Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina Answer Teens’ Questions about Sex

Sorted under education, health, sex and sexuality on May 5, 2009

Birds and Bees Text Line The Birds and Bees Text Line, started by the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina, has given teens ages 14 to 19 a reliable service to receive answers to questions they have about sex. Teens are encouraged to text the Birds and Bees Text Line and within 24 hours, they will receive a cautious, nonjudgmental reply texted to their cellphones from a nameless, faceless adult at the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina.

The decision to start the Birds and Bees Text Line came after realizing that in many areas of the country, rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases remain constant and are even rising. North Carolina’s public school system is forced to teach an abstinence-only curriculum and has the country’s ninth highest teen pregnancy rate. For the last 15 years, school officials and politicians have debated whether the sex education curriculum should mention contraception and during this same time, public health officials have been trying to figure out how to educate teenagers about sex beyond the classroom; because obviously school officials and politicians are too concerned with their own agendas to give a damn about giving their youth the information they need to make informed and educated decisions about their bodies, health, and sex. If you do not give teenagers the sex education that they need to prepare themselves for adulthood, do not expect them to not have sex and to not get pregnant, having never been given the education to even know that they should make sure a condom is present.

The program received a $5,000 grant for the cellphone line and advertising from the State Departments of Health and Human Services, but president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council, Bill Brooks, does not like the idea of the Birds and Bees Text Line, for the main reason that teens can receive answers to their sex ed questions through their cell phones and not in the company of their parents, saying:

“If I couldn’t control access to this information, I’d turn off the texting service.” “When it comes to the Internet, parents are advised to put blockers on their computer and keep it in a central place in the home. But kids can have access to this on their cellphones when they’re away from parental influence — and it can’t be controlled.”

Brooks also believes that the abstinence-until-marriage sex education curriculum is working for the state and no group or organization should teach anything outside of that curriculum, whether they are attached to the school or not, saying, “It doesn’t make sense to fund a program that is different than the state standards.”

It is people like Bill Brooks and organizations like the North Carolina Family Policy Council who are damaging teenagers by voicing their out of touch policies and condemning groups and organizations that are trying to reach out to teens to ensure that they have answers to the questions they have and are making sure that these teenagers know how to protect themselves, while Brooks and people who think like him, feel it is best to keep their teenagers in the dark, refusing to provide them with basic comprehensive sex education. You cannot erase adolescent curiosity about sex and the sooner these people realize that, the better.

Hearing about the Birds and Bees Text Line made me incredibly happy; they are doing great work and I hope that they continue to do so and provide teens with a positive source of the information they want and need, regardless of who tries to stand in their way.



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  • This is a fantastic initiative. I think way too often nowadays teenagers (particularly females) are simply expected to know about sex so they talk with their friends (who are often just as uneducated) and end up believing all kinds of silly things.

    If only more parents spoke openly to their children during this period they would be so much better off. Unfortunately it seems to be a very taboo subject for a lot of people, my Mother never was!

    Anyway, great post :)
  • Communication is key. Usually guys are handed a condom and sent on their way, while girls have to endure lectures pushing them in a different direction (abstinence), which we all know doesnt change anything. If parents are lucky enough to have their child come to them about sex, then they should listen—not judge or criticize.
  • digitalproevolution
    fantastic post really good reading thanks
  • I think a better solution is for parents and their kids to have an open line of communication, even about sex. Parents are the best source of info when it comes to issues like this, not other people.
    It's good that the organization is exerting effort to promote proper sex education. Like you said, you cannot take away from the kids their curiosity. But as I have mentioned, parents are still the better source of info for sensitive issues like sex.
  • While yes, in a perfect world all parents would be the first people to step up and speak to their children about safe sex, this is not the case not only in some cases, but in most cases. There are a few parents out there who do have open, nonjudgmental lines of communication with their children, but most parents hesitate to speak to their children about sex either at all, or until a time where they personally feel their children should be thinking about sex, which in most cases, is much later than their children begin to think about sex and even begin having sex. You also need to think about people who raise their children in strict religious families who spread misinformation to their children about sex, such as condoms having holes in them or shoving religious propaganda down their throats, which educates no one. And then there are unconventional families, such as my own; I was raised by my father and received no "talk" or sex education from him, I had to rely on the women in my life to educate me properly. So while we can agree on the fact that all parents should speak to their children about sex, that is not always the case, which is why it is so important to have organizations such as the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina and others that are working to give curious children, teens, and young adults the right information that is going to protect them.
  • This is one of the best articles I have come across on this topic, thanks for posting it, keep posts like this coming, I am totally impressed!

    Amber
  • sex
    hank you so much for this kind post!
  • Thank you so much for this kind post! I'm the James Martin in the story and we've been overwhelmed by how positive the response has been. It's been a very busy week for us, and it always helps to see a blog like yours to make it all seem worthwhile!
  • Thank you so much for your comment! I cannot tell you how absolutely thrilled I was to see that you stopped by here.
  • Great article. Very interesting information. I use to read about 15 blogs a day, but because my time is nowlimited, I only can read 1 or 2 now. And this is one of them.
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