Recent reports say that 25 percent of all teenage girls in the U.S. have a sexually transmitted disease. This study is just the latest piece of evidence of a nationwide crisis in adolescent reproductive health - and unfortunately, the Bush administration continues to turn a blind eye to the problem. We need to get rid of the current deceptive approach of abstinence-only programs and put in place a federal sex-education program that gives teens the facts - including both the benefits of abstinence and the facts about safe sex and how to prevent the spread of STDs. The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act will do just that.
We took action on “Support REAL Sex Education Programs”
# 8,096:
12:43 am PDT, Mar 13,Samantha Kaden, California
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9:27 pm PDT, Mar 12,Leah Oleary, Pennsylvania
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5:40 am PDT, Mar 10,Kenneth Hoppe, Texas
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6:24 am PDT, Mar 9,Shersti Edwards, Texas
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5:29 pm PDT, Mar 8,Denise Dunlap, Virginia
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12:25 pm PDT, Mar 8,Victoria Gloster, Pennsylvania
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6:51 am PST, Mar 6,Name not displayed, Illinois
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1:22 am PST, Mar 6,Ben Teeter, California
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6:49 pm PST, Mar 5,Reda Karaliukas, Illinois
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10:54 am PST, Mar 5,Helene Vion, Denmark
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8:01 pm PST, Feb 23,Frigg Yggsdottir, Minnesota
Half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Real, honest, and scientific education is key to empowering young people about their reproductive health. Abstinence only is a proven failure. Look to successful progressive countries like the Netherlands for how sex education should be taught.
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4:22 pm PST, Feb 22,Michelle Brown, Virginia
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3:04 pm PST, Feb 21,Patrick Draper, Wisconsin
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6:24 am PST, Feb 21,Sabine Hetzenecker, Germany
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3:26 am PST, Feb 19,Lynda Harding, United Kingdom
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5:05 pm PST, Feb 18,Elizabeth Brown, Georgia
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11:17 am PST, Feb 16,Agostina Giobio, Florida
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9:33 am PST, Feb 16,Name not displayed, Massachusetts
As a teenager, I find it difficult to get accurate information about how to have sex safely. To much is focused on abstinence. Please help me and so many other teens find information so that if we make the decision to have sex we can do so safely and with full knowledge. Please support a federal sex ed program!
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10:34 am PST, Feb 13,Marcia Shivar, Ohio
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5:54 pm PST, Feb 12,Kellie Noffsinger, California
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1:18 pm PST, Feb 11,Leslie Blanchard, Texas
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1:11 pm PST, Feb 11,Amber Kelsey, Texas
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12:24 pm PST, Feb 11,Nathan Revercomb, Colorado
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10:59 pm PST, Feb 6,Name not displayed, New York
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7:58 pm PST, Jan 31,Sarah Fitzpatrick, Michigan
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6:32 pm PST, Jan 31,Nien Chen, Taiwan
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10:45 pm PST, Jan 28,April Widener, Alabama
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8:46 pm PST, Jan 28,Bruce Williams, California
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1:50 pm PST, Jan 26,Kelly Smith, Florida
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10:44 am PST, Jan 24,Alexander Volkodav, Illinois
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2:25 pm PST, Jan 22,Eternal Optimist, Australia
# 8,065:
7:18 pm PST, Jan 21,Helena Setiawan, California
Dear Senator,
I urge you to co-sponsor the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act (S.972), which would establish the first-ever federal sex-education program.
With recent statistics that 25 percent of teenage girls are infected with an STD, it is becoming increasingly clear that our sex education system is faulty. For years, Washington has flooded unproven abstinence-only programs with our taxpayer dollars, while no federal program is dedicated to honest, medically accurate sex education.
This huge financial investment in abstinence-only programs conflicts with scientific and medical research: abstinence-only programs are not proven effective and may result in riskier behavior by teenagers.
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Responsible sex-education programs, on the other hand, emphasize abstinence and contraception. Research shows that these programs have demonstrated positive results such as delayed initiation of sex, reduced frequency of sex, and increased contraceptive use among teens.
The federal government's focus on abstinence-only programs also runs counter to the preferences of parents, the clear majority of whom want their children to have medically accurate sex education. According to a 2004 survey, 94 percent of Americans think it is appropriate to teach young people about birth control.
The REAL Act will begin to correct this egregious imbalance in federal policy by funding medically accurate sex-education programs on par with what is currently being spent on unproven and misleading abstinence-only programs. As your constituent, I strongly urge you to co-sponsor this legislation and ensure comprehensive sex education for young people.
Thank you for your time.
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Sincerely,
Helena Setiawan
# 8,064:
10:55 am PST, Jan 20,Ashley Calderon, California
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7:57 am PST, Jan 20,Carrie Kistner, Connecticut
Abstinence is good, but HONESTY is best. You can't stop people, especially young people, from wanting to explore and experiment so give them every option available to prevent unwanted pregnancy and STDs. As the old saying goes - an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure!
# 8,062:
2:40 am PST, Jan 20,HAROLD WILLIAMS, Georgia
WITH THE PROBLEM OF ALL THE TRANSMITTED DISEASES THROUGH SEX A BETTER EDUCATION IN SEX MIGHT HELP STOP THIS AND THE UNWANTED PREGANCIES.
# 8,061:
2:15 pm PST, Jan 19,Gary Merenstein, Colorado
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2:44 am PST, Jan 18,Rosamaria Cisneros-Kostic, Wisconsin
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4:29 pm PST, Jan 16,Bob Reid, Indiana
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3:00 am PST, Jan 15,Ali Boraby, Ohio
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11:14 am PST, Jan 13,April Mosen, New Jersey
Better sex education needs to be taught in schools. This would prevent STD and unwanted pregnancies. They should also be taught about sex predators and what to do if an older adult, whether it be family member or friend or stranger pressures them into sex.
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7:37 pm PST, Jan 8,Janet Reed, North Carolina
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10:45 am PST, Jan 8,Name not displayed, Washington
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4:02 pm PST, Jan 7,Name not displayed, Australia
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11:49 am PST, Jan 7,Rachael Curtis, United Kingdom
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9:11 pm PST, Jan 6,Linda McBride, New York
While abstinence should be encouraged in sex-education curricula, it is not only foolish, but dangerous to ignore the fact that despite being encouraged by parents, teachers, and the clergy to abstain, children are engaging in sex acts at younger and younger ages. To allow them to enter these relationships without the knowledge that might protect them from the serious consequences of this behavior amounts to criminal negligence in my mind.
