Lobbying: It Doesn’t Have To Be A Dirty Word!
By Melodi, member of the Campus Organizing Team
During the political campaign season, lobbying sometimes seems like a dirty word. Lobbyists and their special interests are demonized, while Presidential hopefuls relentlessly deny any association with lobby groups backed by big money. However, lobbyists can be everyday people. Their special interests may not be buttressed by big money but by something equally as important—their own convictions.
In April, I attended an Advocates for Youth Comprehensive Sex Education training and Lobby Day with students from American University. Through this session, we learned about the history of sex education (or lack thereof) and the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act. We also developed the skills necessary to lobby. In the following paragraphs, I’ll do my best to recap what I gained from the lobby session. Then, I will put my lobbying skills to use in an attempt to encourage you to contact your senators and representative to support comprehensive sex education.
Our government has spent over $1.5 billion on abstinence-only programs, including over a hundred million in the last fiscal year. While policy makers have been busy supporting abstinence-only education, millions of teens have acquired STIs and thousands of young women have had unintended pregnancies—pregnancies that could have been adverted had they had better knowledge of and access to contraception and condoms. It is purely irresponsible to allocate such hefty sums of our money towards abstinence-only education.
The REAL Act takes an entirely different approach to sexuality education. The REAL Act was introduced by New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg and California Representative Barbara Lee. It asks for federally funded comprehensive sex education programs in US public schools. The act calls for health curricula that are science-based and medically accurate. It promotes the discussion of contraceptive use in addition to the practice of abstinence.
Unfortunately, only 93 Representatives and 14 Senators co-sponsor this bill. This means that there are still 428 Representatives and Senators who are unconvinced, indifferent or opposed to our need for comprehensive sex education. So, there are 428 elected officials who need a wake-up call and you and I should be the alarm. The REAL Act can become a reality if we lobby our Representatives and Senators and advocate for accurate sex education. Ask your Representative and Senators to co-sponsor the bill.
Lobbying demonstrates Advocates for Youth’s core values—Rights, Respect and Responsibility—in a unique way. Not only do we as youth have the right to comprehensive sex education, we also have the right to ask for it! After all, Senators and Representatives have a duty as public servants to listen to and do the will of the people. We are the people, which is why we deserve to be heard. We deserve respect as members of the public. As young voters and prospective voters, our voice matters just as much as older constituents.
Not only does society have the responsibility to provide us with the tools we need to protect ourselves, we also have the responsibility to make our wants and needs clear to those in power. They can only help us if we help them. This means we have to articulate our message—the necessity of comprehensive sex education—to our Representatives and Senators.
Even if you are unable to lobby your elected officials in person, write them a letter or an e-mail. Educate them—they aren’t experts! Teach them about the alarmingly high rate of teens with STIs and the number of unintended teen pregnancies. Show them that the REAL Act will significantly improve the lives of teens. Let your Senators and Representatives know [link to action alert] that the REAL Act is an opportunity for them to support youth and stand beside us—who can say no to that?
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