ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

MTV's Dr. Drew Pinsky Briefs Congress on Reality of Teen Sexuality

Experts and Teens Highlight Consequences of Censoring Lifesaving Information in the Classroom

WASHINGTON, DC (September 11, 2000) Citing the fact that each year in the United States more than 800,000 teens become pregnant and close to four million contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD), Dr. Drew Pinsky, physician and host of MTV/Music Television Network's Loveline, today briefs Congress on the need for comprehensive sexuality education, addressing the reality of teen sexuality.

"At a time when nearly half of all new HIV infections occur in those under the age of 25, American young people need to protect themselves from unintended pregnancies and disease. They deserve accurate and realistic information about sex through comprehensive sexuality education and Congress has a responsibility to give it to them," says Dr. Pinsky.

Dr. Pinsky joins teen editors from the award-winning newsletter and web site on health and sexuality, SEX, ETC., a project of the Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers University, in a Congressional briefing titled Teen Sexuality in Today's Culture, hosted by Advocates for Youth and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). The teen panelists will talk about the importance of honest, accurate information about contraception in helping young people make informed decisions.

"It is so important to reach fellow teens and tell them the truth about sexuality. So much accurate information is denied us due to our age and our puritanical society that a source of accurate, honest information is invaluable," says Ankur Dalal, Editor, SEX, ETC.

The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and more than 100 other medical and professional organizations all support comprehensive sexuality education. In fact, the AMA recently urged schools to "implement comprehensive, developmentally appropriate sexuality education programs" as part of an overall health education effort.

Teens and experts are not alone in supporting comprehensive sexuality education. Results of a recent Advocates for Youth/SIECUS nationwide survey conducted by Hickman-Brown Research, Inc., reveal an unprecedented level of public support for comprehensive sexuality education. Ninety-three percent of all Americans support the teaching of sexuality education in high school, while 84 percent support sexuality education in middle/junior high school.

"Research shows that comprehensive sexuality education helps young people delay the onset of sexual activity," says Tamara Kreinin, President of SIECUS. "And once they become sexually active, it also increases their use of contraception to prevent pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other STDs."

"Despite what the research shows, despite what teens say they need, and despite what the American public says it wants, Congress continues to dump taxpayer dollars into abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. In fact, this month Congress is voting on allocating an additional $50 million to these ineffective programs," says James Wagoner, President of Advocates for Youth.

Advocates for Youth and SIECUS call on policy makers to support increased funding for realistic, balanced sexuality education that provides young people with information about both abstinence and contraception. "This type of sexuality education is the very foundation of what works in teen pregnancy, HIV and STD prevention. The research is clear. It's not either abstinence or contraception - young people need both," concludes Wagoner.

Advocates for Youth and SIECUS are both national, nonprofit organizations working to help individuals make healthy and responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

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Note to Editors and Producers: For more information or to set up an interview with adolescent sexuality experts, please contact Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.

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