State Rep. Jeramey Anderson is filing a bill that brings “meaningful sex education to Mississippi’s schools.”
The Democrat’s bill, not yet assigned a House Bill number, would amend state law relating to instruction of sex education in public schools to include what he terms “evidenced based, medically accurate” curricula that is age, grade and developmentally appropriate.
Teens are more likely to refrain from having sex if they know all the risks. An unwanted pregnancy is just. Sexually active teens who haven't been taught how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases face great health risks. Click here to see the bill: https://t.co/vDo12mJFG3
— Rep. Jeramey Anderson (@jerameyanderson) February 15, 2020
When asked what that terminology means to the lawmaker, Rep. Anderson’s assistants sent an email stating, “Medically accurate and evidence based is defined as verified or supported by proven data research, conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the relevant field, such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Public Health Association, the Mississippi Health Department, etc.”
The bill would require the Mississippi Department of Education and the Department of Health to review the curricula every five years to whether it is “evidenced based and medically accurate.”
Rep. Anderson’s bill would also amend state law to offer sex education twice to students, once in elementary or middle school and once in high school. It requires licensed instructors and school nurses who provide the sex education instruction to gain professional development or continuing education every two years.
“Mississippi continues to rank at or near the top for teen pregnancies, and births to single teen moms,” Rep. Anderson said in a tweet on Valentine’s Day. “Kids born to unwed teen moms are highly likely to begin theirs lives in poverty, which often puts them on a road to a life of crime.
The Moss Point state legislator went on to say that teens face great health risks when not taught.
“Teens are more likely to refrain from having sex if they know all the risks. An unwanted pregnancy is just,” tweeted Rep. Anderson. “Sexually active teens who haven’t been taught how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases face great health risks.”
Frank Corder
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