State widens teaching of abstinence

Governor Mitt Romney yesterday announced that the state will funnel nearly $1 million in federal funds to a faith-based organization to teach abstinence to public middle school students in a dozen more communities across the state.

''We teach sex education, but there's no portion of sex education which talks about the advantages of waiting. . . ." said Romney. ''We're saying let's provide an opportunity for parents and school districts to add abstinence to the curriculum. It's not abstinence only. It's abstinence also."

It will be the first time that the state will spend federal abstinence education funds in Massachusetts for classroom programs. The state has received $700,000 in abstinence money yearly since 1998, but the money has gone only toward a media campaign urging teens to wait before having sex.

The money will now go to Healthy Futures, a Boston-based agency that already runs abstinence programs in several dozen schools across the state. The program, free to the school districts, will be available to schools in 12 communities with high numbers of teen births, including Boston, Lawrence, Lowell, and Lynn, said Rebecca Ray, Healthy Futures program director. The group, which currently gets some federal money directly, will contract with another agency to offer similar programs to students in the western part of the state.

With the new grant, the number of students who take part in Healthy Futures classes will nearly double over the next two years, from 5,500 to 9,000, Ray said.

Healthy Futures describes its mission as promoting sexual health through abstinence. It is one of a growing number of federally funded agencies that urge teenagers to wait until they are married to have sex. The group, the largest of its kind in Massachusetts, was formed in September 2002 by A Woman's Concern, a pregnancy health services agency, that lists its guiding principles on its website as the importance of the gospel, the sanctity of human life, and the soundness of sexual purity, marriage, and family.

Romney, who is considering a possible presidential bid and looking for the support of social conservatives, made yesterday's announcement at Boston Latin School, which brought in the program three years ago and where it has sparked controversy among some parents.

Parents of eight students opted not to have them participate out of 800 students, said Malcolm Flynn, assistant headmaster. Some Latin parents interviewed yesterday said more than 20 parents have complained to school administrators about Healthy Futures' focus on abstinence and its religious origins.

''A Woman's Concern uses an abstinence-only until marriage sex ed curriculum," said Mindy Fried, whose daughter is a Boston Latin freshman. ''They're driven by a right-wing, Christian agenda, which to me is problematic. They talk about condom use being ineffective, so the curriculum is really misguiding kids. Most parents of course want their teenagers to delay sexual experiences, but that's not a reality. We need a curriculum that's broader than abstinence-only."

Some students have concerns, too, about the voluntary class.

Natalie Cucchiara, a Boston Latin senior and co-president of the Boston Student Advisory Council, said she and her classmates were given a handout picturing a fireplace during one Healthy Futures class. ''They were comparing sex to fire and telling students to keep sex in the fireplace," she said. ''Looking back on it now, we were treated like children. I feel we were mature enough to learn about other things."

Cucchiara said she generally supported the program, which did not mention religion, but wished it taught other ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy -- not just abstinence. Boston public school officials said students throughout the system, starting in sixth grade, are offered regular health education programs that include lessons about contraception.

On its website, Healthy Futures describes the topics covered in its classroom programs, made up of one-hour presentations on five consecutive days. Sixth graders are taught about friendship, choices and consequences, identity, romance, and skill building. Topics for older students include goals and choices, abstinence, physical and emotional risks of adolescent sexual activity, relationship education, and skill building. Students are taught ''refusal skills" -- ways to strengthen their willpower so they can withstand the pressure to have sex.

The pregnancy rate for girls age 15 to 19 in Massachusetts, 60 per 1,000 girls, ranked 11th lowest in the country in 2000, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The 31 percent decline in the Massachusetts rate between 1992 and 2000 was the fifth steepest in the country, the campaign said.

In a debate taking place here and across the country, supporters argue that abstinence-focused programs reduce the incidence of teen pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and teenage depression. Opponents say teens are going to have sex anyway and that by not teaching them to use condoms and other contraception, the programs increase the risk of pregnancy and disease.

''It is not abstinence only, or a 'Just Say No' campaign," said Ray of Healthy Futures. ''Sexual activity causes an extreme amount of pain for adolescents. Healthy Futures helps adolescents understand that the decisions they make can affect their long-term future."

Foes of the program yesterday accused Romney of misleading the public by saying the program is not advocating ''abstinence only."

They said they will push an amendment to the House budget, which will be debated next week, that would prohibit the use of state or federal funds on such programs. The amendment, sponsored by Representative Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat, has 22 co-sponsors, they said.

Federal guidelines state that money will be available only for programs that teach that abstinence is the ''expected standard" for all school-age children.

''These programs are ideologically driven and deny medically accurate information to young people that puts them at risk," said Angus McQuilken, spokesman for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

Patricia Quinn, director of public policy at the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, said while Romney says schools will add the program to existing sex education curricula, in many Massachusetts communities Healthy Futures will probably become the only sex education program available because state budget cuts eliminated $28 million a year for health education in schools.

But some communities say they may not take the program, even though it is free to them.

Michael Moriarty, vice chairman of the Holyoke School Committee, said the committee is in the midst of reviewing the school system's sex education curriculum and will carefully review the Healthy Futures program.

''Our board is pretty committed to comprehensive sex education," Moriarty said. ''When we say comprehensive, we mean we're talking about basic reproductive functions and contraceptives to avoid STDs. Pure abstinence is on one extreme range of the gamut, and probably not one that is a good fit for a community like Holyoke."

Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com, and Tracy Jan at tjan@globe.com.