Last week, the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) reported on the Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI)—a youth development organization—and on how they were struggling to measure the impact of the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programs they were providing in Nigeria. Comfort Ikpeme, a coordinator for the GPI, wrote of how her organization has been using the Voice, Action, Comportment,… Read more »
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Home of Largest Decline in Teen Pregnancy in Nation! Image: http://wymancenter.org/nationalnetwork/top/ Thirty-two Hennepin County public schools in Minneapolis are reporting news-worthy declines in teen pregnancy rates among their young residents since implementing TOP (Teen Outreach Program). With the help of $17 million in federal funds, 2,200 students over five years will participate in the… Read more »
Image: http://www.drdf.org.ph/yafs4 Teenage Pregnancy on the Rise in Philippines According to the most recent study on Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality (YAFS) in the Philippines, rates of motherhood and first-time pregnancy among 15 to 19 year old girls is currently at 14%, up from six percent in 2002. As reported by Australia Network News, Dr. Josefina Natividad, the study… Read more »
Sexual Climate: Janet Rosenzweig, MS, PhD, MPA discusses the characteristics of a healthy school’s sexual climate in this Healthy Kids page of Philly.com. In order for youth to grow up and be educated in a safe environment, it is essential to understand the importance of having a healthy “sexual climate.” Equally as essential is the ability of… Read more »
Tulsa, Oklahoma: Tulsa Public Schools is set to vote this coming Tuesday, September 10 on the expansion of their sex ed curriculum for 7th, 9th, and 11th graders in the district. If passed the comprehensive pregnancy prevention curriculum, Making Proud Choices! will begin this Fall and will require the consent of a parent or guardian. The classes… Read more »
Two students attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are encouraging conversations on their campus for sexual education and advocacy through their reinstatement of two student groups: Students for Choice, and Students Advocating Gender Equity (SAGE). Meredith Cain and Audrey Nance returned to campus feeling inspired after attending the Youth Organizing and Policy Conference in Washington, DC in July,… Read more »
Beijing, China: In 1979, the Chinese government instituted the one child policy, which remains today. According to the State Family Planning Commission’s Science and Technology Research Institute, more than 13 million abortions occur in China annually, and according to Durex, 9% of sexually active people under 25 know how to use a condom. Li Yinhe, a… Read more »
Great news! Effective January 1, 2014, all Illinois schools that choose to teach sexuality education will have to teach comprehensive sex education to their students, thanks to Democratic Governor Pat Quinn who is expected to sign House Bill 2675 into law in the coming weeks. This bill essentially bans abstinence-only curriculum from the classroom. Illinois is ranked 27th in the… Read more »
Robert E. CooperAttorney General Nashville, TN: The Tennessee Attorney General Office decided that state and county public health workers are exempt from a law enacted in 2012 that allows parents to sue teachers and workers for discussing family life matters that could be (mis)construed as “gateway sexual activities.” These activities include everything from touching thighs, breasts,… Read more »
President Obama’s new Judicial nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is Nina Pillard (left). Nina is known for her mostly unparalleled work to support women’s equality in the workplace, in education, and in her sexual autonomy– mostly unparalleled, because her career is extraordinarily similar to that of Justice… Read more »
In the United States Bridgeton, NJ: Inspira Health Network‘s Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, “At Promise, Not At Risk,” just received $5 million from the United States federal government to continue its programming. The program, now in its third year, combines life skills with abstinence-based sexuality education for 120 6th graders across two school systems. The… Read more »
Scappoose County, Oregon: The Scappoose School District is asking parents to schedule their summer vacations around their review of several sex education curricula. The curricula is scheduled to be voted on today, Thursday, July 11, 2013. Using HIV statistics from 2001, parents need to support curriculum changes in Scappoose. By voting at the school board meeting,… Read more »
This past weekend, Teaching Safer Sex, Third Edition, Volumes One and Two received the AASECT Book Award, a prestigious honor given by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. Editor-in-Chief Bill Taverner and Associate Editor Susan Milstein were on hand to receive the award at the 2013 AASECT Conference in Miami, Florida. Associate editor (and recently retired Planned Parenthood educator) Sue Montfort was not… Read more »
