FPA in the News: 2006

The Times Union

“Advocates Tout Sex Education”

By Colin McDonald

4.4.06

"If I take birth control, that's going to stop me from getting STDs, right?"

For Albany High School sophomore Quanierra Foulks, a volunteer peer educator, such a question about sexually transmitted diseases is common. That's one reason she was at the Capitol yesterday to call for more comprehensive sex education in public schools.

Foulks, along with members of Family Planning Advocates of New York State, gathered to support the Healthy Teens Act, which would give schools state grants for age-appropriate and medically accurate sex education. It passed the Assembly for the second time on Monday, 126-15. The Senate has yet to vote.

New York, the FPA says, has one of the nation's highest teen pregnancy rates -- about 91 per 1,000 girls age 15 to 19, or some 40,000 cases in 2003.

Schools are required only to teach students about HIV and AIDS, and parenting. At most schools, sex education is part of health or physical education courses.

"It is clear that the abstinence-only programs are not good enough and we need to speak to our teenagers about sex education," said bill sponsor Sen. Nick Spano, R-Yonkers. Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, sponsored it in the Assembly.

This year's budget allocates just over $7.5 million in federal and state money for abstinence education. Another $5 million in federal funding goes to community organizations providing abstinence-based education.

Foulks and fellow mentor Nina Felix said a student's education depends on how comfortable teachers are talking about sex and how much they allow for it in a curriculum. With flexible schedules and independent study, it also is possible for students to graduate from high school without taking sex education classes.

At Albany High, peer educators like Foulks help by leading workshops and providing counseling for other students through a program organized by Planned Parenthood called STARS -- "Seriously Talking About Responsible Sex."

If the bill passes, programs like STARS, which currently is sponsored by grants from the state health department, could apply for funding.