Prioritizing Parental Rights and Abstinence in Sex-Education

Education,

This is part of Family Council’s ongoing series outlining the importance of traditional family values in society. Today’s installment focuses on appropriate sex-education in schools.

Sex-education has been a topic of intense debate in Arkansas and across the country over the decades.

Family Council generally opposes so-called “comprehensive sex-education” programs, because they encourage teens to engage in immoral behavior, and research shows they are generally ineffective or even counter-productive.

Instead, we support abstinence education, which has a good track record in Arkansas and elsewhere.

Below are a few points to consider.

Respecting Parental Rights in Sex-Education

Parents are the primary educators of their children, especially when it comes to topics like sex, and the state must respect parental rights.

Parents should have the right to teach their values, beliefs, and morals to their children. Comprehensive sex-education programs can undermine parental authority and encroach on the values parents want to impart to their kids.

The LEARNS Act that Gov. Sanders recently signed into law actually addresses this point by letting parents review potentially-objectionable public school material before it is taught to their children, and the law lets parents exempt their children from the curriculum if they want.

Age-Appropriate Instruction in Sex-Education

Comprehensive sex-education programs often fail to tailor the information to the child’s age and maturity level. That means they may expose young children to explicit images or other inappropriate content.

The LEARNS Act that Gov. Sanders recently signed into law actually addresses this by prohibiting sexual material in classroom instruction before fifth grade.

This includes instruction regarding sexual intercourse, sexual reproduction, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

This component of the LEARNS Act is similar to legislation enacted in Florida and elsewhere addressing inappropriate sexual material in elementary schools.

Arkansas has other laws in place that promote abstinence education in public schools after fifth grade.

Abstinence Education is Linked to Healthier Lifestyles Among Teens

Family Council supports abstinence sex-education, in part because research shows that encouraging abstinence addresses more than STDs and unintended pregnancies.

According to the CDC, teenagers who practice abstinence are healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who are sexually active.

Sexually-active teens have been found to be less healthy and engage in riskier behavior.

In other words, abstinence is linked to healthier lifestyles overall.

Comprehensive sex-education programs often focus on contraceptives and risk reduction without encouraging abstinence as a viable option. This leads to riskier behavior among teens.

Abstinence Sex-Education Has a Good Track Record in Arkansas

In the 1980s and 1990s, public officials in Arkansas promoted comprehensive sex-education. The programs failed to have a meaningful impact on teen pregnancy and abortion in Arkansas.

These programs focused on teaching public school students about contraceptive use.

During that time, Arkansas’ teen birth rate remained high, and teenagers were among those most likely to have an abortion.

In 1997 the state switched strategies, promoting abstinence-based sex-education in public schools. The results were nothing short of staggering.

Teen birth rates and teen abortion rates in Arkansas plummeted.

From 1997 to 2003, the teen abortion rate fell by approximately 37%, and the teen birth rate fell by 16%.

Governor Huckabee’s abstinence-based sex education of the late 1990s and early 2000s was more than twice as effective combating teen pregnancy and teen abortion as Governor Clinton’s and Governor Tucker’s contraceptive-based sex-education programs.

Family Council was pleased to support Arkansas’ good abstinence education program.

Conclusion

Three decades of data shows that abstinence education doesn’t just work; it’s much better than the comprehensive sex-education programs that groups like Planned Parenthood promote.

Comprehensive sex-education may infringe on parental rights, encourage teens to engage in risky behavior, and expose children to inappropriate material at school.

When it comes to sex-education, the choice is clear: Teaching abstinence is the way to go.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Marijuana PAC Shows No Activity for First Three Months of 2023

Marijuana

A pro-marijuana political action committee in Arkansas has engaged in no activity so far this year, according to reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office.

Grow PAC represents the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association, a trade association for medical marijuana in Arkansas.

The political action committee filed its quarterly financial statement with the Arkansas Secretary of State last month, reporting no activity in January, February, or March.

In the past the group has donated thousands of dollars to candidates running for office in Arkansas.

As we have said many times, marijuana is a multimillion dollar business, and the corporations behind marijuana have a lot of money at their disposal.

While Grow PAC has been inactive in Arkansas so far this year, that could change as the 2024 election season approaches.

It is important to remember that so-called “medical” marijuana is far from “safe.”

Marijuana use — including medical marijuana — can impair cognitive function, memory, and attention — especially for teens and young adults.

Research also indicates marijuana use may affect coordination and motor skills — potentially increasing the risk of accidents and injuries.

And studies suggest that medical marijuana use during pregnancy may pose risks for unborn children. A 2021 study out of California found infants were 35% more likely to die within a year of birth if their mother used marijuana heavily; the study also found that infants were more likely to be born preterm, have a low birth weight, and be small for their gestational age.

Marijuana use is scientifically linked to heart diseases, according to the American Heart Association.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found adults under age 45 who frequently use marijuana are roughly twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack as adults who do not use marijuana.

And smoking marijuana on a regular basis is associated with chronic cough and phlegm production, and the American Lung Association writes simply that, “Smoking marijuana clearly damages the human lung.”

As we have said time and again, marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Planned Parenthood’s PAC Reports No Activity in Arkansas for Start of 2023

Abortion, , , ,

Planned Parenthood’s political action committee in Arkansas conducted virtually no activity during the first three months of 2023, according to financial reports filed last week.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas serves as the abortion giant’s political action committee in the state. The organization donates to candidates and causes that align with Planned Parenthood’s agenda.

In a report filed Thursday, the political action committee indicated it had no activity in Arkansas from January to March of this year, other than minor administrative activity.

The PAC currently has $12,075.90 on hand that it could give to candidates ahead of the 2024 elections.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been reversed and abortion is prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, groups like Planned Parenthood are turning their attention toward state elections and legislation.

With that in mind, Planned Parenthood could use its PAC in Arkansas to try to influence public policy or public opinion on abortion in the coming months.

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