Our children need to have comprehensive sexual education
The state House has an opportunity to make a substantive improvement in the education of Pennsylvania's youth. HB 1163, The Healthy Youth Act, would create minimum standards for sex education in our public schools. This bill would ensure that, finally, all Pennsylvania youth would receive age-appropriate, medically accurate information that can arm them with the necessary information to make healthy decisions.
Our youth are paying the price for the failed abstinence-only until marriage education. Not only have teen birth rates risen, but the Centers for Disease Control released the shocking statistic that one-fourth of our teenage girls are infected with a sexually transmitted disease. This is a public health crisis that demands a public health solution.
Education has proved effective in reducing tobacco and drug use. We need the same kind of educational outreach to teach our youth how to protect themselves from these harmful infections. The Healthy Youth Act would teach the health benefits of abstinence as well as contraception. This comprehensive sex education approach has wide backing: 83 percent of Pennsylvania voters support teaching comprehensive sex education over abstinence-only programs.
As the parent of two teenagers, I urge all representatives to vote in favor of this important legislation.
TERRI KLEIN
Squirrel Hill
Our youth are paying the price for the failed abstinence-only until marriage education. Not only have teen birth rates risen, but the Centers for Disease Control released the shocking statistic that one-fourth of our teenage girls are infected with a sexually transmitted disease. This is a public health crisis that demands a public health solution.
Education has proved effective in reducing tobacco and drug use. We need the same kind of educational outreach to teach our youth how to protect themselves from these harmful infections. The Healthy Youth Act would teach the health benefits of abstinence as well as contraception. This comprehensive sex education approach has wide backing: 83 percent of Pennsylvania voters support teaching comprehensive sex education over abstinence-only programs.
As the parent of two teenagers, I urge all representatives to vote in favor of this important legislation.
TERRI KLEIN
Squirrel Hill