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Arkansas needs a more robust sexual health education landscape in order to reduce the state鈥檚 high rates of teenage pregnancy and births, a coalition of advocates for children鈥檚 health and wellbeing asserted in a report published Wednesday.

The report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families includes several policy recommendations to 鈥渕ove Arkansas into an age-appropriate and evidence-based continuum of sexual health education.鈥�

AACF formed the coalition in 2022 after releasing data that showed 28 of every 1,000 Arkansas teenagers had given birth, almost twice the national average of 15 per 1,000 teenagers. Only 22% of teenage pregnancies were planned, .

鈥淭hrough our research for that report, we found that teenagers aren鈥檛 any more sexually active here than they are in other states,鈥� last week鈥檚 report states. 鈥淭he key difference is access to contraceptives, especially the most effective kind, and lack of information because sexual health education isn鈥檛 required in Arkansas.鈥�

says that schools teaching sex education 鈥渟hall include instruction in sexual abstinence, and no funds shall be utilized for abortion referral.鈥�

Within the confines of the law, schools can take an 鈥渁bstinence-plus鈥� approach, meaning 鈥渁 curriculum that builds off a foundation of abstinence education but can also include more medically accurate and evidence-based approaches,鈥� AACF鈥檚 report states.

A 2017 survey by the found nearly 85% of Arkansas鈥� 262 public school districts taught some form of abstinence, including having students sign virginity pledges, while 34 districts said they didn鈥檛 teach sex education at all.

AACF hopes to gather more recent data on schools鈥� sex education curricula in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Olivia Gardner, AACF鈥檚 education policy director.

鈥淚 know anecdotally from this work that lots of Arkansans would like to see changes within the system,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淭hey would like to see things happening at school, and they don鈥檛 feel comfortable having those conversations at home.鈥�

The coalition鈥檚 recommendations include, but are not limited to:

Creating new requirements for school-based sex education 鈥渢o include more medically accurate information, including opportunities to teach 鈥榓bstinence plus鈥� curricula鈥�;鈥淚ncluding parents and medical providers as important sources of sexual health information and abuse prevention鈥�;Supporting the expansion of sexual violence prevention programs;Supporting existing out-of-school programs that provide sexual health educationIncluding menstruation in sex education and making feminine hygiene products more accessible;Creating a nonprofit focused on improving sexual health education.

The report proposes an eight-year timeline for enacting the recommendations, with the first few years meant to be 鈥渂aby steps,鈥� Gardner said.

Members of the coalition behind the report agree that a multi-pronged, collaborative approach is necessary to put the recommendations into action.

鈥淪exual health in general literally affects everybody throughout their entire life,鈥� said Katie Clark, a member of the coalition and the founder of the Arkansas Period Poverty Project. 鈥淚t鈥檚 literally why we鈥檙e all here, and in order to address it, we need to talk about all these different issues and make legislators see that [better sex education] is something that will positively affect Arkansans for years to come.鈥�

鈥業gnoring it is worse鈥�

Teenage parents are less likely to complete high school and college, which limits their economic opportunities in a state with an already high poverty rate, Gardner said.

Babies born to teenage girls are more likely to be premature or underweight, which can create lifelong health problems. According to AACF, 9.5% of all babies in Arkansas were born with low birth weights in 2021.

Additionally, Arkansas has the nation鈥檚 highest maternal mortality rate and the third highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Elected officials from both parties, , have expressed support for bolstering the state鈥檚 maternal and infant health care infrastructure.

While advocates agree that medically accurate sex education will help address these issues, there has been little support for sex education policies in the state Legislature in recent years. Senate Minority Leader Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, introduced to require 鈥渁ge- and developmentally appropriate鈥� and 鈥渕edically accurate and complete鈥� sex education in K-12 public schools, but the bill did not advance.

Lawmakers from both parties were receptive to the portion of the bill regarding education about safe and healthy dating practices, Leding said in an interview.

鈥淚t was really when we got into more explicit education regarding safe sexual practices that we met resistance,鈥� he said.

Most people can agree that reducing and preventing unsafe behaviors is important, but advocates are often met with unease when discussing how to broach such topics with teenagers, said Natalie Tibbs, executive director of the Children & Family Advocacy Center in Northwest Arkansas.

鈥淚gnoring it is worse, so it鈥檚 about finding that balance of providing age-appropriate education that is empowering and therefore creating prevention, not curiosity,鈥� Tibbs said. 鈥淭he reality is, our kids are curious anyway, they鈥檙e talking to each other, and do we really want our children learning about it from their peers who don鈥檛 have it right, or do we want them learning from teachers?鈥�

Tibbs is a member of AACF鈥檚 sexual health education coalition and works in child abuse prevention and victim advocacy. She said teachers should receive annual training that helps them identify and report signs of child maltreatment; state law requires educators to complete this training every four years.

Both Leding鈥檚 2021 bill and AACF鈥檚 report emphasize teaching young people about healthy relationships and consent. Tibbs agreed that this is important to prevent both child abuse and teenage pregnancy.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 see a significantly high pregnancy rate as it relates to child abuse, but it is there, so anytime we talk about sex education, we want to make sure there鈥檚 a piece of education that relates to abuse,鈥� Tibbs said. 鈥溾��We don鈥檛 want to assume that all pregnancies are consensual.鈥�

Legislative approaches

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, said he next year legislation similar to another failed 2021 bill, which would exempt feminine hygiene products from state sales tax.

Arkansas remains one of 21 states that continue to tax period products, despite exempting other health-related products. According to the state , the tax costs menstruating Arkansans over $1 million per year.

Schools are not required to provide period products to students, which can lead them to miss school while menstruating or develop health problems from using other methods such as articles of clothing to stanch the bleeding, Clark said.

This highlights why menstruation should be part of sexual health education, she said, and many Arkansans have told her they did not learn about menstruation in school.

鈥淚f they don鈥檛 have the proper education, the words, the ways to describe it, they can鈥檛 educate their daughters well,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淲hen people hear 鈥榮ex education,鈥� they think intercourse and that鈥檚 it, but children and teens need to know what鈥檚 normal and not normal so they can ask questions.鈥�

A proposed ballot measure to eliminate the tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers to make this year鈥檚 November ballot. The ballot question committee, of which Clark is chair, to the attorney general鈥檚 office Monday, seeking approval to start gathering voters鈥� signatures to put the measure on the 2026 ballot.

Leding said he and other Democrats hope to reintroduce legislation about sex education in a future legislative session.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody, regardless of party, can look at the situation in Arkansas and not believe that we need to do much more,鈥� he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Arkansas Advocate on and .

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