Statement of Elayne G. Bennett, President and Chief Executive Officer, Best Friends Foundation

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Teen Pregnancy Prevention

November 15, 2001

 I.  INTRODUCTION

For the past 14 years, the Best Friends Foundation has been reaching out to adolescents throughout the United States with a very simple message:  enjoy adolescence by abstaining from sexual activity, drugs and alcohol.  While this message may not be new to young people, the method in which it is delivered is profoundly different, and its impact is unsurpassed by traditional youth development models.   The model is unique.  It combines the elements of intensity, duration, and saturation.

The Foundation reaches over 5,500 girls each year through its Best Friends program and this year will reach about 500 boys through the new Best Men program.  These programs operate in 26 cities and 14 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Sexual activity among youth in the program is almost nonexistent.  In 1999, an independent evaluation of the Washington D.C. Best Friends program showed that 4.2% of 7th and 5.6% of 8th grade girls were sexually active.  This is in comparison with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey data for Washington D.C. 7th and 8th grade girls, where 18.5% of 7th grade and 34.7% 8th grade girls indicated that they were sexually active.

The Best Friends and Best Men programs are successful through a very consistent message and approach.

• Adolescents are not provided mixed messages.  The program teaches that abstinence is the best and most effective way of preventing teen pregnancy and STDs.  Many programs and schools teach abstinence as an option along with contraception.  Best Friends/Best Men staff members do not support this dual philosophy, and as a result, youth are not confused by conflicting messages.
• Saturation.  Many programs are expensive to implement and take place after school when children are involved in other responsibilities.  Best Friends/Best Men recognizes that the school is the surest way to reach the maximum number of youth and their peers.  All curriculum sessions are provided at school, and most sessions take place during the school day.   School principals view the Best Friends/Best Men curriculum as important for young people as core academic courses.  The Best Friends/Best Men model is the most effective way to saturate an entire region with the abstinence message.
• Duration.  Youth may join the Best Friends and Best Men as early as 5th grade.  The program leaves abstinence as the only option.  Curriculum and support are provided each and every month of the school year and continues through middle and high school.  A trustworthy mentor is always there to help youth with difficult decisions.
• Intensity.  Each youth receives more than 110 hours of program services each year.  (1) Youth participate in monthly 90-minute core curriculum and peer discussion sessions during the school year. This is augmented by  (2) weekly one-on-one meetings with volunteer school mentors, (3) male and female role model presentations from the community, (4) culturally enriching field trips, (5) weekly fitness and nutrition classes,  (6) participation in community service projects, (7) and a Family and School Recognition Ceremony to honor students and parents for their commitment and accomplishments.

II.  DOCUMENTATION OF NEED/STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A.  Teen Pregnancy

The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world, more than double that of the United Kingdom, which has the second highest rate. Every state in the nation has a higher pregnancy rate than the UK.  In 1998 in the U.S., there were 51.1 births for every 1,000 teen girls aged 15-19; in 1998, there were 97 pregnancies per 1,000 girls in that age group. More than 4 of 10 young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 - nearly one million a year; 8 of 10 of these pregnancies are unintended and 90% are to unmarried teens.  Over $7 billion is spent annually on more than 500,000 out-of-wedlock babies born to teenage mothers with an estimated cost to the economy in lost productivity of at least $29 billion a year.

Each year the Federal government alone spends about $40 billion to assist families which began with a single, teenage mother, initiating or perpetuating the poverty cycle which underlies most major social problems in the United States. The median income for a single mother is less than $20,000 a year. Daughters of single parents.

Research has consistently shown that children growing up with a single mother are more likely to drop out of school, to give birth out of wedlock, to divorce or separate, and to be dependent of welfare (Garfinkel, I. and McLanahan, S.S., 1986).  Seventy-two percent (72%) of America’s adolescent murderers, 70% of long-term prison inmates and 60% of rapists come from fatherless homes.  Numerous recent studies document the importance of fathers in the lives of their children.  Even if a marriage fails, children born into a married couple family have advantages over those born to unmarried women (Popenor, David, 1996). 

Each year the Annie E. Casey Foundation tracks the well being of children in its Kids Count publication.  The data shows that while programs in the 1990s have successfully addressed the reduction of teen pregnancy, there has not been a corresponding reduction in children born out of wedlock.  In fact, there has been a disturbing increase.  The nationwide percent of total births to unmarried women increased from 41% in 1990 to 43% in 1998.  In Washington D.C., the target area for this proposal, the percent of births to unmarried mothers was an alarming 63% in 1998.  Moreover, the likelihood of a child receiving a child support award reflects the marital status of parents at the time of birth.  Only 22% of never married single parents received child support payments in 1997, compared with 47% of divorced single parents.  Further, only 10% of mothers ages 15 to 17 received child support payments in 1997.

B.  Teen Birthrates

Child Trends reports that preliminary data for 1998 from the National Center for Health Statistics show that the teen birth rate has declined since the early 1990s. In 1998, there were 51.1 births per 1,000 to teen girls age 15-19.  However, the number of teen births since 1991 represents a 7% decline compared with an 18% decline in the rate of teen births since 1991. Despite a decrease in the teen birthrate, the total number of births to teens increased slightly between 1997-99 due to an increase in the number of teen females in the 1990s.

Researchers have begun to acknowledge that the decline in teen birthrates is directly linked to fewer teens having had sex.  KIDS COUNT reports that in 1999, 50% of the nation’s high school students reported having had sex, compared with 54% in 1991.  Public acceptance and support of teens abstaining from sex is credited for the recent success.  Abstinence has gained credibility among foes; opponents no longer disparage abstinence as an unrealistic method of preventing teen pregnancy.

C.   Birthrates by Marital Status

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of all births to teenagers occur outside of marriage. Among mothers ages 15-17, the proportion that are unmarried more than doubled, from 43% in 1970 to 87% in 1997. The proportion of unmarried mothers, ages 18-19, has more than tripled - from 22% in 1970 to 72% in 1997. Birthrates of married teens declined 23% between 1990-1997. Unmarriedteen birthrates peaked in 1994. In 1998, 79% of teen births occurred outside of marriage (up from 71% of births in 1992).  According to the Annie E. Casey KIDS COUNT Report, 97% or births to teens in Washington D.C. were to unmarried teens in 1996.  The majority of teen mothers choose to keep their children rather than put them up for adoption. 

Today’s teen parents face very different circumstances than that of their counterparts in the 1960s.  In the 1960s, more than two thirds of births to teens occurred within the context of marriage, even when conception occurred beforehand.  Marriage was viewed as a goal to strive for, offering social and financial stability.  Even though the stigma has lessened since the 60s, it is clear that children in single parent homes do not have the same economic resources as those growing up in two parent households.

Sociologists Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur examined family structure and its impact on whether a child will succeed.  They examined a decade worth of data and found, “Compared with teenagers of similar background who grow up with both parents at home, adolescents who have lived apart from one of their parents during some period of childhood are twice as likely to drop out of high school, twice as likely to have a child before age twenty, and one and a half times as likely to be ‘idle’-out of school and out of work-in their teens and early twenties.”

There is reason to be hopeful.  According to KIDS COUNT, after peaking in 1996, the nationwide percentage of children living in single parent families fell to 27.8% in 2000.  This can, in part, be credited to the Landmark Welfare Reform legislation of 1996, which began to encourage states with financial incentives to lower their proportion of single parent households.  Programs like Best Friends and Best Men will contribute to a continued reduction.

D.  Birthrates and Abortion

While still perceived as an epidemic by public health officials and still at the highest rate of all industrialized nations, the teen pregnancy rate, birthrate and abortion rate have all declined slightly in the past several years. Thus, the decline in the birthrate is NOT due to an increase in abortion. However, it should be noted that the total number of births to teens increased slightly between 1998-1999. 

According to the Allan Guttmacher Institute, the teen pregnancy rate declined by 16% between 1991-96, while the abortion rate declined by 22% between 1991-96. The District of Columbia had the highest rate of abortion per 1,000 women (155) of any state, more than triple that of Nevada (44), the next highest state.  The easy availability of abortions clearly has not had a significant effect on reducing the birthrate.

E.  Contraceptive Use

Data from the National Survey of Family Growth show different trends in contraceptive use at first and most recent sexual encounter among teens. There is an increase in the percentage of adolescent females who report using any contraceptive method at first sex from 48% in 1982 to 76% in 1995. However, and more importantly, there has been a decline in contraceptive use at most recent sex among sexually active teen females (those who had sex in the last three months). The proportion of sexually active females who use contraception at most recent sex declined from 77% in 1988 to 69% in 1995. This data does not support the argument that increased contraceptive use resulted in decreased teen birth rates because it is obvious there is a much higher risk of pregnancy with repeated sexual intercourse. Although advocates of contraceptive education may claim that increased contraceptive use is a major cause of the decrease in teen pregnancy and birth rates, these data demonstrate quite the opposite.

F.  STDs

Another devastating result of increased promiscuity by our teens is the increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).  There are 3 million new cases of STDs diagnosed in teenagers in the United States each year, requiring more than $2 billion in direct treatment costs annually.  Teenagers are far more susceptible to STDs than adults. For example, a 15-year-old girl has a one in eight chance of contracting a STD if she has sex, while a 21-year-old woman has a one in eighty chance under the same circumstances. Moreover, the AIDS virus is also on the rise among our youth. Nearly 20% of all AIDS patients are in their 20s, which means many of them were infected as adolescents. Today teenage sex is not only harmful; it is deadly. Surpassing even homicide, AIDS is the number one killer of African-American men ages 24-45 in the U.S. It is the number two killer of African-American women of the same age. Condoms offer little or no protection for a number of STDs (including HPV - human papilloma virus which causes genital warts). In a single act of unprotected sex with an infected partner, a teenage girl has a 1% risk of contracting HIV, a 30% risk of infection with genital herpes (HPV) and a 50% chance of contracting gonorrhea (Allan Guttmacher Institute - Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, 1998).

G.  Oral Sex

Oral sex is a gateway behavior to other sex, alcohol and drug use. Oral sex is highly dangerous because of the physical risk, STDs (HPV virus is easily transmitted through oral sex). In the last seven years, it appears that girls are having sex at an earlier age. The proportion of girls engaged in sex before age 15 rose from 11% to nearly 20%. For most of these girls, oral sex was their first sexual experience. Recent news stories about the prevalence of oral sex among middle-schoolers points to the dire need for guidance and clear-cut standards of behavior.

H.  Consequences for Young Mothers

The Casey Foundation report also speaks to the consequences for young parents.  A young woman who has a child before graduating from high school is less likely to complete school than a young woman who does not have a child.  About 64% of teen mothers graduated from high school or earned a GED within 2 years of their scheduled graduation date, compared with 94% who did not give birth.  Best Friends has a 100% graduation rate for girls who stick with the program in high school.

Nearly 80% of teen mothers eventually go on welfare and end up in the child support system.  According to Child Trends, more than 75% of all unmarried teen moms went on welfare within 5 years of the birth of their first child.  An alarming 55% of all mothers on welfare were teenagers at the time their first child was born.

I.  Consequences for Young Fathers

Consequences also exist for teen fathers.  They are more likely to be in the criminal justice system, use alcohol, deal drugs, or quit school.  Among married men, those who were teen fathers had the least schooling and earned lower wages than those who fathered children with mothers who were 20 or 21 (Casey Foundation, KIDS COUNT).

Data from the March 2000 Current Population Survey show that only 58% of males ages 16 to 19 have any earned income in 1999 and that the average annual income for those who worked was less than $6,000 annually.  Teen fathers are unable to provide the required financial support for their children.  This causes an added strain between the relationship of the teen mother and father.

III.  STRATEGIES THAT WORK

The Casey Foundation summarized in brief, without endorsing specific programs, strategies that work at preventing teen pregnancy.  All of the essential elements they highlighted are contained within Best Friends/Best Men programs.

A.  Unwavering Commitment by Families - Best Friends/Best Men parents give permission for his/her child to participate in the program.  Each school holds a parent information meeting at the beginning of the school year.  The Best Friends/Best Men introduction video is shown and parents ask questions of the Best Friends/Best Men staff.  In the 15 years of program operation, only two parents did not allow their children to participate.  Once enrolled, not a single parent has ever removed his/her child from the program.  Families celebrate the commitment of their children at the Family and School Recognition Ceremony. 80-90% of parents attend this event.  Each Best Friend/Best Men participant acknowledges his/her parent with a symbol of gratitude at the Recognition Ceremony.

B.  Services must be holistic, comprehensive and flexible - Best Friends/Best Men is not sex education.  The eight-step curriculum discussion sessions look at the “whole” person.  The curriculum examines the life and social skills needed to resist the negative pressures that lead to teenage pregnancy.  The support system is comprehensive - mentors, role models, teachers, parents, peers and the community at large learn how to support the youth’s very important decision of abstaining from sex.  The program is flexible to meet each child’s needs.  Best Friends/Best Men curriculum is taught during the school day.  Children who have after-school responsibilities do not miss out on the program.  Diamond Girls who are in high school meet at times convenient to their busy schedules.  The needs of the youth dictate how the program is delivered.

C.  The information is revised and updated yearly - Founder Elayne Bennett, her staff, lead research consultant, and medical experts have examined volumes of research.  Through peer review, only the most credible findings have been used to develop the curriculum.  All curriculum materials have gone through numerous peer reviews and are updated annually to ensure the most up to date information.  The message to adolescents is accurate and consistent.  The participants are the most knowledgeable spokespersons for the program.  They present end of the year essays titled, “What Best Friends Means to Me,” and these essays are a testimonial to the accuracy and consistency of the message.

D.  Teens need to be provided with more targeted academic and job information - Graduation from high school and post secondary education is a major tenet of Best Friends and Best Men.  Elayne Bennett felt so strongly about the importance of showing young girls that there is a very promising future ahead of them, that she created a generous scholarship program.  Each program participant who stays with the program through high school is offered the opportunity for a college scholarship.  Since 1993, more than 70 young women have attended college with Diamond Girl Scholarships, attending top universities.  Girls who are not college bound receive career counseling and choose careers such as the military.

E.  Teens need information about how their bodies work and how to keep them safe - Staying healthy and protecting one’s body from physical harm are key ingredients to the Best Friends/Best Men programs.  Girls and boys participate in weekly group fitness classes.  Girls exercise, dance and discuss health and nutrition.  Boys participate in martial arts and discuss health and nutrition.  Through the curriculum, youth learn skills to avoid physical confrontations with peers and adults.

F.  Messages from adults must be clear -   The coordinators and facilitators attend training conferences in the utilization of a carefully designed curriculum in which abstinence from sex, drugs and alcohol is clearly conveyed.

G.  Discussions must be frank to "deglamorize" the barrage of sexual images provided through the media - To counter the glamorization of sex, Best Friends has glamorized abstinence.  Girls earn jewelry, t-shirts, and other incentives that they wear to symbolize as a peer group that abstinence is attractive.  Girls learn that one can be attractive without being sex symbols, something that many have thought as being one and the same.  Boys learn that they can be cool when they do not drink, do drugs and have sex.  Male role models reinforce that abstinence is cool.  Videos, theme songs and dance performances reinforce that Best Friends/Best Men is cool.

H.  Students learn techniques in making good decisions, communication and work skills to prepare for the adult world - Best Friends/Best Men has an entire curriculum session dedicated to decision-making skills.  Youth learn how to make good decisions and to take responsibility for their actions.  Communication skills are addressed in every aspect of the program.  Most participants have teacher/mentors who utilize their mentor guides with specified discussion activities.  Role-plays are used to simulate difficult decisions.  Peers give feedback on how they would handle difficult situations.

Best Friends utilizes the social learning theory (Bandura,1977) that explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral and environmental influences. Best Friends/Best Men is structured to provide adolescents with 100 - 200 hours of interaction with responsible adult leaders who serve as role models of behavior that we wish to develop in our youth.  Our cognitive input is reflected through the messages presented in the curriculum units, which are repeated throughout the program year. Social and environmental influences are brought about through community service and culturally enriching field trips. The Family and School Recognition Ceremony is an opportunity for the participants to express their appreciation while showcasing their talent through essay reading, song and dance. As girls and boys mature with the program, they become role models for their younger classmates.

Bill Mosher and Stephanie Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics co-authored a study released in February 2000 by the Center for Disease Control. The study found that the number of births, abortions and miscarriages in the United States declined by half a million in just six years. Much of the drop can be attributed to a change in teenagers’ behavior. Among other factors, they cite “the message of abstaining from sexual intercourse has gotten across to a good number of teenagers.” In fact, recent survey data show that 51% (both boys and girls) are choosing to abstain from sexual activity (KIDS COUNT).

The Adolescent Health Study (ADD Health), which surveyed over 90,000 middle school students, clearly demonstrated that a protective factor in delaying the onset of first sexual behavior as well as the prevention of pregnancy was the perceived parental disapproval of adolescent contraception and adolescent sex. It is surprising to the Best Friends Foundation that the advocates of comprehensive sex education that involve condom distribution are not rethinking their position based on this significant research study.

IV.  BEST FRIENDS/BEST MEN PROGRAM DESIGN/METHODOLOGY

Elayne Bennett founded the Best Friends Program in 1987, when she was a faculty member of the Georgetown University Child Development Center.  Elayne continues as the President of the Foundation, teaches curriculum in Washington D.C. schools, and has trained more than 1,000 educators in 26 cities in 14 states, including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Nationally, the Best Friends program serves almost 5,500 girls as well as nearly 500 boys in the recently piloted Best Men program.

Students may enter as early as the 5th grade and continue through middle school.  Girls who continue in the program in high school enter the Diamond Girls program; boys enter Iron Men in high school.

Best Men Messages

The primary goal of Best Men is to provide boys with the tools and the environment needed to help them develop into responsible young men.  This goal is accomplished with the implementation of a multi-faceted program which:

• Defines manhood.
• Teaches boys that to abstain from sex in high school is a good decision and to abstain from sex until marriage is the best decision.
• Provides boys with positive adult male mentors to support and encourage them in their goal to become men worthy of respect.
• Develops positive peer support.
• Encourages ongoing parental support, especially fathers.

Best Friends Messages

Best Friends is designed to reach girls in early adolescence when their attitudes toward life are forming, when they need to discuss their personal concerns and receive support from friends and respected adults.  The following messages permeate the Best Friends program:

• The best kind of friend is one who encourages you to be a better person.
• Friends help each other make good decisions.
• Without self-respect, it is difficult to say “no” to anyone or anything.
• Boys and girls often have different agendas in their romantic relationships.
• Sex is never a test of love.
• The decision not to have sex in high school is a good one.  The decision to wait until marriage is the best one.
• Children deserve to begin life with married adult parents.
• The decision not to take drugs is a good one.  It is illegal to take drugs.
• The decision not to drink alcohol in high school is a good one.  In most jurisdictions, it is illegal to drink alcoholic beverages before the age of 21.
• Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.  Past mistakes do not mean that one must continue the same pattern.

Operational Structure

Best Friends/Best Men is a school year program.  Girls and boys may enter as early as 5th grade and participate in an eight-step school year curriculum program, augmented by mentors, role models, fitness program, cultural activities/field trips and a Family and School Recognition Ceremony.  Best Friends/Best Men succeeds because it is an ongoing education and support system.  Each girl and boy is invited back to the program at the start of the school year.  Those who graduate from high school may qualify for educational scholarships funded through the program. 

Recruitment

Best Friends/Best Men coordinators and grade level teachers recruit youth into the program.  Special efforts are made by school staff to recruit students who demonstrate risk factors, such as poor school attendance, drinking, smoking, physical aggression, etc.  Experience has shown that a blend of students consisting of high and average achievers, along with those who fall below the mark, provides a productive learning environment.  Youth connect with both the positive and negative experiences of peers and draw from these experiences to make positive changes in their lives.

Curriculum/Discussion

The most important component of the Best Friends curriculum are the group discussions conducted by a Best Friends/Best Men instructor at least once a month for 90 minutes. The group sessions provide opportunities for students to discuss topics important to adolescents - (1) friendship, (2) love and dating, (3) self-respect, (4) decision-making, (5) alcohol abuse, (6) drug abuse, (7) physical fitness and nutrition, (8) AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Participants record their thoughts in a Best Friends/Best Men Student Journal. The Best Friends instructor uses the Best Friends/Best Men Program Guide to lead discussions.  The instructor uses a combination of lectures and discussion, videos, news clips and journal writing.  Each session always concludes with the Best Friends Theme Song and the Best Men Chant.

1.  Friendship:  participants learn that the best kind of friend is one who encourages you to be a better person and that friends help each other make good decisions. They learn skills and techniques for saying "no" in response to peer pressure.

2.  Relationships/Love and Dating:  This session addresses the difference between love and infatuation and that sex is never a test of love. It is reassuring to young people to realize that the pressures that they are experiencing are shared by many adolescents. They learn that the decision not to have sex in high school is a good one and the best decision is to wait until marriage.

3.  Self-Respect:  Participants learn that respecting oneself is very important. Without self-respect, it is difficult to say "no" to anyone or anything. They learn to take responsibility for their decisions and that these decisions have an impact on their lives. Each student is encouraged to be in control of his or her life, to set positive goals to look forward to the future.

4.  Decision-Making:  Best Friends/Best Men boys and girls learn skills for making good decisions, taking responsibility for their own behavior, and evaluating the messages in the media. Best Friends safety rules are discussed.

5.  Alcohol Abuse:  Participants learn why drinking alcoholic beverages before the legal drinking age is dangerous. We teach techniques for avoiding alcohol and riding in cars with drivers who have been drinking.  Youth learn that drinking alcohol makes them more vulnerable to sexual advances.  Videos, news articles and role-plays are particularly useful in this session.

6.  Drug and Tobacco Abuse:  The Best Friends Program conveys a clear "no use" message. Boys and girls learn the dangers of experimenting with drugs, how drugs can steal their goals and dreams and hurt their family and friends.  Youth learn that drugs contribute to sexual activity.

7.  Physical Fitness and Nutrition:  Good health helps adolescents gain self-respect and have a more positive outlook on life. Once a week, all Best Friends participants have a one-hour fitness class where they exercise, dance, discuss the importance of health and nutrition and have fun with their friends.  Best Men participate in self-defense classes.

8.  AIDS and STDs:  Participants learn that abstinence from sexual activity and drug use is the only guaranteed protection against sexually transmitted diseases and the HIV virus. Candid information is shared about the most common STDs, the symptoms, treatment and consequences.

Fifteen years of experience in curriculum development and direct instruction in hundreds of schools with thousands of adolescent girls and most recently adolescent boys, has convinced me that our youth want to hear the abstinence message. Students will respond when it is presented in a developmentally sound approach that involves positive peer pressure and promotes a sense of connection to their school.

We urge the committee here today to understand that by setting the expectations of abstinence until marriage we are at the very least promoting a standard that has been a part of our traditional moral values for centuries.

It is especially important at this time of crisis in our country that we not compromise the values that have been time honored in our society. Our children deserve no less than our highest expectations.

In summation, Best Friends believes that as adults “If we give our children our best, they will surely respond with their best.”