Let’s Talk about Sex (Education)

It is past time that Texas stopped promoting ignorance when it comes to protecting the health of young people. Today the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund is launching a new grassroots campaign to empower young Texans in advocating for responsible sex education. This new campaign will be a direct counter to the abstinence-only movement, which has recklessly but successfully ensured that the vast majority of Texas teens today remain ignorant about medically accurate information on how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

First some background:
Just four years ago, far-right groups worked with religious extremists to persuade the full Texas State Board of Education to adopt new high school health textbooks that, when it comes to sexuality education, fail to include a shred of information on responsible pregnancy and disease prevention. Those textbooks focus exclusively on abstinence from sex until marriage as the only strategy for avoiding pregnancy and STDs. Yet that same year, Texas became the state with the nation’s highest teen birth rate. In fact, the nation’s teen birth rate overall is rising again, and sexually active teens suffer from high rates of sexually transmitted infections.

Enough. Ignorance won’t protect our kids.

The TFN Education Fund is recruiting a team of youth activists to be part of a new Youth Leadership Council (YLC). The YLC will be composed of high school and college students from around the state who support and promote evidence-based, responsible sex education. Working closely with TFNEF’s Youth Advocacy Coordinator, council members will develop and implement strategies to advocate for responsible sex education policies in Texas.

Read more about the campaign here. Then help spread the word about this proactive strategy to return common sense to public education in Texas.