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Home>Sexual Health> New Mexico To Use Federal Abstinence Education Funding for Elementary School Pro
New Mexico To Use Federal Abstinence Education Funding for Elementary School Pro
New Mexico Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday announced that the state next year will use its $500,000 federal abstinence education grant for sex education programs directed at elementary school students, the... Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Although Lujan Grisham said that abstinence will continue to be a "theme" in all public school sex education programs in the state, she decided to shift abstinence-only education to the younger grades because national research suggests that such programs work best among students who have not become sexually active, according to the New Mexican. Lujan Grisham's staff had encouraged her to continue to accept federal abstinence-only funding, but comprehensive sex education advocates had urged her to reject the funding. Lujan Grisham said students in grades seven through 12 should be taught about contraception and sexually transmitted disease prevention, topics that are not allowed to be discussed -- except with regard to contraceptives' failure rates -- in programs receiving federal funding (Heil, Santa Fe New Mexican, 4/9). "The most effective way to protect kids is to discourage them from engaging in sexual activity," Lujan Grisham said, adding, "However, the reality is some adolescents do engage in sexual behavior. To be cognizant of that fact and do nothing about it is unconscionable" (Associated Press, 4/9). According to a survey of New Mexico middle school students, 30% of eighth graders, 20% of seventh graders and 15% of sixth graders reported being sexually active (Santa Fe New Mexican, 4/9). The state Department of Health currently appropriates $500,000 in federal funding to six contractors who provide abstinence programs in nine counties throughout the state. Existing contracts will continue through the end of the school year, and the state will solicit new proposals from the contractors for the 2005-2006 school year, Lujan Grisham said (Associated Press, 4/9).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . ?2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
 
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