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Family Matters

Posted: Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 - 11:09:56 pm PDT
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Mark Altman

Birds and the bees

Because of the passions ignited over the topic of sex education in schools (no pun intended; OK, yes it is intended, I couldn't resist) I have purposely tried to avoid putting a dog in the fight. However, in the last two weeks two major studies have come out providing strong evidence for both the necessity and the efficacy of formal sex education.

The first study says 1 in 4 teenage girls has at least one sexually transmitted disease. This study was reviewed in The Press a week or so ago and sends the blunt message that "abstinence only" sex-ed messages don't work. The study was national in scope with the data extrapolated from 2003-04. For girls who admitted to being sexually active, the rate jumps to 40 percent, with the majority of those having contracted HPV or human papillomavirus, the virus that can lead to cervical cancer.

The second study used data from a 2002 survey but used a bigger sample of participants; about 1,700 of them answered questions about their sexual activity and the kinds of sex education they have received. Teens who have had formal sex education had lower pregnancy rates than kids who had either abstinence-only sex education or no sex education at all. While studies have consistently shown abstinence-only programs to be less effective than formal sex education in reducing the onset of sexual activity and the pregnancy rates of teens, this is the first national study to compare the effects of comprehensive sex-ed and abstinence-only education, according to Pamela K. Kohler of the Center for AIDS and STD at the University of Washington in Seattle.

I realize there are parents who are not a fan of the schools teaching sex education, and if we are talking about the schools doing the entire job themselves then I agree. However, much as I try to use a hammer when I want to hit a nail, and a screwdriver when I wish to tighten a screw, I believe in both parents and teachers doing the part of this job to which they are best suited. In practical terms, this means parents taking the lead by teaching the moral, philosophical and possible life changing implications of sexual activities, while professionally trained teachers provide accurate, fact-based biology and physiology lessons.

Parents have a number of challenges to overcome in order to provide biology and physiology lessons themselves, not the least of which is having accurate information available to pass on. The next challenge is the communication of that information. Parents and their teens are often embarrassed by having conversations about sex and associated behaviors. This embarrassment is usually a barrier to conveying much needed information, information that can impact the health and well-being of all our children.

For these reasons and likely a number of others, many parents are doing a very poor job of holding up their end of the bargain. Parents, if you fail to do this job adequately your children can have their lives derailed or even ended before they really begin. Please maintain a positive relationship with your kids, do your research and ask for help if you need it. The stakes are too high to do any less.

Mark Altman is a speaker and leadership consultant with the Altman Leadership Center. Mark has completed graduate work in Marriage and Family Counseling and is working on a Ph.D. in Leadership studies at Gonzaga University. He is happy to speak or provide a workshop for your organization and can be reached at mark@taolc.com.


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Kelin Bard wrote on Mar 31, 2008 2:55 PM:

" Ive always agreed that it takes an entire community to raise a child. Its VITAL for parents, leaders, teachers, mentors, etc..to have the same shared mission. In this case its sex education. In the past there have been a lot of GREY areas left open for kids. Unfortunately when they explore those areas usually it results in experimentation to produce their own answers. Its so important that in matters like this that we are all BLACK and WHITE. Having a "matter of fact" atittude is always good! No fine lines or grey area left to wonder, or be curious about. Thank you for writing this article Mark. "

fun gal wrote on Mar 30, 2008 10:41 AM:

" Thank you Mr. Altman. Much needed words for parents to hear. "

Tim Hunt wrote on Mar 30, 2008 8:42 AM:

" As the Northern Idaho Field Organizer for Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest, I applaud Mr. Altman for his courageous and accurate column on sexuality education. On the basis of two important and well designed studies released during the past two weeks, Altman concludes that abstinence-only sexuality education programs do not work--that is, prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections--and that comprehensive sexuality education programs, such as those offered by Planned Parenthood, are more effective. While Planned Parenthood and PPINW are not mentioned by name in Mr. Altman's column, we have been in the vanguard of those who argue that more information, rather than less, is the proper way to educate our nation's young people. PPINW, which has responsibility for the nine northern counties of Idaho, has an excellent and experienced half-time educator offering comprehensive and age appropriate sexuality education programs in northern Idaho, virtually all of them free of charge to young people and their parents, who are encouraged to participate. We agree entirely with Mr. Altman who favors "parents taking the lead by teaching the moral, philosophical and possible life changing implications of sexual activities while professionally trained teachers provide accurate, fact-based biology and physiology lessons." Over the past year or so, we at PPINW have been very pleased with the coverage of our core issues by the Coeur d'Alene PRESS and thank the newspaper's management, reporters, and columnists for unbiased reporting of what PPINW has been saying for quite some time. "

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