sex education

As the saying goes, it's a man's world — except, perhaps, when it comes to reproductive and sexual health. There, by and large, women's reproductive health issues reign — just think of the TV ads for the new cervical cancer vaccine, or the pink ribbons for breast cancer research.

There is still time to make your voice heard and support Florida teens getting the information they need to make healthy decisions - including medically-accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education.TAKE ACTION NOW! to tell your legislators to support policies that provide our youth with the comprehensive sex education they need to protect themselves and make responsible choices.

Sexuality can be so confusing! So many terms, concepts, and ideas that it is sometimes hard to keep up with. So, let's break it down a bit.

Sexual orientation is a person's natural attraction to others. This refers to how people think and feel.

Sexual behavior is the sexual activity in which a person chooses to engage. This refers to what people do.

Sexual identity is how a person identifies herself or himself. This refers to what people say and choose to call themselves, or identify themselves.

After reading about the crisis Manatee County is facing in regards to teen pregnancy one thing was evident; the county's approach to abstinence only sexual education is failing miserably. Here are the sobering facts:

Manatee County has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state.

Out of 67 counties, Manatee is the 17th highest; and, in births to teens 10 to 14 years of age, Manatee has the 13th highest rate.

In 2006, one-third of 2,196 ninth-graders surveyed admitted that they had sexual intercourse. This was a 3 percent increase over the 2004 results.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture that both embraces and rejects issues surrounding sex and sexuality. These mixed messages make it particularly difficult for parents and other caregivers to discuss sexual matters at home. Since we are constantly bombarded with mixed messages, social pressures may conflict with family values creating a big problem when it comes to sexual education at home.

Thinking back on my own childhood I learned about sexual matters from my friends, and I might add most of the information was grossly incorrect. How about you?