Sex Education

How to Cook a Frog
The deceptive Hollywood culture has infiltrated the perception of marriage and family. Kami Mueller talks about the dire effects of poor programming on families, and presents examples of positive redeeming media. (Winter 2012)

True Love Does Wait
In a succinct look at the correlation of marriage and sex, Paula Rinehart discusses the benefits of delaying sex until marriage. (Winter 2012)

The Myth of Sexual Liberty
Mary Summa using history and law to counter the worn out argument that liberty guarantees rampant unencumbered access to any and all sexual activity. (Fall 2011)

Eroding Boundaries
College students face one of the most treacherous environments for keeping and nurturing a strong moral life. William Roach outlines the historical and intellectual reasons for this scenario and offers suggestions for pastors and parents to help stem its tide. (Summer 2011)

Informed Consent
As science expands the window to life in the womb, mothers considering an abortion should be protected by an Informed Consent law, ensuring they have all the relevant facts about their child and the procedure. (Spring 2011)

Teen "Sexting"
Alysse Elhage details the proliferation of teen sexting, its emotional, psychological, and legal consequences, and offers suggestions for how parents and policy leaders should respond. (Summer 2010)

The Healthy Youth Act: What It Means for Sex Education in North Carolina
The future of AUM education in North Carolina depends on two key factors: 1) the willingness and ability of AUM educators to teach the requirements of the Healthy Youth Act (HYA) in a manner that does not promote sexual activity; and 2) the willingness of school districts and local communities to continue to support and fund authentic AUM programs. Both factors hinge on an understanding of the HYA in the broader context of current North Carolina law regulating sex education instruction. This paper provides an analysis of the HYA, including what remains intact from the 1995 law, along with an examination of the most controversial provisions of the HYA that could be used to challenge AUM programs. (October 2009)

Ten Reasons to Keep Abstinence Education in N.C.
In light of recent and ongoing attacks on abstinence-until-marriage educaiton, Alysse ElHage offers ten reasons why schools should continue to offer abstinence education to their students. (July 2009)

Emergency Contraception
Alysse ElHage investigates the ease with which women can obtain emergency contraception and explains how this controversial drug could be causing abortions. (May 2009)

Undermining Abstinence
Amanda Abott presents the current state of abstinence until marriage education in North Carolina's public schools and determines how much school curricula actually promote abstinence. (January 2009)

Myths and Misconceptions: Behavioral Genetics and Homosexuality
Douglas A. Abbott, Ph.D., Professor of Child Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska, writes about the misconceptions regarding the existence of a "gay gene." (September 2007)

Abstinence Until Marriage. or Comprehensive Sex Education
Abstinence Education has been criticized by some as not being "comprehensive" enough. Alysse ElHage writes about the difference between Abstinence Education and Comprehensive Sex Education and why Abstinence education is not only the best alternative, but is more "comprehensive" than Comprehensive Sex Education. (May 2007)

Why Abstinence Education Works
Reports in the news question the worthiness of abstinence education. Specifically, Abstinence Until Marriage curricula is under attack in many states by those who favor comprehensive sex education. Lost in the debate is the value of abstinence education, writes Traci Griggs. (May 2007)

Gay Straight Alliance Clubs: How Homosexual Student Organizations Harm our Schools
While claiming to be harmless clubs that offer support to struggling youth and fight harassment, Gay Straight Alliance Clubs promote a message of sex and homosexuality that puts public school students at risk while undermining parental moral and religious teachings. This paper explains why North Carolinians need to be aware of the dangers of GSAs and prepared to develop policies and laws that prevent GSAs from endangering children. (November 2006)

Conscience Clause Protection: Should Pharmacists Have a Right to Choose?
Depending on the policies of their employer, pharmacists can be forced to dispense medications that violate their religious beliefs, such as emergency contraception. Refusing to dispense emergency contraception and to refer a customer to another pharmacist who will do so—even for moral, religious or ethical reasons—could mean the loss of a job. Do pharmacists have a constitutional right to refuse to dispense medications that violate their moral, religious and ethical beliefs? This paper will explore that question, and discuss why emergency contraception—and the issue of abortion—is at the center of the debate over pharmacist conscience clauses nationwide. (April 2006)

Hazardous to Teen Health: The Reality of Comprehensive Sex Education
This paper examines the reality of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and shows why it threatens the overall well-being of young people. Understanding the reality of CSE requires looking beyond the vague and misleading rhetoric used by advocates to the radical ideology it is based upon. It is also important to examine the hazardous messages in some popular CSE curricula. (April 2005)

Homosexual Indoctrination: How Safety Is Used to Promote Homosexuality in Schools
Homosexual advocacy groups are training teachers and students, and homosexual student clubs are forming in schools across North Carolina, where controversial topics, such as transgenderism, are being favorably presented. The majority of these efforts are taking place outside of the sex education classroom under the guise of creating “safer,” more “inclusive” schools. This paper shows how homosexual activists are using safe schools initiatives and diversity education to get into the classroom to promote dangerous messages about sex and gender, and how these efforts threaten parental authority, religious freedom and free speech. (December 2004)

Indecent Exposure: Protecting Families From Offensive Programming
The increasing amount of offensive programming on television and radio has left many parents feeling frustrated, and wondering what—if anything—can be done. As broadcasters continue to push the limits of decency, citizens need to understand the role of the FCC, the applicable laws, and the impact of media ownership, as well as the public's critical responsibility to help protect the airwaves from obscene and indecent content. (March 2004)

HPV: Why it matters to adolescent sexual health and education
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most important and potentially dangerous STDs of today, especially when it comes to the ongoing debate over adolescent sex education in North Carolina and across the country. As the STD epidemic continues to eat away at the bodies, hearts and minds of teenagers, policy makers and health educators in North Carolina need to acknowledge the serious nature of HPV and look for effective ways to prevent its spread. This paper will present the facts about HPV, discuss why it matters, and show why abstinence from sexual activity until marriage is the only method that can successfully prevent the spread of HPV, as well as other STDs. (July 2003)

Religious Freedom in Schools: Guidelines for Students and Teachers in Public Schools
One of the most contentious and confusing issues involving public education today is the proper role of religious expression in government-run schools. This paper provides information provided by the North Carolina Attorney General's office and the U.S. Department of Education and will be helpful to students, parents and teachers who have questions abouot the legally recognized boundaries of religious activity in public schools and should help to shed some light on what our government has to say on this important subject. (March 2003)

Medical Accuracy: The Strategy to Undermine Abstinence Education
There is an effort underway to undermine abstinence education by asking for legislation which purports to require "medical accuracy" in information given to teenagers in sex education programs. But this new campaign is not all it appears. This paper exposes the true agenda behind "medical accuracy" legislation and explains why an abstinence-until-marriage curriculum is the most effective means of reducing premarital sexual activity and teenage pregnancy. (May 2003)

The Case for Abstinence: Why comprehensive sex education sends the wrong message
This paper discusses the rationale behind North Carolina's Abstinence Until Marriage law which requires that "abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard of behavior for all school-age children" and requires that students be taught that "a mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship in the context of marriage is the best lifelong means of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases." (April 2002)

Character Education: Helping our children to develop good character
North Carolina's renewed commitment to character education may prove to be one of the most important and significant education reforms in recent state history. This paper discusses the North Carolina law and provides information for educators who are considering the implementation of the new law. (March 2002)

Student Dress Policies: The success of school uniforms and dress codes
The attention given to school dress codes and uniforms has become more and more focused over the last several years. As dialogue increases among parents, students and school officials about what remedies may exist to deal with the problems facing today's schools, student dress policies have moved to the forefront. (May 2001)

Trashing Abstinence?: Analysis of Senate Bill 515 and House Bill 855
These bills would remove the emphasis on marriage and allow kids as young as kindergarten to be taught that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle. These bills are a reversal of the successful abstinence law passed overwhelmingly by the 1995 session of the General Assembly. (April 2001)

Sexual Abstinence: The Education Policy Dilemma
There is no subject that has generated more confusion among teens today than sex. Teens say it is all our friends talk about (peer pressure), it is all we see on television, it is all we see in movies and advertising, it is all our favorite groups sing about, and in so many cases our teachers are showing us how (comprehensive sex education). This paper talks about the issues teens deal with in sex and the wrong way and the right way to teach sex education. (July 1998)