Two national organizations have joined forces to push for sex education to change in Oregon, contending current curriculum leaves students uninformed and frightened of their sexuality.

Members of the southwestern Oregon chapter of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, famed for starting the first birth control clinic in the United States in 1916, held a talk for a group of 15 parents and health educators Monday night in the Myrtlewood Room at the Coos Bay Public Library. The organization was joined by Barbara Huberman, director of education and outreach for Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C., group.

The groups sent invitations to like-minded individuals in Coos County.

"We did that because we wanted to invite people who had heard some of the story we were trying to tell and avoid people who were not familiar with the work that had been done in the area," said Kellie Shoemaker, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood.

Their message: Adolescent pregnancy and abortion rates will not decrease until a wider range of sex education is available in the state's schools.

Planned Parenthood promotes "Rights, Respect and Responsibility," a curriculum focused on medical information and encouraging the use of contraception, coupled with negotiation and open communication with teenagers.

Mary Gossart, vice president of education and training for Planned Parenthood, encouraged parents to start forum discussions with educators to get more information about sex into schools because according to government data, four out of 10 teenage girls in the U.S. have been pregnant.

In Coos County, between 2000 and 2002, of 1,831 babies born, 15 percent were to mothers below the age of 20, according to statistics from the Oregon Department of Human Services. In the same years in the county, there were 364 abortions, 35 percent of which were obtained by girls below age 20.

Huberman told parents her organization is focusing on Oregon partly because of a state statute that establishes criteria for sex education classes to "enhance students' understanding of sexuality as a normal and healthy aspect of human development," and to include "statistics based on the latest medical information regarding the possible side effects and health benefits of all forms of contraception."

The law does not require sex education to be taught, but if it is, those requirements must be met.

"Most schools are not doing it," Huberman said, "because of certain small, vocal groups, for a variety of reasons, but also because it's against religion. They oppose it."

According to Gossart, regardless of what is taught in schools, a child's education begins with parents and messages about sex start from the beginning of life.

"Parents have a great opportunity to create an environment where sex is a topic open to talk about," Gossart said. "There is a trend to promote abstinence but it's really a disservice to people because it denies them information and skills to make wise decisions."

Gossart said pushing abstinence on teenagers will not solve the problem of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. She contends constructive talks about sex will delay the age in which teenagers become sexually active and Western European education models should be mirrored in American schools.

"They trust young people to make wise decisions and they respect young people as important members of the community," Gossart said. "Sex has been politicized in America."

Staff from local schools in the audience had differing opinions on the state of sex education.

Cyndi Gonzales, a teacher's aide at Powers High School, said students there are well-taught about sex, but she said she attended the meeting to hear new ideas.

"It doesn't hurt to have more input," Gonzales said.

Others were more dissatisfied with what they said teenagers aren't told in school.

"There's nothing. Not even a 9- to-12 anything, not even a video," said Shannon Weybright, a nurse at Marshfield High School.

She said a 50-minute talk about sex is given in two health classes once a year, but that won't suffice to give students the information they need.

"The teen day care is full," Weybright said about the school's program for high school mothers who attend classes. "I can't believe the statistics say the pregnancy rate is going down."

Weybright said she was speaking as a parent, and favors more sex education, but that won't be easy to get.

"There might be resistance in the seventh- and eighth-grade section," Weybright said. "Parents don't want this."

Maggie Bagon, a local advocate for Planned Parenthood, echoed the sentiment, adding that a lack of time and funding also is to blame.

"I've seen a lot of people here that feel helpless. Some people are just overwhelmed here," Bagon said.

Huberman said after similar sex education talks attended by eight people in Grants Pass, parents there initiated a 72-person forum with educators and religious leaders. In Medford, a similar forum is scheduled today, where 60 people are expected to come. Huberman encouraged the same from the South Coast discussions.

She said she hopes the increased awareness will combat a movement toward legislated religion in America.

"As much as we want to think we are a country that's based on separation of church and state, we're actually moving away from it," she said.