Spring has sprung in Washington, DC, and while many buses line the streets packed with students touring the National Monuments, another group of students came to Washington this week for a different purpose: To tell policymakers about the impact that abstinence education has had in their lives.
This year’s annual Abstinence Day on the Hill was of particular significance because of recent studies that suggest abstinence education could delay sexual activity in teenagers.
In a study evaluating the effectiveness of abstinence-based programs, researchers found that from a total of 22 studies reviewed, 17 studies reported statistically significant positive results in delaying sexual activity among adolescents.
Testimonials from students who came to Capitol Hill this week shed light on why abstinence-based programs have been effective. They expressed gratitude for the programs and directly attributed their successes in life thus far to their decision to delay sexual activity with the goal of waiting until marriage.
Research has shown that nearly two-thirds of poor children in America live in single-parent homes. Preventing teen pregnancy is not only beneficial to our economy, but also helps young adolescents avoid the emotional distress that often comes along with early sexual activity.
Abstinence education can help avert dependency on welfare. In a 2004 report analyzing federal spending on abstinence programs, Robert Rector, a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, found that:
Women who begin sexual activity at an early age are far more likely to become pregnant and give birth out of wedlock and to be single mothers. Since single mothers are far more likely to be poor, early sexual activity is linked to higher levels of child and maternal poverty.
In an address to participants of Abstinence Day on the Hill, Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) pointed out that abstinence education not only promotes the importance of being disciplined but also invokes the determination to make wise choices.
Abstinence education is not just about delaying sex. It’s about teaching young adolescents the importance of healthy relationships, building self-confidence, and showing how setting positive goals can significantly improve their future lives.
Teaching the importance of abstinence helps adolescents understand how the consequences of sexual relationships at a young age can greatly alter their future. Robert Rector pointed out that teens who abstain from sexual activity are two times more likely to graduate from college than their counterparts who are sexually active.
It is puzzling as to why some politicians and opponents of abstinence education continue to reject abstinence education, especially since surveys have shown that 80 percent of parents want schools to teach their students to “abstain from sexual activity until they are in a committed adult romantic relationship nearing marriage.”
Why should educators promote the use of contraceptives over abstinence, especially since most parents desire otherwise?
Standing up for abstinence education is not always an easy task, but is clearly of vital importance. We congratulate the students who participated in this year’s Abstinence Day on the Hill, and encourage them and others to continue their leadership in promoting healthy behaviors and showing how abstaining from sexual behavior during adolescent years can have a lasting and positive impact on their lives.
The Heritage Foundation unveils our redesigned website this morning with a modern look and feel, better organization of our policy research, greater integration of our multimedia products and our blog, The Foundry.
The redesigned website is a significant step forward for Heritage. It presents an innovative new platform for a varied tapestry of people — from Capitol Hill legislators to our more than 600,000 members — to have greater access to our best-in-class conservative policy research.
More than a year of planning and development went into the creation of the new Heritage.org. We interviewed key constituents on Capitol Hill, members of the media, coalition partners, and most importantly, Heritage supporters like you. The feedback we received drove the new design and direction of the new Heritage.org.
While the look and feel of the site is dramatically different from the previous website, we will continue to carry out our traditional mission of offering sound solutions to contemporary problems.
Heritage staff worked with professional experts in visual design, user experience and content management to build the new site. Some cornerstone pieces include:
1. Simplified navigation that allows users to quickly access the content they are seeking. We now have tabs for both Issues and Research in the navigation, giving you the option to browse by public policy issues or, for the more familiar Heritage.org user, by the type of content.
2. The visual design showcases the strength, credibility and stature of The Heritage Foundation, our people and our work, while also encouraging users to explore our site. This is reflected in the multi-tonal Heritage blue color palette, uniform bands of content throughout the site and the introduction of visual icons that work in tandem with the new navigation.
3. An improved search function and new way of organizing our research should make finding content faster and easier. We’ve taken these two major steps to in response to feedback from our users. The new search engine is more robust and allows visitors to filter content by issue, paper type, author and more. In addition, we’ve introduced a comprehensive structure for organizing all of this information, allowing us to expand the number of issue areas from about 100 on the old website to nearly 1,000 and growing.
4. Our multimedia section features Heritage videos, info graphics and audio in one place. Whether you’re looking for one of our original productions such as “Let Me Rise” or a recent TV appearance of a Heritage analyst, you can now find it easily by clicking on the links above the search on each page.
5. We’ve introduced customized audience pages for the conservative community, government staff, press and media, job seekers and young leaders. By tailoring our content to these groups, we hope to better serve their needs. You can access these pages in the footer of every page.
6. The new footer gives Heritage an opportunity to showcase some of our signature research papers and communications products on the bottom of every page. Given the large amount of traffic Heritage.org received from search engines, we realize that not everyone entering the site is coming through the homepage.
These improvements are similar to ones we recently made on The Foundry, where we made navigation easier, added features, connected with social media and improved content to make the online experience more enjoyable for all who visit. With nearly 150,000 subscribers to the Morning Bell, it is evident that our daily dose of conservative analysis is an important part of your day. We trust that the new Heritage.org will provide you even more opportunities to engage with our team.
Please navigate and explore the new Heritage.org. This site is built for you, our readers, members and researchers. Its launch marks an exciting moment for The Heritage Foundation as we continue to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
If you have questions or comments, please send us a note at redesign@heritage.org.
Quick Hits:
- Minutes before midnight on Sunday, House Democrats released a 2,309 “reconciliation” bill that the Budget Committee will pass early this week. The bill is a replica of the bill reported to Ways and Means last year, except with a government takeover of the student lending industry tacked on. This entire shell of a bill will be scrapped and replaced with the real reconciliation bill Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is writing behind closed doors.
- Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) outlines “what real health reform should look like” in today’s Washington Post.
- Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is expected to introduce his financial legislation bill today.
- At least 10 House members are spending more than $1,000 a month in taxpayer money to lease cars.
- Despite President Barack Obama’s self-professed commitment to openness and transparency, a National Security Archive report released Sunday finds “progress slow and erratic” while the Government Accountability Office found information released “missing or unreliable.”