
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 10, 1993                   TAG: 9305100299
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GIVE STUDENTS THE FACTS ABOUT SEXUALITY

IN HIS April 20 letter to the editor ("Teens need to learn moral truths"), Kenneth Davis Jr. asked what acceptable alternative I have to offer to the "Sex Respect" curriculum that is being promoted for adoption by Roanoke County schools. I invite him to visit our resource center to review several curricula that are reality-based, comprehensive and clear in their message that abstinence is the best choice for young people.

Among them is "Reducing the Risk," an educational program that starts with the message that abstinence is the best policy for adolescents, then moves on to provide young people with additional life skills. Students learn to practice "no." They are required to talk with their parents about sexuality topics and learn about contraceptives, their benefits and their effectiveness rates. According to Peter Scales of the University of North Carolina's Center for Early Adolescence, students who participated in "Reducing the Risk" were 24 percent less likely to engage in sexual intercourse than those who did not participate.

The argument that talking about or even providing contraception promotes sexual activity simply doesn't hold water, any more than encouraging the use of seat belts promotes reckless driving. In fact, evidence points to the opposite conclusion. Young people who have comprehensive sexuality education, with factual information (not scare tactics) about birth control and direct access to contraceptive services, have been shown to delay initiating sexual activity, talk more openly with their parents about sexual values and moral dilemmas, and have fewer pregnancies than those who do not have the benefit of such programs.

School sexuality-education alone will not resolve the complex issues surrounding adolescent sexual involvement and teen pregnancy. However, it will be most effective when parents, school administrators and teachers commit to providing the highest quality, positive and realistic education about this important part of human growth and development for our youth. To do so requires parents to be active advocates for quality family-life education, school boards to set the highest standards for their programs and teachers to be skilled in presenting the information to students in ways that they can apply it to their lives.

Fear and shame-based programs, like "Sex Respect," impose a narrow ideology, distort facts, use scare tactics and censor objective discussions of information young people need to make responsible decisions. They are not only a disservice to our youth, but do not work. Our youth deserve better. KATHRYN B. HAYNIE Executive Director Planned Parenthood of The Blue Ridge, Inc. ROANOKE

by CNB