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	February 25, 2010 SC Healthy Family Formation Coalition E-News!   “Virtual March” on Abstinence Education   Heritage Community Services, one of the most proven effective abstinence education programs in the nation, was founded right here in South Carolina.  To date over 150,000 South Carolina teens have been reached by this program.   During the month of March, a radical group, Tell Them SC, will lead a “Virtual March” against Heritage and other abstinence-centered programs in South Carolina.  Tell Them SC and The New Morning Foundation, all part of the Planned Parenthood Network, have refused to work with us on the issues of teen pregnancy and STDs.    They have their own agenda.  Proponents of teen sex education will do whatever it takes to shut down abstinence education programs.    Starting now, and over the next month, SCHFF will Expose! Tell Them SC and Tell You The Truth about what your children are receiving in Comprehensive Sex Education and Abstinence-Centered Education.   Let us know and (take pictures) when you read articles, see posters, and hear propaganda about Abstinence Education, so that we can fight back.     Expose! Tell Them SC   Tell Them SC will say that Heritage Keepers®, the program developed by Heritage Community Services, is fear based.  So what do we really teach?   Self worth, self efficacy, future orientation, and peer independence Sex is more than physical, involving emotions as well Goal setting and planning for the future Recognizing and living by personal values Reproduction and STD (including HIV/AIDS) information The benefits of a healthy marriage Why sex within a committed monogamous relationship is safest Refusal skills and dealing with dating violence How to build love relationships without having sex     Tell Them SC will say that Heritage Keepers® is ineffective and a waste of taxpayer money.    In the 2008/09 school year, of the over 5000 SC students surveyed on the effectiveness of the Heritage Keepers program:   Almost 90% said they would recommend the program to a friend, 90% said they felt more confident in their ability to resist peer pressure to have sex, and 90% said the abstinence teacher cared about the students.   Heritage has a published article that reports a 50% reduction in the initiation of sex a year after the program for participants as compared to students like them who did not have the program.    Another study on Heritage Keepers® demonstrates the same effectiveness replicated in a different setting is being submitted to yet another journal.     Nationally, Comprehensive Sex Education is in 68% of public schools, while Abstinence-centered Education is only in about 25% of public schools.   Abstinence-centered Education gets 25% of the funding, yet 100% of the blame for teen pregnancies and STDs!       Heritage Keepers® Needs Parents and Students to Speak Out   Does Heritage Keepers® seem ineffective or a waste of tax payers’ money?  Tell Them SC is pushing their own agenda while purposely ignoring the facts.   Parents, if you believe abstinence-centered education is best, you are not alone.  A 2007 national Zogby Poll revealed that when parents were read the actual content in comprehensive sex education curricula, they preferred abstinence education two to one!    Heritage Keepers® and Abstinence Education need your help to Expose! Tell Them SC:   Forward this E-News to friends, colleagues and family.  Ask them to sign up for the SCHFF E-News. Contact your state and federal representatives to voice support for abstinence education. Contact SCHFF to have someone speak about Abstinence Education.     If you don’t know what to do, contact us.    For more information: Heritage Community Services and Abstinence Works.   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