Urge your legislators to support age-appropriate sex ed
This is back to school time for children across the state. Along with reading, writing and arithmetic, North Carolina public school students will also have courses in "healthy living," which includes sex education.Sadly, for 90% of our young people, the sum total of their sex education will include an "abstinence-only-until-marriage" message that disregards education on contraception, sexual assault prevention, and disease transmission and protection. As a result, North Carolina still has the ninth-highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, costing our taxpayers an average of $312 million per year. On our college campuses, HIV infection rates are at a record high. So why aren't our legislators prioritizing the health and well-being of our state's children? During the 2007 legislative session, bills were introduced in both the House and Senate to revise our current state law to allow, with a parent's permission, school districts to teach an abstinence-based comprehensive sex education program. Despite the valiant efforts of our bills' sponsors and coalition partners, the bills were never heard in the Senate and died in committee in the House. Please contact your legislators and tell them how disappointed you are that these bills were not heard, and urge them to support this legislation next session!
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