284971
House bill 999: Adoption and implementation of state-mandated abstinence-only or comprehensive sex education curriculum in Mississippi public schools
Monday, November 4, 2013
: 12:30 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
La'Mont T. Sutton, BS,
Health Policy & Management, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA
DeMarc Hickson, PhD, MPH,
Center for Research, Evaluation, Environmental and Policy Change, My Brother's Keeper, Inc., Jackson, MS
Background: At 64.1 births per 1,000 teens ages 15-19 years old, Mississippi has the highest teen birth rate in the US, as well as the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea among US teens. Such findings are cause for growing public health concern as teen pregnancy and associated risk behaviors negatively impact Mississippi teens, particularly African American youth. In 2011, Mississippi legislators passed House Bill 999, a dual-option (abstinence-only or abstinence-plus) sex education bill that mandated that: 1) all public school boards adopt a sex-related education' policy by June 2012; and 2) all public school districts implement an abstinence-only program or comprehensive sex ed (abstinence-plus) program for the 2012-2013 school year. Methods: In order to examine adoption and implementation of House Bill 999, we conducted a policy scan of national and state policy briefs, reports, peer-reviewed articles, news articles, and online resources from leading sources, including the CDC, Center for Mississippi Health Policy, Mississippi State Department of Health, SIECUS, and the Women's Fund of Mississippi. Results: Although a state-wide randomized survey of Mississippi parents (N=3,600) found that 92.1% supported age-appropriate sex ed in public schools and 61% said that sex ed should begin in middle school, only 71 school districts adopted abstinence-plus programs, while 3 adopted abstinence-only programs for younger grades and abstinence-plus programs for older grades. In contrast, 81 school districts adopted abstinence-only programs. Conclusions: Supplementing abstinence-promoting skills with instruction/demonstrations of correct contraceptive use is critical to reducing teen pregnancy and STI transmission among sexually active Mississippi youth.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Describe results of a comprehensive policy scan related to adoption and implementation of House Bill 999, a state bill that mandated that: 1) all Mississippi public school boards adopt a ‘sex-related education’ policy by June 2012; and 2) all Mississippi public school districts implement an abstinence-only program or comprehensive sex ed (abstinence-plus) program for the 2012-2013 school year.
Keyword(s): School-Based Programs, Public Health Education and Health Promotion
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have conducted international and domestic research related to health and health disparities, sexual risk behaviors, HIV/STI prevention, and program evaluation among minority youth and other vulnerable populations for 15 years and have produced several publications in these areas.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
