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The New Morning Foundation, A South
Carolina reproductive health advocacy organization, commissioned a report on
the 25 years since the passage of the South Carolina Comprehensive Health
Education Act (CHEA). The act, which was passed in 1988, was meant to
standardize health and sex education in public schools. It also clarified who
has the authority to approve instructional materials and that school boards may
offer professional development to CHEA teachers.
The report found that 75 percent of
the state’s school districts were noncompliant with CHEA. Tell Them, a
grassroots e-advocacy network, felt that the act had failed statewide because
of specific weaknesses, including no objective evaluation processes and no way
to verify that students are learning certain facts and that teachers are
spending enough time explaining the basics of reproductive health. Tell Them
also asserts that there is no way to verify that the sex education lessons are
based on medically accurate facts and evidence-based materials rather than
personal opinions, religious beliefs, and other non-scientific perspectives.
Emma Davidson, manager for strategic mobilization at Tell Them S.C., commented
that the report found a lot of school districts did not understand what CHEA
required of them. She considered the act to be a very vague law passed with the
best of intentions, which would be amazing if all the components were really
implemented and coordinated properly, but that it requires very little
accountability.
Aiken County is one of 22 districts
found to be compliant without any violations. Dr. Tim Yarborough, Aiken
County’s high school academic officer, stated that the biggest challenge is
allocating time for students. He noted that even though the requirement for
reproductive health education is only 12.5 hours, it required foresight and
planning. Yarborough also stated that the funding does not allow the district
to do much beyond the required levels.
South Carolina ranks among the top 10
states in the country for the highest case rates of AIDS, chlamydia, and
gonorrhea, and 12th nationally in teen births.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
