johnson said.
Resources should also be provided for parents "so they can continue these conversations," he said. Community health organizations and after-school programs can also play a role, he said.
Barnes said she will encourage her local school board to consider abstinence-plus.
"Children notice the difference in their bodies," and they should be informed about those changes early on, she said.
Once youth are taught about abstinence, the lessons should be built upon with evidence-based information, she said.
"There are those that are going to have their first born at 17 no matter what you say," Barnes said. "But at least they have the information."
Marquita Brown
8 October 2011
