Learning to say no

By MARY RAINWATER
The Palestine Herald

PALESTINE September 20, 2008 10:59 pm

— While youth today seem to be bombarded by the media with what many consider a glamorized version of sex, the real consequences of teen sexual promiscuity are not so pretty.
To help combat and prevent teen sex, pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases (STD’s), Living Alternatives of Palestine is bringing an abstinence-based sex education program to students at Westwood Independent School District.
“While Living Alternatives is about helping young women who are facing pregnancy, our board wanted to do something more preventative,” Living Alternatives director Dana Morgan said during an interview last week. “And the best way to do that is to catch teen-aged students before they become sexually active.”
Local volunteers — including medical professionals, educators and youth workers — will be leading the program, called “Worth the Wait,” for WISD’s seventh, eighth and ninth grade students this fall, with a session planned for sixth grade students in the spring.
“The program will be presented to Westwood Junior High students in 10 45-minute sessions held weekly beginning this Friday,” Morgan said. “Ninth grade students will participate in the program during eight sessions held Monday through Thursday beginning Oct. 6.”
According to Morgan, “Worth the Wait” is an abstinence-based sex education program and curriculum developed by Dr. Patricia Sulak, a practicing OB/GYN with Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic.
“The curriculum is conservative,” Morgan explained. “It teaches that abstinence is the best choice in preventing teen pregnancy and STD’s.”
Topics covered in the program include: Emotional Needs, STD’s and Other Facts, Puberty/Anatomy Review, Pregnancy, Sexual Limits and Goal Setting, Refusal Skills, Sex and the Law and Making Good Choices.
According to Morgan, parents are not being left out of the program. They are asked to be involved with their student through the use of “discussion worksheets” sent home after each session.
“We are just presenting the medical and scientific facts about sex to the students,” she said. “It is up to the parents to instill in their teen their own morals and values about the issues.”
A special meeting for parents is will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Westwood Junior High Cafeteria. A short presentation and question and answer session are included in the meeting.
WISD Superintendent Dr. Ed Lyman was pleased to have the “Worth the Wait” program brought to the district, and hopes that it will serve as a positive step in the prevention of sexual promiscuity among teenagers.
“I believe it is important that teens understand the consequences of sexual promiscuity,” Lyman said. “There are more than just physical consequences — there are emotional and financial costs as well.
“There are a lot of glamorous, but false, messages out there about sex,” he added, “and we hope this program serves to contradict those messages and help students make the right choices.”
Morgan said that WISD was chosen as a test site for the “Worth the Wait” program and she hopes that other Anderson County districts will welcome it to their schools in the future.
“There are state and federal grants available to pay for these community-based abstinence education programs,” she said. “We hope to get one and continue the program at another district in the fall of 2009.”
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Mary Rainwater may be reached via e-mail at mrainwater@palestineherald.com
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On the Net:
Worth the Wait, http://www.worththewait.org/
Living Alternatives, http://www.palestinepregnancyhelpcenter.com/