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International News
 
England & Wales: Sex Ed "Undermines Parents"
Members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons expressed "serious concerns" over the government's Relationships and Sex Education plans, saying the government should do all they can to empower parents”, rather than undermine their authority and responsibility over their children. More than 11,000 people responded to a government survey last month with 58 per cent saying the proposed content for Relationships Education in primary schools was not “age-appropriate” and 64 per cent, saying the same about Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools. The new guidelines are scheduled to take effect September 2020.
South Africa: Life Education "Must Be Enhanced"
In a recent interview, the Basic Education Department didn't discuss reports that the new Life Orientation curriculum would teach 9-year-olds how to self stimulate for sexual pleasure, only stating, "It needs to be improved, it needs to be enhanced...We will monitor the outcomes on an ongoing basis." Not surprisingly, parents wanted to know why their children would be exposed to topics like this at school. The new textbooks are scheduled to be rolled out next year.
State News
California: Middle Parents Left in the Dark
Parents in Pacific Grove were taken by surprise when they discovered that Planned Parenthood would be the ones making the sex ed presentation to their middle schoolers. State law requires that parents receive at least 2 week's notice and an opportunity to remove their children from a sex ed presentation, but they were given less than one week's notice prior to the Planned Parenthood presentation. Given the explicit nature of the California Healthy Youth Act's requirements for sex ed, it comes as no surprise that parents say, "What we want is transparency, we also want to be involved in knowing what our children are taught."
CA Department of Education Approves Controversial New Guidelines
In spite of intense and continued protests from parents, the radical sex ed that some describe as pornographic was approved by the California Department of Education. While five of the sexually explicit books were removed from the curriculum, one board member's comments showed how tone deaf the school board is. "We're not saying that the books are bad, but the removal will help avoid the misunderstanding that California is mandating the use of these books."
North Dakota: SRAS Training in the News
On May 8-9, Dakota Hope, hosted Ascend's SRAS training in Minot that was attended by many nurses, teachers, and social workers. The local CBS affiliate was there to cover the story and get comments from attendees who were eager to take the information they learned back to their school districts.
Scope
Social Capital: An Invaluable Source of Wealth
At a recent Joint Economic Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Mike Lee said, “Economic wealth is no doubt important, But to see opportunity exclusively in those terms fails to [adequately] capture an invaluable source of wealth on which human beings draw and one that is in fact key to expanding opportunity: social capital." So what exactly is social capital and how does family structure effect it? Social capital is what is available to us in terms of relationships. "In particular, the people to whom we are born and around whom we live are consequential for our opportunities." In a new report entitled "The Wealth of Our Relations," it discusses policy goals on improving family structure as essential to improving social capital and details the advantage of "two happily married parents" and family stability as an important factor for children to thrive.
Resources
Did you Know?
Of the almost 40,000 new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. in 2017, 19% were among women. This graphic from the CDC breaks down the statistics by transmission category and race/ethnicity.
Opportunities
Funding Opportunity Announced - CORRECTION!
The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families - ACYF/FYSB has released the funding announcement for the SRAE Grant. The total estimated program funding is $19 million with a total of 20 grant awards. Application deadline is July 1, 2019. (Last week's announcement incorrectly stated that the application deadline was July 31st.)
Job Opening for SRA Instructor
Bright Healthy Relationships Initiative, Louisville, KY is seeking an instructor to teach the SRA message to middle and high school students. Bright visits 40 schools in the greater Louisville area each year. Bachelor's degree preferred. If interested, please send letter and resume.
Parent Corner
Parenting with Emotional Intelligence
May is the time of year for graduation, which means a time when teens are getting ready to launch into greater independence whether it's going to college or starting out on their own right after high school. Many parents worry that they haven't taught their young adult kids basic life skills like cooking, managing money or changing a car tire, but often don't even consider if they have focused on the emotional intelligence of their kids. But what exactly is emotional intelligence? According to Wikipedia, “Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.” This article shows how parents are key in preparing teens for their increased independence and enhancing their ability to make wise decisions as they launch out on their own.
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