Document text
Oregon residents plan sex ed trip By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings A team of Oregon residents, including two from Jackson County, will travel to Europe to learn about sexual education there that has led to dramatically lower teen pregnancy and abortion rates than in the United States. Scheduled in mid-June, the trip to Germany, France and the Netherlands is made possible by a $100,000 grant from the EC Brown Foundation to Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. The grant helps fund a multi-year effort - called the Oregon Rights, Respect, Responsibility Initiative - to explore European sexual education models and adopt effective policies in Oregon. "We want to learn what they do in the schools from K through 12 to make a difference," said Teresa Westmoreland, a Talent Middle School health teacher. "We want to see what the educators are doing and how the parents feel about what's being taught. Sex education under the European model starts at a very young age and it's very honest and it's very developmental. It works in stages from very young to older teens. In our country, kids don't get sex education until the middle school level." Westmoreland said Europeans discuss youth sexuality in terms of relationships, families, responsibility and respect, while Americans emphasize a "doom and gloom" message about sexually transmitted diseases and other negative consequences of sex. Despite that message about grave consequences, American teens on average become sexually active one to two years younger than their European counterparts, according to Maggie Sullivan, education program coordinator for Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon. "In Europe, contraception is widely available in schools, sex education starts early in elementary school and they have a very open attitude. Those kids wait longer," Sullivan said. In addition to becoming sexually active sooner, American teens have much higher birth and abortion rates compared to teens in Germany, France and the Netherlands, according to statistics provided by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon covers Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Coos, Curry and Lane counties, although the $100,000 grant will be used for statewide efforts, Sullivan said. The EC Brown Foundation was created as a perpetual charitable trust through the will and estate of Portland physician Ellis C. Brown. The foundation is overseen by the president of the University of Oregon, currently Dave Frohnmayer. America and the world Teen birth rate per 1,000 women ages 15-19 Unites States 52 Germany 14 France 9 The Netherlands 4 Teen abortion rate per 1,000 women under age 20 Unites States 26.8 France 8.9 The Netherlands 4.2 Germany 3.1 Source: Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon Visit our back issue library Visit our other Western Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Corvallis Gazette-Times | Lebanon Express | Mid-Valley Sunday | | Newport News-Times | Ashland Daily Tidings | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Springfield News | Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Managing editor Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing