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MWC RECIPES 2011 (click on this link)
and the “Best of the Best” Winner is … Ted Biderman and his Stuffed Pork Chops!!
Abstinence Education Lowers Teen Births and Abortions
According to a new report issued by the National Center for Health Statistics the teen birth rate hit record low levels in 2009, the lowest level in 70 years. Among girls between the ages of 15 and 19, the birth rate fell to 39.1 births per 1,000 teens in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association says abstinence is the leading cause for the decline. She told the Washington Post “These trends show that the risk avoidance message of abstinence has ‘sticking power’ for young people…This latest evidence shows that teen behaviors increasingly mirror the skills they are taught in a successful abstinence education program.”
A key question when analyzing birth rate data is whether abortion caused the decrease of births. A report issued by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute in January 2008 showed abortion levels reaching historic low rates. The report shows the abortion rate for women age 15-44 down to 19.4 per thousand – lowest since 1974.
When media outlets reported the decline in the number of teen births, Dr. Michael New, a political science professor and researcher on abortion at the University of Alabama, said they should have placed emphasis on abstinence education. He wrote in National Review, “This focus on the economy as the reason for the teen-birthrate decline is rather puzzling.”
The media sources analyzed the decline by saying the slow economy has caused teens to think twice before giving birth or engaging in sexual activity.
Dr. New noted that “The early 1990s recession actually coincided with a temporary increase in the teen birthrate and the economic slowdown in the early part of this decade appeared to have little impact on the teen birthrate.
“A 2006 study by John Santelli, which appeared in the American Journal of Public Heath, found that during the late 1990s reductions in the teen-pregnancy rate were caused by both reduced sexual activity among minors and greater contraceptive use among minors,” New said. “However, one of this study’s flaws is that it assumes that minors will use contraceptives as reliably as adults. Since this is not likely the case, this study likely underestimated the impact of contraceptives for the reductions in teen sexual activity.” But New says abstinence education, as usual, received little in the way of credit for reducing the numbers.
Jeanne Monahan of the Family Research Council told the Post the de-funding of abstinence education may cause the numbers to go up: “With a change in policy away from abstinence education, we may expect to see a reversal of the teen pregnancy birth rate in the years to come.”
We need to continue to provide abstinence education to the youth of Iowa. Without federal funding our resources are temporarily limited. We expect that many friends like you will see the positive impact that abstinence education is having and will want to join our efforts by investing in the lives of our teens.
Dear Friends, February 14, 2011
HAPPY ST. VALENTINE’S DAY!!
We are so thankful for friends like you who love and care about the mission of Equipping Youth. A great big thank you to all who have become sustainability partners in our investment in children’s lives.
If you have not joined us in our great adventure of bringing the hopeful message of abstinence to all of the youth of Iowa THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO BE BLESSED! We are no longer a primarily federally funded organization but one funded entirely by local donations from individuals like you. Will you partner with us to continue and expand our vital work of equipping youth with the skills necessary to make the healthiest choices and to avoid the risk behaviors prevalent among teen??
YOU HAVE HELPED US TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT WORK!! Students are telling us that Powerful Choices is making a significant impact in their lives. Over the past 7 years 27,000 middle school aged youth have been in our Powerful Choices classes and have benefited from the character based abstinence lessons. Our lessons emphasize the benefits of waiting until marriage. In our surveys, youth wrote comments; the best Valentine they could present to their future love:
“I will abstain so I can have a better marriage”
“The best reason for me to remain abstinent until marriage is so I can give all of my best to my future marriage partner”
Our most recent research proved that participants of Powerful Choices lessons are significantly more likely to decide to wait to start relations meant for marriage as compared with control school students who had not participated in our classes. They also indicated that they had remained abstinent 12 months later. Powerful Choices curriculum has been taught in 27 Eastern Iowa Schools and 5 youth facilities. We have trained 70 teachers and youth leaders to teach Powerful Choices resulting in most schools continuing to teach Powerful Choices as part of their curricula for Life Skills and Health classrooms.
PLEASE PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER BECOMING A SUSTAINABLITY PARTNER FOR EQUIPPING YOUTH. We have continued to schedule classes for teachers needing our help, traveling to outlying communities when they call for help, and scheduling lessons in facilities of incarcerated youth.
EVERY DONATION IS USED FOR PROGRAMMING. We have dramatically reduced our budget by downsizing our staff to one paid educator. All office and accounting work is volunteer. We are blessed with several past employees who continue to teach as volunteers.
PLEASE HELP US REMAIN AVAILABLE TO OUR YOUTH! Any size donation is received as a blessing from the Lord and we prayerfully thank God for you, dear friends.
Ruth Anne Eccles MSN, Executive Director
118 3rd Ave SE / Suite 431 / Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 / 319.861.2747 / www.equippingyouth.org
November 4-10, 2010 Edition
“Teen Sex
With a rise in STDs among teenagers, will abstinence or prevention be the answer?”
