In the scheme of things — considering American taxpayers’ preoccupation with the economy, war, a presidential election, and various other distractions — it’s unlikely that a lot of attention will be paid to one Utah family’s personal prosperity over the last twelve years thanks in part to their relationship with Heritage Community Services, Inc. a family-owned abstinence-only-until-marriage business  headquartered near Charleston, South Carolina.  Yet the stories of the savvy entrepreneurs who seized the opportunity to get-rich-quick provided by the rise of an abstinence-only-until-marriage industry continue to fascinate those of us who work in reproductive/sexual health. So meet Stan and Maryanne Weed….

When the Weeds filed the 1998 federal tax return for the Institute for Research & Evaluation, the nonprofit business they had created ten years earlier, they reported net assets of $2,086. The Institute operated out of the Weeds’ three-bedroom home at 6068 S. Jordan Canal Road in Taylorsville, Utah, just outside Salt Lake City and a stone’s throw from Taylorsville’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

By 2000, according to their IRS Form 990, they had established a relationship with Focus On The Family, a prominent Christian-right activist organization and an influential proponent of social conservative policy.  That same year, their program service revenues jumped to $254,826 and Stan and Maryanne Weed were paid $153,850. Around the same time, Heritage Community Services hired Stan Weed to document the effectiveness of their own abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum. According to IRS 990 filings, Heritage paid the Institute a lot of money over a series of years.

Fast forward to 2010, when the Institute for Research & Evaluation reported net assets of $1,067,640. What happened  between 1998 and 2010 to grow their assets by over $1 million is well documented on the Institute’s IRS 990 filings, which are available via Guidestar, www.guidestar.com and other public resources. The short story is that, as more and more federal and state funds — (that is to say, your and my tax dollars) — have been directed toward abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, Stan Weed has built a lucrative business out of his home by being the go-to- guy to “prove” that your homegrown abstinence-only-until-marriage programs work. If you are an abstinence-only vendor, attempting to convince your state government that you deserve another big grant, you absolutely love Stan Weed. His evaluations read like scholarly articles  —  (he earned a PhD at the University of Washington in 1978) — and so one must be willing to lift the veil to understand not only the shared ideologies between Dr. Weed and his customers, but also the symbiotic economic relationships (loads of revenue for both parties).

Why do we care? For starters, Heritage Community Services, Inc. is an aggressive organization that uses evaluations such as the above, as well as other means, to gain entry into South Carolina schools.  The more schools, the more potential revenue. The Charleston school district’s Health Advisory Committee, for example, is barely functional at this writing, due to a relentless campaign to undermine high school-level reproductive health instruction based upon evaluated, medically accurate age-appropriate curricula recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, as adults argue, point fingers and value greed over young peoples’ health, teens in Charleston’s high schools and high schools across the state continue to get pregnant.

If each side would agree to lay down their swords in the best interest of the state’s young people, the greater good, then perhaps we could agree to teach abstinence through middle school, but then teach science-based, comprehensive education in Grades 9-12, the time when more than half of our teens report becoming sexually active. Heritage Community Services and other abstinence-only-until-marriage vendors could maintain their revenue streams, however the quid pro quo would be that high school students finally get a consistently high-quality learning opportunity:  They could actually be taught about birth control and family planning. They would actually know how to prevent pregnancies.

Is this too much to hope for?

Despite recent declines in teen pregnancy rates in South Carolina, there still exist great disparities between the southern region and the rest of the country. A unique 10-state partnership has been established to charter a new course for sex education that will contribute to closing the disparity between the southern region and the rest of the United States when it comes to sexual health among young people. Still, too high teen birth rates in the region are accompanied by Chlamydia and Gonorrhea rates that are the highest nationally for both females and males and the region ranks 2nd in terms of HIV.

One of the key factors to this Southern sexual health disadvantage is the region’s focus on abstinence-only sex education, instead of a more comprehensive approach that also teaches about contraception and ways to prevent sexually transmitted infections and HIV.

The report also highlights opportunities leaders have to improve the sexual health of teenagers in the U.S. South through new federal grant programs that provide funding for the implementation of comprehensive programs. 

Click here to read the full report from Auburn University, “Sexual Health of Young People in the U.S. South: Challenges and Opportunities”

Four students asked if you could contract chlamydia from a public toilet seat. Two students wanted us to confirm that semen whitens teeth (it doesn’t, FYI). One student wanted to know if douching with Coke after sex will prevent pregnancy since her boyfriend refuses to wear condoms and she is scared to go on birth control. Another student said that she only participated in anal sex because she had heard that vaginal intercourse makes your “kooka” get big.

These students—overwhelmingly female, by the way—are college freshmen. These are 17 and 18 year olds that have been failed by their educational system. These are women who have not been given the proper information necessary to understanding their own bodies.

And here’s the thing: I wasn’t so much surprised by the misinformation that these girls had received as I was concerned about the potential consequences. What if we hadn’t given them the opportunity to ask these questions and they had continued to make critical decisions about their reproductive health based on half-truths and rumors?

There are so many components to reproductive health—public policy, advocacy, moral/ethical debates, etc.—and I always encourage my students to keep themselves informed. In my quest to get them to read up on current events surrounding healthcare, however, I failed to consider that they may not even know the basics of their own reproductive systems. Why would they care about legislation surrounding Plan B if they don’t even know the basics of fertilization?

Information is the answer. It is abundantly clear that our schools are not having the open, candid conversations about sex that need to be occurring. Where are our teenagers getting their reproductive health information?  While we continue to make progress in implementing more comprehensive sexual education programs in our schools, we need to ensure that there is an outlet for keeping the conversation going. If you’re looking for a great example of such a resource, check out The South Carolina Contraceptive Access Campaign and their newly implemented “sext” line. Let’s keep the lines of communication open, everyone. Let’s talk about sex.

In August of this year, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius released guidelines for the Affordable Care Act that will guarantee millions of women access to free birth control.   Keep an eye out for these changes to be implemented in August of 2012!

Looking at the most recently released data from DHEC, we can see a decline in the number of teen pregnancies in our state between 2009 and 2010.  In 2010, there were more than 750 fewer births to teen mothers than in 2009. We’re making progress!

There has also been a decrease in the number of AIDS and Gonorrhea cases seen across our state.  I am pleased to report that there was almost a 9% decrease in the number of AIDS cases seen in 2010 compared to the number of AIDS cases seen in 2009.  While there were still more than 7,000 cases of Gonorrhea reported across our state, there were 71 fewer cases reported in 2010 than reported in 2009. 

Although we praise a reduction in the reported cases of these health problems, we must remain aware that a huge problem still exists.  The number of cases of syphilis in our state has increased more than 20% over the past two years.  There were more than 26,800 cases of Chlamydia reported in South Carolina in 2010, which represents 1,000 more cases than in 2009.  Although the numbers are frightening, some of the increase in reported cases of Chlamydia can be contributed to increased rates of testing, a more sensitive test and an increase in the number of providers reporting cases. 

I present this story to each and every one of you with the confidence that you will each realize the need for a continued efforts aimed at improving reproductive health.  The results show that improvements are being made, but it will take the commitment of each of us to continue to advance the health of our communities.  Make 2012 an even larger opportunity of change!

It seems as if the education of this generation is still stuck in the ’50s, while the statistics are steadily climbing, especially among youth and women. Overwhelmed by the numbers, I had to sit and think about this for a moment. What could be the cause of this very preventable health crisis? After about five minutes I came to the conclusion a miniscule amount of people are actually speaking with children and young adults about sex and ways to protect themselves.

My friends and I began to discuss our experience in middle school one night after I brought this to their attention. We were plagued with myths and misinformation from friends and classmates. They were just as unknowledgeable as we were, yet thought they knew it all because of what they saw on television and heard from older siblings. It was amazing how wrong they were in the information they received and passed on to others.

One of the main pieces of information that was never spoken of was the use of a condom or other means of protecting themselves from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

It was even worse in high school. There was no formal reproductive health class until 10th grade. Instead my peers were still uninformed and participating in the same behaviors as before. The number of teen moms in my graduating class of 106 was astounding.

Adolescents are curious beings by nature and because their feelings of invincibility they participate more in high risk behaviors. It is our duty to teach them how to practice safe sexual behavior before they start. Beginning while they are young and continuing that education every quarter, semester, and year. Why are we waiting until after the fact? Prevention is the key and it begins with us. Parents, teachers, adults, and well-informed older siblings all must assume that our youth thirst for such information that’s skewed on television and in music. It’s not too late to start talking, start informing, start protecting adolescents from becoming the “accident waiting to happen.”

Shatericka is a member of the SWARM Council. To contact Shatericka or learn more about SWARM, please contact Tim Allen, Youth Activist Coordinator at tallen@newmorningfoundation.org.

At the time of all my sex education programs I had were in Laurens County.  Laurens is known for many things but low teen pregnancy and STI rates are not on the list.  So my experience might sound pretty crazy but I am glad that it brought me to Tell Them.  We started with Sex Education programs in 5th grade.  It actually started out really well. The school divided the boys and the girls and invited the girls’ moms and the boys’ dads to come to a little program they were having.  The program consisted of a video and a presentation about how our bodies were changing or about to change.  It was actually very informative, and factually accurate.  They answered all of our questions, and if we were too embarrassed to ask at the school we could talk more about it with our parents who had just seen and heard the same things we had.  The school also provided the girls with products such as shampoo, pads and deodorant. 

The only problem I saw with the program was that no one ever mentioned how the males’ bodies were changing.  I remember my best friend and I coming out of the event just absolutely hating boys! We were so mad that they got off so easy! (Now that I know more information I still feel like they get off easy but… moving on.)

In sixth grade we skipped right to how the fetus grows inside the mother’s womb.  It was very informative as well. The only problem was no one told us how the baby got there. They did use a few scare tactics.  Instead of having actual models of what the baby looks like at different stages they had sacks with beans in it to represent how much the fetus would weigh at each stage.  It was to show us that if we got pregnant we would have to carry around that much weight plus all the weight you gain when you’re pregnant anyway. 

Things really started to go downhill after sixth grade.  The science teacher who had given us all the information that was factually accurate, regardless as to whether parts of it were for scare, was not able to teach us the next year, so a school volunteer was asked to teach us.  She had no idea what she was suppose to say; she was not trained on the subject- she was just there to confuse us even more.  One girl asked where the baby grew and the teacher replied in your belly.  Come on now, we were 12 and 13, that’s how you talk to a 4-year old when they ask about pregnant women. That’s really the only thing that sticks out about the sex education program from that year. 

In eight grade the computer teacher taught our sex ed class, by the way she was also the mother of one of the girls in the class so obviously she was completely for abstinence only.  One girl asked about something she had seen on T.V and teacher replied “That’s only something that married couples do.”

 Then came high school where we were taught sex-ed by the gym teachers.  In the 1980’s, Laurens District 55 High School was at the top of the nation for high pregnancy rates and honestly not a whole had changed by 2004 when I was there and I definitely know the reason why.  The program started with us watching a Lifetime movie about a girl who had a baby at a young age.  Then we watched a movie about a girl who got syphilis. Then we watched a clip from the 70’s about a girl going to her doctor to get tested for STDs.  Do you see where I’m going with this?

Apparently everything bad that happens is the girls fault since those are the only movies we watched.  We were never given any information, we weren’t even really told not to have sex. I think it was suppose to be implied by the movies that sex only leads to bad things.  We were never taught healthy relationships or when is a good time to have sex and when was not. I was actually never even taught what sex was to be honest; I just knew only bad things came from it.  I never learned any technical terminology and to this day I still get picked on for not knowing certain words.

The program at Laurens definitely scared me into never wanting sex because I knew absolutely nothing about it.  When I moved to Spartanburg all my friends were in sex-ed but I had technically already had “sex-ed.” They knew all kinds of terms and all the stages of the fetus life from egg and sperm to zygote and so on, however they did not learn about healthy relationships and contraceptives.  They mainly learned the biological side of things.

A very high percentage of people (boys and girls) that I went to Laurens with ended up pregnant. In fact I know 2 girls who have 3 children each and they are only 21. This is a big issue! People need to know the facts before they make decisions.  People are provided with all sorts of other facts on how to make healthy decisions why can’t this be one of them? I mean we’re talking about bringing other human beings into the world. I just feel really strongly about this issue and I am so glad that God answered my prayers and sent Tell Them to help me become more involved.  See, God knows it’s an issue too.

 I was first introduced to reproductive health anatomy in 5^th grade which expanded to be all inclusive Abstinence PLUS curriculum taught throughout middle school and high school. My most vivid memory was of my freshman heath teacher’s condom demonstration. We may have all giggled about it, but every student knew what a condom was, and the importance of using it to protect yourself and others. Not only did we learn about contraceptives but my teacher shared her personal stories of sex ed when she was growing up. I remember she talked about a boy she really liked and wanting to “hook up” with him, but knowing that it was important to protect herself first and foremost. She kept it very real for all of us by sharing her own testimony of being face to face with a difficult situation and how to make smart, informed decisions about one’s body.

To be clear, having the knowledge of how to protect myself did not cause or encourage me to become sexually active at a young age.

Part of what is missing for sex ed in South Carolina, is chain of caring teachers who are READY and WILLING and ABLE to give youth ALL of the reproductive health tools needed over time. I am incredibly thankful to have had such an open door experience with sex ed growing up. It is what all youth need and deserve. It is the only way we can ensure that the future leaders of our communities have the chance to become future leaders.

As a parent, you must prepare yourself to have “the talk” with your children.  Each child poses a new opportunity to be proud, entertained, appalled, or down right flabbergasted.  I am remembering a time when my oldest daughter was 10 and she asked me as we’re driving away from after school programs: “Mommy, what does sex feel like?” 

This was one of those flabbergasted moments.  A critical time in which my answer hangs in the balance of her first initiated conversation about sex.   Should I downplay the question or use it a teaching moment?  I decided to be brutally honest.  I told her, “Well Baby.  Sex feels good.”  I couldn’t think of anything else to say.  I was not ready for that kind of question. 

She was in the fifth grade and studying sex education in school. I was ready to answer some technical questions but not this.  I had been discussing sex with her since she was 6 and wanted to know where baby’s came from.  Until now, I was always able to get by with the relationship and good decision making conversation. 

Now in 4 short years,  I may have to get specific and possibly graphic.  True to form, my child made me proud.  She recalled and we talked about why sex felt good to me and why it wouldn’t feel good to her at her age.  We talked pregnancy and diseases and the myths she might hear from her friends.

Eleven years later, I am the proud grandmother of 9 week old granddaughter, Cassidy Jordan.  I would like to think that day driving home made a positive impression on my daughter.  It did help me understand that “the talk” is an ongoing dialogue.  My 2 younger children are benefiting from years of practice with their older sister.  The best advice I can give other parents is stay educated on sex facts and myths.  Have “the talk” dialogue early and often.  You may not realize it now but your kids are listening.

What if we felt comfortable talking to each other, to our health professionals, to our mentors about our sexual choices and health? If we understood the benefits and risks of beginning sexual activity, our options for contraception, and the importance of getting tested regularly, what kind of taboo-lessened world would result for our teens and young adults?

These questions don’t have to go unanswered, and a world in which teens feel comfortable doing these things is within reach. We just have to tell them- our legislators, our friends, our editors, our decision-makers, that we care about having age appropriate, comprehensive sex education in our schools to get the dialogue about sex started.

In a perfect world, teenagers would practice abstinence, people would mate responsibly and safely, and all pregnancies would be planned pregnancies. It’s a nice idea and an impossible ideal under our state’s current laws.  The South Carolina Comprehensive Health Education Act, or CHEA, requires that sex education only include instruction on contraception as it relates to future family planning within the legal confines of marriage. It dictates that sex outside of marriage, sexual activity that is unrelated to reproduction (recreational sex), and homosexuality only be couched in terms of risk of disease. This blatantly heterosexist law is harmful to all children, especially GLBTI kids.

The messages that gay, lesbian, and bisexual kids receive through sex education are that they are doomed to pestilence and plague if they become sexually active. Further, the only sanctioned sexual union exists in the context of marriage, a legal privilege to which same-sex couples do not have access. Experiencing sex is part of human health, and to teach gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to deny that wonderful gift of human experience robs them of the opportunity to lead whole, fulfilling lives. It forces feelings of isolation upon this incredibly vulnerable group of teens, relegating them to an underclass. Isolation is a deadly feeling for teens, a fact that was made abundantly clear through media coverage of the spate of suicides among gay teens last year. A recent study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that social environment and the supportiveness of the communities in which GLBTI teens live has a significant impact on suicide risk.

Almost five years ago, the South Carolina School Board was engaged in the creationism versus evolution debate. During one of those well-publicized meetings, the board deliberated over a paragraph in an ancillary health workbook that discussed homosexuality in a positive manner. The paragraph stated that homosexuality was no longer considered a mental disorder and that GLB children needed support though the coming out process. Citing language in the CHEA, board members voted to manually remove those pages from each workbook- not exactly a best use of state education resources. One board member stated in her gentle southern drawl that, “I, as a mother, feel that I represent all South Carolina mothers when I say that I don’t want my child to think homosexuality is acceptable.”

The CHEA refers to homosexuality as “alternate sexual lifestyles from heterosexual relationships,” language which is problematic and inaccurate, at best. I choose to engage in monogamous relationships, exercise three days per week, and play music in a band. Those are lifestyle choices. To reduce sexual orientation to only the sexual activities in which one engages ignores the importance of who one loves, how one loves, and the effect that love has on how one lives. That being said, where can GLBTI people access medically-accurate sex education resources?  Sadly, not in many healthcare settings.

I work with a young intersex woman who has shared horror stories about being treated like a lab rat by her doctors. Oftentimes, intersex newborns undergo sexual reassignment surgery to become, typically, female. Many intersex people view these surgeries as a form of genocide. It is estimated that 1 in 1500 babies are born intersex, a huge population of people whose interests remain vastly underrepresented in sex education and healthcare.

My own experience with gynecological care has been frustrating. Each time I have gone through the intake process, I have been questioned about why I am not on birth control or why I do not use contraception. There is a general lack of information within the medical community about sexually transmitted disease among women who have sex with other women, and none of my doctors have ever informed me of safe sex options for lesbians (there are options: http://www.avert.org/lesbians-safe-sex.htm). 

The best sex education curriculum I have seen is a program of the Unitarian Universalist Association called “Our Whole Lives.” Through this program, I was invited to speak to a group of middle school students about sexual orientation and gender identity. Discussing sex with a group of children (they looked like babies) was one of the most embarrassing, difficult, uncomfortable, and necessary things I have done in my work. This program offers information about healthy sexuality that encourages abstinence, while offering masturbation as an alternative to sex. The abstinence-only-until-marriage model of sex education implies that masturbation is shameful. I encourage anyone who works with youth to refer to the “Our Whole Lives” curriculum for comprehensive sex education resources.