PROMOTE COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY LIFE AND SEXUALITY EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WHEREAS, in 1974 the AFT recognized the need for family life and sexuality education in public schools and resolved that locals demand that family life education courses address themselves to the full spectrum of family problems including varying perspectives on controversial issues; and

WHEREAS, children as young as 10 are giving birth, and the Centers for Disease Control have found that 10 percent of girls from 15-19 become pregnant each year, and according to Illinois Market Opinion Research Studies, 52 percent of ninth-grade boys and 37 percent of ninth-grade girls are already sexually active, and 20 percent have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by age 20; and

WHEREAS, the quality, extent and content of family life and sexuality education varies widely and, according to the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, no existing program has been shown to prevent most youth from engaging in sexual activity; and

WHEREAS, some public schools teach an abstinence-only curriculum that maintains that sexual relationships outside of marriage are physically and psychologically harmful, contains only negative information about contraceptives and discourages their use, instills fear in students with images of advanced sexually transmitted diseases and fails to prepare students to prevent pregnancy and disease when they become sexually active:

RESOLVED, that the AFT recognize that to prevent pregnancy and STDs, a comprehensive family life and sexuality education program should be taught that is free of religious bias, promotes abstinence during adolescence, includes responsible decision making and provides accurate, age-appropriate information on human sexuality and reproduction, methods of contraception and sexually transmitted diseases including Hepatitis B and AIDS; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT encourage the use of a comprehensive family life and sexuality curriculum that includes but is not limited to the promotion of abstinence; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT promote training and support for teachers to provide comprehensive family life and sexuality education accurately and comfortably at age-appropriate levels.