Statewide Chair Mary McLellan Heritage Community Services Regional Chairs Mariscia Cooper (Pee Dee) Charlie Lybrand (Lowcountry) Lenna Neill (Upstate) Rev. Randy Riddle (Grand Strand) Dr. Roger Rollins (CSRA) Charlotte Valentine-Green (Ace Basin)   Advisory Council Eugene Bacote Darlington School District Dr. Vera Bailey Hilton Head Preg. Care Center Pamela Berry Colleton Fire and Rescue Dr. Vonda Calcutt Lowcountry Ctr. Diabetes Sen. Chip Campsen Charleston/Berkeley Rev. Chuck Coward Charleston Outreach Robin Crosby Colleton County Ligure Ellington Ret.Capt. Charleston City Police Dr. Randy Goings Chiropractic Physician Faye Hill Lowcountry Pregnancy Center & SC Association Pregnancy Care Centers WC Hoecke Fatherhood Practioner Leroy Lewis Upward Bound at Cof C Norman L. Moore, Jr. Colonel, USAFR(Ret) Cyndi Mosteller Comm. for Higher Education Alexia Newman Carolina Pregnancy Center Fred Payne Marriage Savers of Upstate Jerry & Barbara Seymour R& R Marriage Min. Ronald Shoupe Colleton County Dr. A. V. Strong A Better Way, Inc. (Gang Out) Dr. Robert Thomas Pulmonary Medicine Pastor Phil Thrailkill St. Luke UMC Hartsville Kelly Walker Upstate Fatherhood Coalition	November 13, 2009 SC Healthy Family Formation Coalition E-News! Many messages that target our youth normalize the risky behaviors that are derailing their futures.     Where are the primary prevention messages in our culture to protect our youth from taking a dangerous path?  Why is primary prevention limited to tobacco, drugs and alcohol? Do we tell our kids to ‘hang out’ with gangs, just don’t join them?  For our children’s sake, these questions deserve answers.  Research shows that parents have the most influence over their teen’s decisions.  Parents need to be the Primary Prevention messengers.  Talk to your teens about your values, regardless of your own past, socioeconomic status, faith or family structure. Don’t assume that teen sex and pregnancies only happen in the ‘poor neighborhoods’ and ‘to those people’.   Resources for Parents: Child Trend’s Parents Matter: The Role of Parents In Teens’ Decisions About Sex The National Campaign’s Socio-Economic and Family Characteristics of Teen Childbearing Zogby Poll: What do parents want?    Do “We all get it”? A Planned Parenthood video clip entitled ‘Expect to have an STD’ , circulating the internet in recent weeks, is a good example of how current public health policies actually normalize the behaviors causing the problems. As a parent, it is offensive (and frightening at the same time) that Planned Parenthood tells us that we are all having sex outside of marriage and that we should expect to get an STD.  No big deal. Pregnant Covergirl of Teen Vogue Raises Eyebrows "A model on the November cover of Teen Vogue is a 19-year-old who reveals in the magazine that she is pregnant." says the recent AP article on the story. Rising model, Jourdan Dunn, now has an "unplanned" opportunity to speak to her teen fans. Encouraging them to wait for sex would be an important message for her to share. NAEA was quoted in the article: "Teen parenting isn't glamorous, even if you are a teen model".      Respect Wins the Sex Wars Culture challenge of the week: Parents, teens and sex Rebecca Hagelin takes on feminist author Naomi Wolf in this Washington Times Op Ed.  “We live in a culture that promotes teen sex at every turn… Marketers, liberals and the mass media have reduced sexual activity to little more than an amusing hobby, and made the concept of sexual purity seem backwards and outdated.”   (Some verbiage omitted due to content.)     A Physician Changes Her Mind Dr. Patricia Lee June shares her observations on why Abstinence Education is the healthiest message.  “When I first came to Moultrie [GA], I prescribed oral contraceptives to teens who requested them, figuring it preferable to their seeking abortions. But I found that about 50 percent of those teens became pregnant within a year.” Read what else Patricia Lee June, M.D. has to say about the difference between Abstinence Education and Comprehensive Sex education.   The Fight over Abstinence at Harvard Rachel Wagley, co-leader of True Love Revolution, aptly declares in the Harvard Crimson, "Culture reduces us to the sexual, but being human promises so much more. The sexualization of people and relationships hinders our development as human beings. When we embrace the sexual culture that stretches its logic to render us servile, we find ourselves unfulfilled.”   Read more… Parents, find out if there is explicit sex education in your community? Would you like help in ending this dangerous strategy? If so, please contact the National Abstinence Education Association and visit Abstinence Works.     House Health Care Bill Includes "Comprehensive" Sex Education Funding The House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962, by a vote of 220 to 215 on Saturday. The bill includes a provision for "comprehensive" sex education as a block grant to states, but no funding for abstinence education. The Senate To Debate Health Care and Abstinence Education Next Week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday answered “yes and yes” when asked whether he expects to bring health care reform legislation to the floor next week and whether it is realistic for the Senate to pass a bill by Christmas. Follow the SC-HFF Coalition on Twitter! Join the Heritage Keepers® Facebook Cause
	The South Carolina Healthy Family Formation Coalition (SC HFF Coalition) is organized and staffed by Heritage Community Services. The SC HFF Coalition promotes child and family well-being by providing opportunities for statewide communication about such issues as: adolescent pregnancy, unwed childbearing, fatherlessness, sexual exploitation of our youth, dating violence and domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, gang activity and youth violence.    Coalition members support healthy family formation initiatives that integrate character-based life skills, teen pregnancy prevention with an emphasis on abstinence-centered education, and the importance of fidelity-within-marriage.   Together we can impact our culture so that forming healthy families becomes a norm, rather than the exception, for South Carolina. Please, forward this E-News to interested friends, family and colleagues and ask them to consider joining the Coalition. Join/Subscribe Unsubscribe PRIVACY POLICY: Information you share will never be sold, rented, or given to any third party. Contact Mary McLellan , Statewide Chairman (843)654-7740 ext.122