Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood Comments on Statewide Sex Education Poll

Parents and Youth Need and Expect More and Better Sex Education

Related Media

Rob Curry, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (left) and Tracey Brooks, Family Planning Advocates surrounded by supporters for sex ed

ALBANY, NY (10/01/2009)(readMedia)-- At a press conference hosted by Family Planning Advocates of New York State today, the organization released a poll showing 85 percent of NYS voters surveyed support comprehensive, age appropriate, medically accurate sex education for the state's youth. (Full press release and photo attached.)

Rob Curry, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood in Albany, made the following remarks at the event:

I am pleased to be here today and to able to talk about Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood's role in meeting the need for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education. This is UHPP's 75th Anniversary year and we have much to celebrate. The agency has a built a reputation as a sexual health expert in the four counties we serve-Albany Columbia Greene and Rensselaer—and has seen the positive results that can come when adequate resources are provided to a community-school collaborative effort at providing comprehensive sex education.

You have heard the national statistics on teen pregnancy and teen STIs. Teen pregnancy and teen rates of sexually transmitted infections in New York State and the Capitol Region mirror the national trends, with even higher rates in some specific zip code areas. For instance, the Albany zip code 12206 has rates of teen pregnancy and STIs, particularly gonorrhea and chlamydia, that far surpass the NYS average. The city of Hudson in Columbia County has also wrestled with very high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Traditionally, public schools in New York have devoted one or two classroom periods or gym classes in middle school to education about puberty and body image and anywhere from 3-4 class periods to 1-2 weeks out of a one semester health class in high school on reproductive systems and/or prevention of pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and sexually transmitted infections. Content and breath varies by the teacher and by the school, with many health educators feeling they have inadequate time or knowledge to address the subjects adequately.

The recent focus on standardized test scores, combined with school budget cuts, has threatened even these limited attempts at sex education.

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood has worked hard to fill the gap with limited resources. We have placed a primary focus on comprehensive sex education for youth and college students as a critical component in the effort to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Each year we provide over 270 education programs in schools reaching over 5,000 youth.

More specifically, for fifteen years UHPP has worked in partnership with NYS DOH to provide supplemental comprehensive sex education programming in specific zip code areas with high rates of teen pregnancy. We receive a grant from the Community Based Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (CBAPP) program that enables us to recruit and train high school students from Albany and Columbia County high schools to act as peer educators—sources of factual information on sexual health for their peers. This award winning program is called S.T.A.R.S. which stands for Seriously Talking About Responsible Sex.

In Columbia County, we saw teen pregnancy rates drop significantly in schools where we had a S.T.A.R.S. presence. In Albany County, our S.T.A.R.S. program is an essential part of a collaborative effort that really is only keeping a cap on what is a crisis situation. While pregnancy rates have not gone up, they have also not been reduced.

UHPP also offers specialized after school programs in many middle schools and to youth identified as high risk who attend special programs and institutions. And we offer training to youth-serving professionals and to parents and teachers. We also provide a free -1-800 call in line with information, and provide a wide range of information through web sites and social networking sites.

Despite these efforts, too many students remain untouched and subject to widespread myth and misinformation that spreads across the internet, and from teen to teen. Too many still are sitting through ineffective abstinence-only programs, or learning their lessons from movies and television, where sexual activity is quick and easy with few consequences. We need more resources to reach more students if we are going to see more significant results.

We know the elements of effective sex education:

-Peer education

-Begin early; at least middle school and include age appropriate information

-Talk about birth control and pregnancy prevention as well as abstinence and safer sex.

-Talk about these things in the context of self esteem, decision making and communication skills and healthy relationships.

-Programs must include multiple classes and not just single sessions.

-Partner with the community and enroll parents as the most important sex educators.

We have the knowledge and expertise and are ready to work with schools—and the administrators and teachers are ready to work with us—to better fill the need for comprehensive sex education. But we must have additional funding. We have only recently lost two educators through funding cuts. When our Columbia County programs were successful, we lost access to some of our funding. We are constantly searching for grants to enable us to respond to community need.

As the most recent poll tells us, parents and youth need and expect more and better sex education. Students who become pregnant have difficulty completing school; they often face insurmountable hurdles in the effort to become employed workers and responsible parents. They need information and tools to make healthy decisions and we are simply not meeting that need.

Simply put, our young people deserve more.

# # #

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP) is a community-based non-profit organization providing advocacy, education and medical services for reproductive health care since 1934. In 2008, over 11,000 patients made 22,257 visits to UHPP health centers located in Albany, Hudson and Troy. UHPP health educators present over 500 education programs reaching over 6,000 youth and young adults each year. UHPP services are delivered with special concern for the underserved.