Given the well-documented problems of teen pregnancy, teaching kids to just say no to sex may seem like a logical classroom activity. Oregon officials are finding it a great way to get federal funding, too. State health officials expect the federal government to provide $460,000 for abstinence programs later this month. The entire sum is slated for STARS (Students Today Aren't Ready for Sex), an abstinence program for sixth- and seventh-graders championed by Sharon Kitzhaber. Thanks to the federal money, which was allocated through the Welfare Reform Law, plus $280,000 in matching state funds, STARS plans to expand its programs from 18 Oregon counties to all 36. You might expect conservatives to be cheering. Instead, they're asking Congress to take the money back. While conservatives like the idea that STARS teaches abstinence and refuses to even mention condoms, some feel Oregon's proposal ignores the intent of Congress, which has set aside $250 million for abstinence-only education under the Welfare Reform Law. They say the message gets lost when other high-school sex-education programs provide information about contraceptives. Because STARS only reaches middle schoolers, "it is not an abstinence-until-marriage program," says Peter Brandt, director of the National Coalition of Abstinence Education. NCAE is currently measuring all 50 states' applications for the federal welfare money against a 12-point scorecard. Oregon, says NCAE, is one of the worst. "Oregon's application for the funds fails miserably," says Brandt, adding that his group plans to pressure Congress to punish the failing states. "Oregon will be a state that will be severely spanked." NCAE's comments reveal a strange role reversal in the national battle over sex education. Six months ago, it was pro-choice groups who were wringing their hands. Back then, many health workers worried that the provision in the Welfare Reform Law would lure federal and state money away from comprehensive sex-education programs that include contraceptive information. Worse yet, some sex educators feared that the money would unleash "fear-based" curriculums peddled by the moral majority. Called "Scared Chaste" by critics, these programs scare kids away from sex outside marriage by showing grisly, blown-up photos of STDs such as genital warts. Some states, including Oregon, even considered not applying for the funds. But eventually, all 50 states did file applications for the federal money, which will be doled out over the next five years beginning this month. Like Oregon, most states found creative ways to use the federal abstinence-only money without jeopardizing other traditional sex-education programs. Some have targeted the money at students ages 9 to 14. Others plan to invest heavily in media campaigns--from billboards to public service announcements. Noticeably absent from the state applications are high-school classroom abstinence-only programs. Pro-choice advocates, by and large, are happy with Oregon's plan. They like STARS and say abstinence is a worthwhile message, just so long as it's backed up with birth control information in the higher grades. The 1997 Oregon Legislature allocated $1.4 million to promote family planning and access to contraceptive services. Abstinence-only forces are pressuring federal officials to deny proposals that don't rule out birth-control education. But despite NCAE's objections, Oregon's application is on track. A spokesperson at the federal Office of Maternal and Child Health says Oregon's application seems fine and that the grant should be administered within the next few weeks. "We still don't have our letter saying we're going to get funded," says Donna Clark, of the Oregon Division of Health, "but we're hoping to hear soon." |
