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Time to Act for Healthy Youth
The Healthy Youth Act, a bill to offer parents the option of comprehensive sex education for their kids, has been floundering in the Senate long enough. It's time for them to do the right thing and pass this important bill without amendments that would limit parents' choice or diminish the comprehensive program.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Pass Healthy Youth Act Now
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
It's time for the Senate to act on HB 88, the Healthy Youth Act.
I live in your district and I believe that parents need to be given a choice for their kids to get comprehensive sex education that emphasizes abstinence but also provides accurate information on disease prevention. Current law denies them that option.
Please pass the Healthy Act now, and oppose any changes that would remove parents choice or diminish the comprehensive option.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
June 05, 2009
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The current abstinence only curriculum doesn't provide LGBT young people with advise on how to protect themselves from disease besides telling them to remain celibate their whole life. That's just not realistic!
33% (that's one-third!) of teenage girls who dropped out of high school said that they did so because they become parents.
In 2005, 48% of female high school students and 54% of male high school students in NC reported ever having sexual intercourse.
Roughly 50% of all new sexually transmitted infections occur among youth ages 15 to 24.
The Healthy Youth Act, as passed by the House, would create a dual-track system for the way that sex education is taught in North Carolina. It would allow parents to decide whether their teenager is enrolled in an abstinence-only program or an abstinence-based, comprehensive sex education program.
The Healthy Youth Act, as passed by the House, takes the politics out of the sex education debate. Parents, not politicians, should decide which program is most appropriate for their teen.
Numerous peer-reviewed studies have determined that abstinence-only programs DO NOT WORK while comprehensive sex education programs do. North Carolina teens deserve to learn accurate information in programs proven effective in changing behavior. This is information that could save their lives.
