What is the Abstinence Education Program?
The Abstinence Education Program promotes abstinence as a healthy choice and a positive lifestyle through implementation of programs designed to change the culture and individual behavior about out-of-wedlock sexual activity. The program objectives are: 1) to implement programs for school aged children; 2) to implement “talking to your child” programs for parents and interested adults; 3) to reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and births; and 4) to involve the community in the development and implementation of programs and activities that promote and support the abstinence message. Why is this program needed? Despite a decrease since 1998, Arizona continues to have a teen birth rate that is higher than the national trend. According to the Arizona Vital Statistics, Teen Pregnancy, Arizona 1997-2007, in 2007 there were an estimated 28,661 mothers in Arizona who were younger than 20 years old, 15,038 girls under the age of 20 got pregnant, and 23% of those girls had been pr
