New York Sun Addresses 'Media Gap' on Abstinence Education

Healthy Respect cited in column on positive aspects of abstinence

In an article about the benefits of abstinence education and the drawbacks of condom- based "comprehensive" sex education programs, New York Sun columnist Alicia Colon helped to address the "media gap" regarding abstinence curricula. According to the Sun, the paper reaches "150,000 of New York City's Most Influential Readers Every Day."

Ms. Colon's June 26th Sun column, "Abstaining as Protection," provided rare positive media treatment of abstinence education, and was published one day prior to yesterday's US Senate vote, by unanimous consent, to extend Title V Abstinence Education Funding through September 30th. The House still needs to take similar action before June 30th if this funding is to remain in place beyond Saturday.

"Abstinence programs often have to struggle for government funding, while teenage sex education programs promoting condom use are offered in all [New York] public schools, and no one thinks twice about which programs actually work best for our children," Ms. Colon commented.

In her column, Ms. Colon quoted at length the Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Respect John P. Margand, Esq., and provided a link to the Healthy Respect website.

"I am very concerned about the gap in media coverage of this issue as it relates to our children's health and future, " Mr. Margand is quoted as saying. "The media seems to embrace anti-abstinence news while ignoring evidence showing that abstinence education works. This is surprising, given that 'comprehensive' sex-ed programs receive nearly 10 times more federal funding than do authentic abstinence programs."

Ms. Colon's column drew from the recent federal study by the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, which detailed the shortcomings of the nine popular "comprehensive" sex education programs. See Study of Condom-Based Curricula Exposes Errors.

The facts of the study "won't be on the news or discussed at PTA meetings, but alarms should be going off in the heads of all parents," Ms. Colon wrote. "Their teenage children are in danger."

Click here to read Alicia Colon's New York Sun column.

Action Needed

What does this mean for abstinence education? What does this mean for abstinence education advocacy efforts? The simple answer is this - continuing contact and educational efforts to Members of Congress are vital. Even if the House follows the lead of the Senate, this three- month extension merely permits currently funded programs to finish their activities for FY2007.

Simply put, the battle to save Title V has been given a victory in an important skirmish, but the battle is far from over.

The next phase of strategy will be discussed during a nationwide conference call hosted by the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) on Friday.

Last Chance to Register for Friday's Conference Call

This call is open to all NAEA members. The NAEA members' conference call originally scheduled for Wednesday, June 27 has been rescheduled for Friday, June 29, 2007 at 11:00 AM EST in order to provide updates on all Congressional action made to reauthorize Title V Abstinence Education funding. This call will also outline the next phase of grassroots advocacy efforts on behalf of abstinence education.

Join the NAEA

This call is open to all NAEA members. To learn more about NAEA go to www.abstinenceassociation.org. To register for this call, simply follow these steps:

Email a request to be a part of the conference call at ConfCall@AbstinenceAssociation.org You will then be automatically registered for the call. The call in number and passcode will be sent to your inbox automatically.