Text of AL HR 187 (2011)

HR187 1 127513-1 2 By Representative Hall 3 RFD: 4 First Read: 24-MAR-11 5 Page 0 127513-1:n:03/16/2011:JMW/jmw LRS2011-1505 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 RECOGNIZING PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ALABAMA THAT WORK WITH 8 THE AIDS SERVICE ORGANIZATION NETWORK TO PROMOTE HIV 9 PREVENTION. 10 11 WHEREAS, Alabama state law does not require the 12 teaching of sexuality education; and 13 WHEREAS, a resolution adopted by the Board of 14 Education in 1987 requires that students in grades 5-12 15 receive instruction about AIDS through a health education 16 program; and 17 WHEREAS, should schools choose to offer additional 18 sexuality education, the Code of Alabama sets minimum 19 requirements for what must be taught, but specific content is 20 developed locally; and 21 WHEREAS, in 2009, 51 percent of female high school 22 students and 62 percent of male high school students in 23 Alabama reported being sexually active (defined as having had 24 sexual intercourse in the past three months) compared to 46 25 percent of female and 46 percent of male high school students 26 nationwide; and 27 Page 1 WHEREAS, among those high school students who 1 reported being sexually active, 55 percent of females and 63 2 percent of males in Alabama reported having used condoms the 3 last time they engaged in sexual intercourse; and 4 WHEREAS, these statistics are troubling, as they 5 illustrate that a large percentage of Alabama's youth engage 6 in sex, many of them without utilizing proper means to protect 7 against pregnancy, STDs and HIV/AIDS; and 8 WHEREAS, Alabama's teen pregnancy rates for 2008 9 were higher than the national average; and 10 WHEREAS, in 2009, the state also reported some of 11 the highest rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in the 12 country; and 13 WHEREAS, the AIDS Service Organization Network of 14 Alabama is working diligently to prevent the spread of 15 HIV/AIDS in Alabama by providing targeted HIV prevention 16 programs; and 17 WHEREAS, the desired impact of this partnership is 18 to increase the understanding of the importance of sexual 19 health education so that sexually active teens will be 20 informed and capable of utilizing safer sex strategies, which 21 will lead to a reduction in the rates of HIV/AIDS, STDs, and 22 teen pregnancy in Alabama; now therefore, 23 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 24 THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, That we honor and congratulate the 25 leadership of those public schools in Alabama that have 26 demonstrated a commitment to the health and welfare of 27 Page 2 students and for the prevention of HIV, and we direct that a 1 copy of this resolution be provided to each of those schools 2 for appropriate presentation and display. 3 Page 3