I am a part of an organization in Georgia called Chatham County Youth Commission (CCYC). Every year CCYC travels to DC and NY and I just got back yesterday from the trip. This year, I was so grateful to be a part of Georgia Youth Understanding Pregnancy Prevention (GYUPP) because it really helped to prepare me. While in DC the National Association of Black County Officials invited me to serve on a panel to help raise awareness about HIV/AIDS... what an awesome opportunity. We were all on the same page, agreeing that we can put an end to this with proper education, and I was able to find many  county commissioners interested in the Responsible Education About Life Act and signed a petition in support of it.
You can also sign the petition here: http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/REALact 
A couple of days later on the Hill I found myself talking about comprehensive sex education with politicians who certainly were not on the same page let alone the same book. I met with Congressman Kingston from my hometown, Savannah, and he feared that there is too much pressure from competing countries in math and sciences and that we should put less attention on "majoring in sex." He had never heard of the REAL Act, which was disappointing because AFY lobbied at his office in September... but he wants to stay involved and learn more about it, which I promised him would happen... Then we went to talk about healthcare and I asked about his feelings on the Stupak Amendment, knowing he was a strong pro-life advocate I knew what he would say, but I appreciated him taking the time to talk about it. When we were finished with the conversation he said, "talking about Stupak... there he is." I have done work with AFY with Stop Stupak and the Hanger Project against Congressman Stupak and there he was. So next to Congressman Kingston and with the support of CCYC I walked up to him and voiced my opinions... Neither of us were trying to push our feeling on each other, it was clear we had our minds made up, but it was great to be respected and vocalizing my views in DC! 

Christar wrote a great blog about teen pregnancy on Private Practice, but it seems that teen pregnancy is quite a trend on many shows lately. There is an entire show on ABC Family "Secret Life of an American Teenager" about teenage pregnancy and MTV also with their show "Teen Mom," "Glee" had an episode about teenage pregnancy,  Lifetime aired a movie about a group of high school teen moms called "The Pregnancy Pact,"  VH1 news had a segment titled "The New Virginity" : http://www.vh1.com/shows/vh1_news_presents/episode.jhtml?episodeID=164477  and although it is everywhere on tv, in reality we know little about the topic. The media isn't telling us ways in which we could prevent being a teen parent, it just gives us a general and fictional idea of what it could be like to be a teen mom. This would be ok if we were educated elsewhere, but we clearly are not. After a decade of decline, once again teen pregnancy is on the rise (note that the use of ab-only is also on the rise) .... anna beale came to savannah to talk to a group of students about GCAPP, GYUPP, and provided general safe-sex information. With her presentation she talked about prophylactic, not a single student knew what it was, heck i'm a part of afy and gyupp and i didn't know what it was. What are we supposed to do when we have a surplus of information about sex and pregnancy, but no information on how to prevent it? 

There is no disputing the fact that comprehensive sex education is a neccessity in the school system, but i cannot help to acknowledge the fact that for the most part youth are aware of forms of birthcontrol but are not using them. With a few exceptions, teens do not want children and if they truly thought about it, they know how to prevent pregnancy. Yet still, teenage pregnancies continue to rise.
http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20091221/teen-births-rise-for-second-year

We want to stop this, we know how to stop this, and yet we are still not taking the actions to stop this.
This trend does not have to continue in an upward slope; I charge our generation to make a change next year and to protect our young bodies, stop the spread of STIs and STDs and put an end to unwanted pregnancies and unsafe sex. we can do it, so let's do it.
 

             
  

Please read this article: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09120903.html

Mr. Mason, quite frankly I have concluded that you are either highly naive or simply do not care about the health and safety of youth.

Allow me to explore some of your comments:

•  "The Senate health care plan is going to teach kids about sex. Graphically, and early. With heaps of tax dollars."

First off there is nothing wrong with teaching kids about sex, being safe, and being abstinent which is also included in the curriculum.

Graphically, well there may be images of genitalia, but keep in mind you are referring to a course regarding sex.... As for "Early," Obama does not want to teach Kindergarteners how to put on a condom, but teach age appropriate information.

The curriculum will not be free, but the cost goes to saving lives, preventing STIs/STDs and preventing teenage pregnancy-- all of which are very costly. So by spending the money on an effective education, we will save money in the long run
 

• "What 'age-appropriate information' can the bill possibly have in mind for an 11-year-old boy" 

• "what good is "abstinence education" if contraception and abortion are being pushed right alongside it"

• "America has some of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the Western world precisely because of the graphic, value-free sex education that children are constantly exposed to."

• "The days of Woodstock and free love are long gone, and no amount of public funding or legislative mandates will bring them back."

“Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die!” says Coach Carr from Mean Girls. Well everyone in North Shore High School was having sex (including Coach Carr) and in reality three fifths of Americans have sex before they finish high school. Clearly telling us not to do it, is not helping the situation. We need facts, but abstinence only education denies youth information regarding safe sexual behavior. Currently all across America, there are school systems which preach not to have sex to kids that are having and will soon have sex… picture this: a school that actually informs and educates children. On top of which they are saving lives, decreasing STIs and STDs, as well as lowering teen pregnancy rates.

Abstinence only education, is anti-education. Kids want the facts and 89% of Americans believe the youth have the right to these facts. However, someone somewhere decided that teaching safety promotes sex. This is an absolutely ludicrous notion. Comprehensive sex education encourages and promotes abstinence and acknowledges that it is 100% effective in regards to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections prevention. However, this form of education is neither blind nor naïve; it recognizes kids are having sex and it wants to help promote the safety of youth.

Abstinence only education rarely provides statistics, but when they do, they are often incorrect and dramatized failure rates of condoms and birth control. Often the reason why condoms break is due to the fact that kids were not properly taught the right way to put on a condom. I want every kid in health class to be given a banana and learn how to put on a condom. In the nurse’s office, I want a box of condoms to be kept next to her box of tampons. I want kids to be comfortable asking their teachers questions regarding sex, and not be denied.

This is a rare example of where kids are yearning to be taught and are being turned away by their teachers. Nine in ten teachers believe comprehensive sex education should be taught, but are not allowed to teach it. 86% of public schools encourage abstinence only education and 35% require it. And more than half of the southern public school systems mandate abstinence only education. 

Besides excluding healthy sexual relationships in health class, abstinence only education teaches that a proper family is raised by a mother and father. It disregards single parents, teen mothers, gay couples, and GLBTQ rights, with absolutely no education for GLBTQ individuals regarding sex.

Abstinence only education is wrong to be implemented into a supposedly progressive nation. However, we are in a time of change. Tell your senators to support the REAL Act, which provides funding for comprehensive sex education. If your school system prohibits safe sex learning, take it upon yourself as a responsible citizen and friend to talk your peers about sex. If you care about your friends, you would let them know how you feel about unprotected sex and show them you care by informing them. Silence is wrong in a time of action.

This is not a Democrat v. Republican issue. I am not looking for education promoting sex, but encouraging safety. I want federal funding to go towards teaching the youth and to help stop the constant rise of STIs, STDs, and teenage pregnancy. The people want education, but are denied for the wrong reasons. I encourage those in favor of abstinence only education to reconsider and examine the promising statistics of comprehensive sexual education. 

This weekend I began to think about what I could do in honor of  "Let's Talk Month" in my community... and then I thought before approaching the broad community, I need to first talk to my friends. My best friend and I began a casual conversation about sex, and although she is a virgin, lately she has been thinking that she wants to have sex. When I told her how important it was for her to be safe, she said, "It's not that big of a deal if I don't use protection." and "Being safe about sex doesn't really cross my mind."  I did not like those responses, what is a good way to talk to my friend about taking care of herself?

Tilly rose

On Friday, September 25th, we held a small rally on the steps of the Old Court House in Savannah, GA. With the support of Chatham County Youth Commissioning (CCYC), Youth Futures Authority, Planned Parenting, Armstrong Atlantic University's Gay Straight Alliance, and of course GYUPP- Georgia Youth Understanding Prenancy Prevention, we were able to educate and involve Savannians. It was not a large turn out but hopefully with the local news coverage people heard about it, and perhaps are now more interested on the issue and want to be involved.

At the rally chants were led by CCYC "give us the facts!", "s-a-f-e  ed-u-cate me!" , and "sign the petition" and thanks to Joel Alvarado for his colorful signs that brought attention to the issue. And of course the best part is that those there were given a petition to support the REAL ACT and we took home petitions to give to our friends, peers, teachers and others in the community. I think this was a great start for us and next year we will be more prepared for a bigger, better rally!

Check out our local coverage: (and our Georgia Campaign Page!)

http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11202645 

http://www2.wsav.com/sav/news/local/article/youth_groups_rally_for_better_sex_education/51267/

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