Brevard County, FL Parents in Brevard County are advocating for
a more comprehensive approach to sexuality education in their
school district. They also want to ban the current abstinence-
only-until-marriage program provider, First Defense, from
teaching in the schools. First Defense is a Melbourne-based
nonprofit which claims its “lessons [are] rooted in keeping
students healthy emotionally, physically, and socially.” The
federal government has awarded First Defense a three-year grant
that allows it to provide free abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs in area schools.1 Despite the fact that the program is
free, many parents in Brevard County don’t want it. One father
stated, “Our health education classes are not teaching
(students) how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and how to
avoid pregnancy. As a father of two daughters, believe me, I’m
all in favor of abstinence.” He continued by expressing the need
for a new program that “acknowledges the reality that 50 percent
of high school students are sex