Celebrate Abstinence Awareness Week March 6 to March 12

March 6th marks the beginning of the 11th Annual celebration of Abstinence Awareness Week in Washington, DC.  Abstinence Awareness Week is the perfect time to emphasize the benefits of sexual abstinence before marriage to youths as well as adults at schools, organizations and places of worship.  The week starts with Abstinence Awareness Sunday on March 6th.  It is suggested that all places of worship emphasize the importance of sexual abstinence before marriage in their Sunday message. 

Schools throughout the DC area are expected to hold assemblies and host various activities that highlight the message of sexual abstinence.  See the Abstinence Awareness Week page at www.urbanlifetraining.org for posters and activities.  Contact us if you would like assistance with a speaker or peer mentors at your location.

President Obama Again Proposes Zero Dollars for Sexual Risk Avoidance Education

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Once again President Obama has proposed a budget of $0 for Sexual Risk Avoidance education that emphasizes the benefits of sexual abstinence versus the usual emphasis on using condoms or other types of contraception.

When President Obama took office in 2009, he made the unusual decision to terminate abstinence-centered grant funding that had already been approved by Congress, thereby depriving thousands of youth of support in their decision to remain sexually abstinent before marriage.  Although Congress has appropriated some funds for sexual risk avoidance education since the complete elimination of that funding,, it is only about one tenth the amount for contraceptive-based sex education. 
A major distinguishing point of sexual risk avoidance education is that it is about addressing the whole person, physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and socially.  Contraceptive-based sex education focuses primarily on preventing pregnancy or reducing (but not eliminating) the spread of diseases.  Clearly, the emotional, spiritual, social and intellectual consequences of sexual intercourse outside of marriage are not addressed by the type of programs that President Obama is promoting.

Additionally, it may be argued that President Obama has damaged families, and especially fragile families (families where the parents are unwed at the time of the child's birth) by emphasizing the "right" of homosexuals to "marry' but not the  right of children to grow up with both a father and a mother.  Growing up with a father and a mother is a likely outcome for those youth who choose to reserve sex for marriage.  President Obama's policy puts the sexual preference of adults ahead of the welfare of children. 

According to a report at CNSnews.com, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said on February 25, 2016:

“Government can’t love you, nothing can replace the solid foundation of the family’s unconditional love and support,” he continued. “Children who grow up without that are vulnerable to seeking conditional love, false love from all the wrong places.”

He added that “over one third of US children live with a single parent, the highest proportion among all developed countries.”

Pitts pointed to statistics, backed up by a December Pew Research study, linking extramarital sexual behavior to poverty.