During the month of October, young people across the country are organizing on their campuses and in their communities to build momentum for comprehensive sex education - and to convince Congress to pass the Responsible Education About Life Act (the REAL Act).
As you know, last week, the Senate Finance Committee adopted an amendment sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to insert $50 million in funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs as a part of Health Care Reform. In 48 hours, you sent more than 3,641 letters to your Senators demanding that they remove this funding from the final health care bill. If we can keep the pressure on, there is a strong chance that we can stop the abstinence-only Hatch Amendment before it ever becomes law.

For the month of October, Advocates for Youth has teamed up with a dynamic group of partner organizations to put an end to these ineffective programs and let decision makers know that young adults support the REAL Act and comprehensive sexuality education in public schools! Join activists around the country and Advocates for Youth, Choice USA, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, SIECUS, Sierra Club, and Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom to show this country - and politicians in Washington, DC - that millions of people from a diverse range of social justice movements want medically accurate and age-appropriate education about reproductive and sexual health in schools.

Help raise the sexuality education IQ of everyone in your community by organizing an event in your area! Give classmates and friends the facts on sex education and policies that would allow schools to teach young people to make healthy, informed decisions.

Organize Your Community. Spread the Word. Get Involved.

• Sign the online petition in support of the REAL ACT! Then share the petition on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to encourage your friends to sign as well.
• Gather signatures on your campus! For the next month, don't leave home without a hard copy of the petition in hand. Set up a tabling event in your community to collect petition signatures and recruit people to participate in your other events.
• Chalking and Flyering is a great way to educate campus about sex education (chalk statistics like "1 in 4 teenage women has a sexually transmitted infection" - and include a reference to your organization or campaign so people can follow up with action).
• Throw a house party to raise awareness about sex education and create a dialogue about the issue (consider making it a fundraiser).
• Connect with college radio shows that focus on current events, news or politics - and see if you can set up an interview. This is a great way to get information about the month of action to your community.
• Write an OpEd Letter - Op Eds are ways for your campus and community to learn about what you're working on. Make sure you submit one to your local paper and your campus paper.

Let us know what you';ve got in the works - either by blogging on Amplify or emailing me at sarah@advocatesforyouth.org. We'd love to help publicize your events in any way we can. For more information about comprehensive sex education, check out the resources available on Amplify or Advocates for Youth, including fact sheets about the REAL Act and comprehensive sex education.

Young people in the United States have a right to accurate and honest information about sex and sexuality. It's time to insist that our elected officials respect those rights and ensure that we all have access to the reproductive and sexual health information and services they need.
Together, we can make it happen. Let's get to work!

Resources

Learn more about sex education that works

Learn more about FAILED abstinence-only programs

Learn how to work with the media, including writing an op-ed or letter to the editor and blogging!

Learn about grassroots organizing and lobbying your elected officials