Abstinence-Only Education

Check out this funny video via Amplify and Advocates for Youth on taxpayer-funded abstinence only education.

Sex Ed Advocacy in NYC

On November 18, NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the National Institute for Reproductive Health hosted a roundtable to discuss the future of sex education in New York City. See photos here.

We also released our new report: "If You Expect Us to Make Healthy Decisions, We Need Sex Ed:" A Report on Sexuality Education in the New York City Public School System.

Young people talking about gender and sexuality

Reteaching Gender and Sexuality from PUT THIS ON THE MAP on Vimeo.

Congress introduces a bill to end abstinence-only funding!

Frank Lautenberg and Representative Barbara Lee have introduced a bill that would repeal Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program funding.

Take action with Advocates for Youth

Federal Grant Funding!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $155 million in teen pregnancy prevention funding to support the implementation of evidence-based and innovative teen pregnancy prevention programs. For a full list of grantees by state visit www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/09/teenpregnancy_chart.html.

LONGSHOT: Lured by new grant, some states reject abstinence-only funding

Check out this interesting article about states rejecting abstinence-only funding in favor of PREP.

New Funding Stream from OAH

The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has just announced the availability of funds for states to assist pregnant and parenting teens and women.

PREP vs. Abstinence-Only Education

A New York Times article this week compares abstinence-only education programs of past years to Obama's more comprehensive Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), which aims to help teenagers delay sexual activity and use protection if they do have sex. The $375 million over five years for PREP still comes with $50 million each year for abstinence-only education, however, even though abstinence-only programs have been demonstrated to be ineffective. Check out the article here.

SEANYC Meeting May 13

Save the date! The next SEANYC meeting will take place on Thursday, May 13 from 10am-noon. Stay tuned for details.

New NYC Condoms are here!

The new NYC Condoms are here! The new packages feature the simple but attractive image of a computer's "on" button. The condoms are available for free all over NYC. To learn where to find them, check out the city's website or call 311.

SEANYC Meeting March 18

Save the date! The next SEANYC meeting will take place on Thursday, March 18. Stay tuned for details.

New York City Condoms Contest

New York City Condoms are getting a new look! Finalists have been announced in a citywide NYC Condom Package Design Contest, and voting is open to the public until February 28. The current NYC Condom packages have a subway-inspired design, with letters and numbers in colored circles. Proposed new designs include a computer’s “on” button and an image of a subway train entering a tunnel. According to the New York City Department of health, the condom designs aim to “capture the city’s distinctive culture while promoting safer sex.”

Check out the finalists and vote for your favorite design HERE.

NYC condoms are available for free across the city. For more info about where to get free condoms, go HERE or call 311.

January 14th Meeting

Thank you to everyone who attended last week’s SEANYC meeting on January 14^th! We all discussed what our organizations are doing to improve sex education in New York. Check out the resources under the “Links and Documents” toolbar to get involved in getting comprehensive sex education in NYC. Don’t forget to participate in our photo campaign by taking pictures of you and your friends supporting sex education and posting it to our Flickr webpage!

The next SEANYC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 11^th at 10am. Stay tuned for more info!

Some National Sex Education Updates!

Recently, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 which takes several steps toward properly promoting and funding programs that will improve sexual and reproductive health for young people across the country! At the same time, the current health reform bill contains a dangerous amendment that would provide funding for abstinence-only programs.

For more information, check out a recent editorial in the New York Times, online here.

Read about another report about the misinformation around sex circulating among young people here.

**SAVE THE DATE**

The next SEANYC meeting will be on Thursday, January 14th at 10AM. Stay tuned for more details closer to the time!

To stay current on sex education, check out our documents and links section! Newsweek has recently written two great articles on sex education, "The Future of Abstinence" and "A Brief History of Sex Ed in American".

Today is National Comprehensive Sex Education Call-In Day!!

Even though Sex Education Month of Action is coming to a close, it isn't too late to get involved. Take Action! Call your local Senator TODAY and ask them to strip the Hatch Amendment!

The Hatch Amendment is an amendment that would have a serious impact on sex education in our classrooms. Voted into the Senate Finance Committee's version of healthcare reform 12-11, the Hatch Amendment lays out a $50 million funding plan to get failed abstinence-only programs back into our classrooms.

Call your Senators today to let them know that we won't allow them to slip funding for failed ab-only programs in to health care reform legislation. Strip the Hatch Amendment!

For more information, check out:

Choice USA's National Sex Ed Call-In Day Toolkit

RH Reality Check's Blog on National Sex Ed Call-in Day: Make Your Voice Heard

SIECUS' Sex Ed Month of Action information and opportunities

It was wonderful to have around 100 community members interested in getting comprehensive sex education in NYC schools!

On behalf of everyone at the Sex Ed Alliance of New York City, thank you for joining us last night at “Sex Education in the City”! It was wonderful to come together to learn about the current state of sexuality education and what we can all do to ensure that NYC’s young people receive the comprehensive, age-appropriate information they need to make healthy decisions.

We look forward to working with you all in support of comprehensive sexuality education!

In solidarity,
Sex Ed Alliance of New York City

Take Action!

1. Sign, circulate and mail-in SEANYC’s petition that calls for comprehensive sexuality education in NYC schools.

2. Sign, circulate and mail-in the REAL act petition.

3. Join SEANYC’s picture campaign and upload pro-sex education pictures of you and your friends.

4. Join Planned Parenthood of New York City’s “We’re Going to the Principal’s Office” campaign.

5. Write your US Senators and tell them to take the Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage funding amendment out of Health Care Reform.

Take action with the Sex Ed Alliance of New York City (SEANYC)!

1. Fan SEANYC on Facebook!

2. Check out SEANYC’s Flickr group and upload your pro-sex ed pictures.

Take action today!

Please join us at our community forum!

Community Forum

***SAVE THE DATE***

SEANYC will host a community forum in New York City on the evening of Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 from 6:30 to 8:30PM. The purpose of the forum is to raise awareness about the current state of sexuality education in New York City and to share opportunities to take action. The forum will take place in NCJW's auditorium which is located at 820 Second Ave, between 43rd and 44th streets. We hope you can join us!