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Progressive Bloggers Do Texas - And Confront Bad Sex Education Policies

Marcela Howell on July 16, 2008 - 8:00am
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What state has the worst teen birth rate, the 10th highest AIDS rate and the 7th worst  syphilis rate in the country?

Hint - it's the same state that brought us George Bush and spends more on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs than any other state.

That's right - Texas.

In June 2008, federal statistics showed that the majority, 52.9 percent, of Texas students in ninth through 12th grades had sexual intercourse. That's compared to 47.8 percent nationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that young people in Texas are less likely to use condoms.

Yet, Texas actually spent $17 million last year on abstinence-only programs to promote virginity until marriage. Talk about denying reality!

This week, Texas has the distinction of hosting Netroots Nation - the national gathering of progressive bloggers from all across the country.  These are the people who can make or break issues and campaigns.

Bloggers have taken President Bush and the Democratic leadership in Congress to task for continuing to support failed abstinence-only programs that research shows have no impact on teen sexual behavior.

It's no wonder bloggers have even raised "abstinence-only" questions to #5 on the Netroots Nation "Ask the Speaker" (as in Nancy Pelosi) site.

Yes - the democratic-controlled Congress is part of the problem. Just last week, Democrats voted to extend funding for these ineffective Title V abstinence-only programs for 12 months.  And last year, the House of Representatives, in total disregard for a congressionally mandated report that showed the programs don't work, tried to increase funding for abstinence-only programs by $28 million. That's right - increase!

So it is significant that Netroots Nation is meeting in Texas this week - home of some of the worst adolescent sexual health outcomes in the country.  

Public schools in Texas are not required to offer sex education, but those that do must make the lessons abstinence-focused. So after spending more than $117 million over two decades on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, the state of Texas has the following adolescent health outcomes (courtesy of the National Vital Statistics Reports):

  • In Texas, 220 teen women aged 15 to 19 become pregnant every single day.
  • Texas's teen pregnancy rate is 101 per 1,000. The national rate is 84.  Only MS, NM, AZ, and NV have higher rates.
  • Texas has the worst teen birth rate among 15 to 19 year olds at 64 per 1,000. The national rate is 41 per 1,000.
  • The teen birth rate in Texas for 15-19-year olds only dropped by 18% between 1992-2000 while the national rate dropped by 24 percent. Texas ranks 4th worst in decline, after WY, NE, and ND.  
  • Texas has 7th worst syphilis rate and 17th worst gonorrhea rate in the country.
  • Among states with available data, Texas has the lowest percentage of teens that report using condoms at last sex (56 percent; HI and NM were lower).

 

It's time that Texas legislators and Congress to stand up for what works and end funding for these failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Progressive bloggers and young people are paving the way toward holding Congress on both sides of the aisle accountable.


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3 comments
Progressive Blogges.....

Boy if this isn't a hatchet job I don't know what is. I guess it is too much to ask for a civil discourse on policy, we have to demonize the opoposite side.
Ms Howell--the writer, states that Texas has the 7th highest aids rate and the 7th worst syphillis rate--a pity that she did not bother to mention and pillory the state with the highest aids rate and the highest syphillus rate--but then again those states do not have someone by the name of George Bush--our President--either residing in or originating from them.
Using Ms Howell's logic, we should also teach children how to safely carry guns on the inner city street--after all, they are going to carry them anyway, so why not teach them to shoot both safely and to effectively hit their intended targets with the least amount of innocent bystanders hit--right? After all, the abstinence only policy currently being promoted is not performing adequately--so lets promote unbridaled sexual freedom for children and hand out both condoms and teach them how when and where to have sex and show them how to gain maximum enjoyment!!!!--after all, we're only interested in what works--never mind the morality aspects of the issues.
And while we are at it, we should also legalize all forms of drugs--coccaine, crack and heroin--with government sponsored professional drug addicts to teach children how to do drugs with both verve, vigor and the utmost of professionalism-- after all, think of all the money we would save by eliminating "Say No To Drugs," promotions!!!
After all, let's face it, these darned kids are going to do drugs whether we like it or not--so why not let them do it safely, humanely and enjoyably with full governmental support.
If this is what being a "Progressive" is all about, I'll say "Yes," to Fascism.

Submitted by faultroy on July 16, 2008 - 10:40pm.
faultroy i'm confused.

faultroy, I'm confused, or maybe you are. I found several things disturbing about your post.

1.The author of the post can write about whichever state they want. If the topic is Texas, they're not required to write about North Dakota. If someone writes about a murderer, do they also have to write an article about John Wayne Gasey, because he's mush worse than our joe schmo murderer.

2.As an inner city teacher I am both deeply offended by and think ludicrous your idea about my students and guns. Over half the teens in Texas are screwing. I know for darn sure that nowhere near that percentage of inner city kids have ever shot someone. So your logic is not only flawed, it's prejudiced.

3.I don't even understand the drug analogy. How many teenagers are really using crack. I didn't know anyone in my school that did anything worse than drink and smoke. 52% are certainly not crackheads and junkies.

4.Progressives are not against teaching abstinence. We just want kids to know by the time they're in high school the accurate facts about reproductive health. I don't want them thinking condoms are 100% effective, but I also don't want them to forgo condom use because 1% of the time they don't work. If only 1% of the teens having sex get pregnant or an STD, isn't that better than the 52% sex rate or the high teen pregnancy and STD rates?

5.Comprehensive sex ed doesn't teach sex positions or how to have good sex, as you imply in your post. It's not like we bust out the kama sutra in health class. Clinical-sounding terminology and boring diagrams are used. Proponents of comprehensive sex ed just want to arm our students with accurate knowledge of how to protect themselves if they do make the hugely important decision to have sex.

6.It seems you are the one with the hatchet job, and the one demonizing the other side. I could feel your rage, practically see the spittle forming as you ranted on about those darn progressives. The original article simply provided accurate and disturbing statistics, and came to a logical conclusion based on data. As opposed to your BS rant.

Submitted by Merry on July 20, 2008 - 11:05am.
Are these pregnant teens adults or minors?

I am curious about the statistic of 220 women aged 15-19 getting pregnant daily.
Texas has a huge immigrant population and they marry young.
I mean in Texas almost 10% of women who are 18 and 19 are married.

Are we really that worried about married women getting pregnant?

Anyway, it would really be helpful to break it down to see how many minors, that is women 17 and younger are getting pregnant vs. the 18 and 19 year olds who after all are adults and should be seen as such.

Do we really want to go around telling adults they should not get pregnant?

I guess I am just offended as a woman when they group adult women in with minors. I think adults should be grouped with adults not minors.

Submitted by sg on July 17, 2008 - 4:34pm.

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