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MINNEAPOLIS – Tom Prichard, President of the Minnesota Family Council, today applauded the results of a groundbreaking Zogby poll revealing that parents overwhelmingly want their children taught abstinence, not comprehensive sex education which encompasses the use of contraceptives.
“This survey thoroughly discredits the contention of Planned Parenthood, SIECUS and other advocates of ‘safer sex’ that parents actually support comprehensive sex education,” said Prichard. “Parents are overwhelmingly in favor of a clear abstinence message not muddied by the ‘safer sex’ message.” Surveys by Planned Parenthood and SIECUS suggested that parents want their children instructed in the use of birth control methods rather than just encouraging abstinence from sexual activity. The Zogby poll asked parents their level of approval of verbatim questions taken from the SIECUS guidelines. The main results were as follows: · 73.5% of parents approve or strongly approve of abstinence-centered sex education. · 61.1% of parents disapprove or strongly disapprove of "comprehensive" or "safe sex" education. · 75.3% of parents disapprove or strongly disapprove of the sex education curriculum promoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Noted Prichard, “These poll results will be exceptionally helpful for teachers and lawmakers as they deliberate on the issue of sex education. In many respects, this is a life and death issue. Sexually transmitted diseases and premarital sex can leave emotional scars and out of wedlock pregnancies. But they also lead to infertility, cancer and yes, even death.” “Now we know empirically what common sense always told us – parents don’t want their kids sexually active,” said Prichard. “This is critical because parents play a critical role in whether or not their teens will be sexually active. These results should help persuade policy makers that they need to be backing parents in the support of abstinence rather than undermining it through the ‘safer sex’ message,” said Prichard. The online results of the survey can be found at www.whatparentsthink.com |
The Minnesota Family Council is Minnesota's largest nonprofit, non-partisan pro-family organization.
Minnesota Family Council / Minnesota Family Institute
2855 Anthony Lane South, Minneapolis MN, 55418-3265
phone 612.789.8811, fax 612.789.8858, www.mfc.org