The November 24, 2006 headlines from Fargo

BISMARCK – A Fargo organization says demand for abstinence-only sex education prompted its new workshops around the state that will train teachers, counselors and others to become certified abstinence educators.

Make a Sound Choice, a program of FirstChoice Clinic in Fargo, received a federal grant to put on the workshop, starting Dec. 7 through 8 in Jamestown. A Fargo workshop is scheduled for August.

Make a Sound Choice has existed for about seven years, with speaker Angela Hill in increasing demand to speak to school groups and others, said Kay Kiefer, the program’s outreach coordinator. Hill has addressed 15,000 youth, all without advertising the program, she said.

Similar programs in other states have come under fire from Planned Parenthood and other critics who charge they usually contain “fear-based” erroneous material and that there is no good evidence the courses reduce teen sex. Because the courses criticize and discourage birth control, teens with abstinence education who end up having sex are more likely to not use condoms or other birth control, critics say.

“There is little evidence that teens that participate in abstinence-only abstain longer than other teens,” said Amy Jacobson, community organizer for Planned Parenthood North Dakota, which started 1½ years ago.

from The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead