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	March 18, 2010 SC Healthy Family Formation Coalition E-News! It’s time for character, not condoms! Many pro-abstinence education letters have been submitted to newspapers across the state during this month of attacks.  In Charleston, the Post and Courier seems to print at least 5 negative letters and op eds to every 1 positive abstinence letter.   Anti-abstinence letters and op eds without checked facts, are churned out within a day of receipt and some are from outside of the Lowcountry! So much for local or parental control over what is taught to our children!   You’re Teaching My Child What? There is still time to attend the Luncheon on Monday.  You must register with name, address, affiliation/organization represented and phone number to be seated!         Not “Fit to Print”? What do you think? The Post and Courier received these letters but did not print them.       #1 Letter to the Editor I am a health teacher in a local public middle school and find your article “Abstinence-only sex education wastes taxpayers' dollars” very inaccurate.  It is stated in your article there is “no research study to date has been able to document positive behavioral changes among older teens as a result of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.”  I suggest you do some research of your own before you make this kind of claim.    You should read the research study published last month by the American Medical Association, the latest in a growing body of peer-reviewed studies that have been found effective at delaying the initiation of sexual activity in our youth.   This is ‘gold standard’ scientific research, and brings the total to 17 abstinence education programs that have been found effective at delaying sexual activity in youth.    The program that has been in my schools, Heritage Keepers® is a part of this peer-reviewed body of scientific knowledge.   All of these effective programs reflect a completely opposite view to your claims.  I would also love to see some documentation of the intimidation of school boards as you claim in your article.  I have personally sat in on eight weeks of abstinence education instruction by Heritage Community Services and have never heard them discourage the use of condoms or any type of birth control as you state in your article.    I have seen first hand the changes abstinence education programs have made in my students’ attitudes throughout the past few years.  I have never in my experiences witnessed any negative responses or attitudes toward the abstinence education programs by students.   I believe this article was written with the authors own feelings displayed toward abstinence education programs, not the facts.  It would be the right thing to do for you to correct these inaccuracies in a future article.   Sincerely, Bryan Alexander Charleston County Middle School       #2 Letter to the Editor As an abstinence educator for Heritage Community Services, I am appalled by the recent bashing of abstinence education by Tell Them SC, a radical group leading a virtual march against Heritage and other abstinence-centered programs. Their goal is to lobby legislators to discontinue funding of abstinence education.   One of their tactics is to mislead people into believing that abstinence is fear based and medically inaccurate, but in reality it is a primary prevention message to help protect our youth and their families. We cover many beneficial topics including reproduction, STD and HIV information, goal setting, benefits of a healthy relationship without sex, and dealing with peer pressure.   In one of the rural Charleston County schools where I teach, a young girl approached me after completing the program. She explained to me that her boyfriend was pressuring her to have sex, and although she loved him, she didn’t want to have sex. I helped her develop a plan to talk to her boyfriend about the benefits of delaying sex and the potential negative consequences of having sex outside of marriage. By the end of the week, that young lady came to thank me for not only saving her but her boyfriend, too. And even now, a year later that couple is still together and are still practicing abstinence. This is one of many examples where I have seen our abstinence education program change lives.    I know firsthand that abstinence education works and is helping reduce the rates of teen pregnancy, STDs and emotional distress in South Carolina. And, in a published study of our abstinence program, our students have been shown to initiate sexual activity at a rate half that of non-program students—evidence of effective results.   Erin Everette Moncks Corner, SC      #3 Letter to the Editor Abstinence education is not a waste of South Carolinians’ tax dollars. I am an educator for Heritage Community Services, which teaches character-based abstinence education. I have taught in Charleston and Dorchester counties and have seen your hard earned tax dollars used for the betterment of our state.   This past fall, I taught at a local high school and one of my students from the year before told me she was still upholding her recommitment to abstinence. When I taught her the previous year, she did not believe that sexual abstinence was an attainable goal. After completing the class, she decided to recommit to abstinence because she did not want to follow in the foot steps of her mother, who was a single mother.   This young lady is one less teen that will give birth and cost our state $3,330 this year. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, this is the average annual cost associated with a child born to a mother 17 or younger. Not only will she save the state money due to her decision but more important, she is learning commitment and self-control, which will continue to better her life and relationships as she grows into adulthood.   Julia Gunter Gainesborough Drive Goose Creek         This E-new has been resent with corrections.     Read past E-News in the Newsletter Archive   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