WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Robyn Cyr is a short woman with glasses and a wavy bob of black hair. A true believer, she stands at the front of the classroom with poise and confidence. The United States Government stands behind her. Facing a class of adults who tower over their tiny desks at Palmetto Elementary School, Cyr explained "life is like a puzzle. There are many pieces that need to fit together over a long period of time. Can you tell me right now what this puzzle will look like when it's all done?"

Slowly, some members of the class shake their heads. A bit of hesitation is expected; most of them don't know English. That's why they're here -- to learn. In the meantime, Cyr's presentation must be translated into their native Spanish.

The question is relayed en espaSol and soon the entire class chimes in with a resounding "no."
"Of course you can't," she said. "You need to see the big picture -- to have instructions for how the pieces fit together." She pauses, then drops the bombshell: "Your child's sexuality is a piece of the puzzle, how does it fit?"

Opening with pregnancy, Cyr seamlessly progressed the lecture onto sexually transmitted diseases: chlamydia, AIDS, genital herpes. Usually, this presentation is reserved for middle and high school-aged children, but a recent federal grant has allowed her group to reach out to other portions of the community, such as adult education classes. This class -- all women in their 30s and 40s, mostly immigrants from places like Cuba, Mexico and South America -- is astonished by the topic; for them, talking about sex is still taboo. Welcome to America.

"Most teenage boys believe that when they have an erection, they have to do something about it. What we need to teach them is self-control," Cyr says, beginning a tirade advocating abstinence -- and only abstinence. No condoms, no birth control pills, no diaphragms. To Be The One, the nonprofit group Cyr works for, there is no such thing as "safe sex."

The U.S. Government agrees. In August, Be The One received a federal grant of $2.4 million to spread their message across southern Florida. But this money comes with some strings attached.

The grant, part of $135 million budgeted annually to forward the teaching of abstinence-only education, was given jointly by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the government's newly created Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In order for a nonprofit or religious organization to receive a grant, they must "promote abstinence-only education" and "agree not to provide any other education regarding sexual conduct," as stipulated by the grant summary available at, among other places, the White House's website.

Of course, for Be The One, which sprang from First Care and Crisis Pregnancy Centers, a non-denominational, faith-based anti-abortion counseling clinic established on the principles of the Christian Evangelical Society, meeting those criteria wasn't an issue.

"We believe you should teach your children to wait until they're married to have sex," Cyr said.

But, many other nonprofit groups employ other methods besides abstinence to try to hedge against rising trends of teen pregnancy and STDs. These groups, such as the educational wing of Planned Parenthood and even Student Sexuality Services (SSIS) here at Brandeis would be ineligible to receive funding.

The federal government strictly delineates the eligibility requirements for groups to get their hands on grant money. The definition of an abstinence-only education is one that "teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school-aged children," that "a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of sexual activity," and that "sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful
psychological and physical consequences."

In June 2002, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took the state of Louisiana to court, claiming the misuse of federal funds earmarked for abstinence-only education. Instead of teaching Sex Ed, the ACLU said, organizations that received public funds were teaching Religious Ed.

Federal funds in Louisiana paid for trips to abortion clinics to hold prayer vigils; for a roving troupe of abstinence-only advocates to call sex outside of marriage "offensive to God;" and for a "Passion 4 Purity" program that taught abstinence through "scriptural concepts." In addition, federally funded groups in the Bayou
State blamed STDs on the claim that "we removed God from the classroom."

The case ended in a settlement mandating that Louisiana's use of public funds for abstinence-only education be monitored more closely.
Many critics say what happened in Louisiana is symptomatic of a larger, growing problem. In response to incidents in Louisiana, Boston Globe columnist Elaine Goodman wrote, "the problem with the abstinence-only classes isn't just that the groups receiving the dollars read like a Who's Who of the Religious Right. It's that programs ... teaching this are spreading fear, misinformation and disinformation."

Be The One, however, holds that teaching other means of sexual safety in the same forum as abstinence education sends kids mixed messages -- that instructing adolescents on methods of contraception in tandem with the teaching of abstinence misleads youths and creates confusion.

"The answer is not condoms," Cyr said, citing what she calls a "cumulative" condom failure rate of 16 percent, based on susceptibility to both pregnancy and STDs. "They are not the solution. We could pass them out for free -- it doesn't matter. We tell people not to entrust their safety to latex."
The government requires groups that wish to obtain federal funding take this stance. If they are not disproving the effectiveness of condoms and other methods of sexual protection, they can't speak about them.

"I honestly don't believe that withholding information from people about sexual health options will decrease the amount of sexual activity that they engage in," Student Sexuality Information Services Coordinator Julie Szymczak '03 said. "By sheltering people from the facts, risks and options for sexual health, we are doing them more harm than good."

The government money for abstinence programs sprang from the compromising needed to pass the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. As part of the dealmaking, Congress decided to set aside money for abstinence education, hoping that a reduction in unwed welfare mothers may follow.
Brandeis Christian Fellowship Co-President Nicole Amarteifio calls the federal sponsorship of abstinence-only education "a great program."

"All the resources out there now say 'sex sex sex' or, at least, they say 'safe sex,' which is not 100 percent safe. I feel like society is trying to move away from abstinence because they feel it's old-fashioned," Amarteifio said.

Despite all the dissension between myriad positions along the political spectrum, one thing that can be agreed upon is that something must be done. According to the Center for Disease Control, in 1980 there were 31 reported cases of AIDS in the world. Last year, there were 40 million. Nearly 1 million teenage girls are impregnated annually in the United States.

Cyr wasn't always an advocate for abstinence-only education. "I used to be an 'abstinence, but ...' person, thinking, 'we are all just animals.' But seeing 12-year-olds with herpes made me need something more -- a radical shift in approach."

Now, abstinence is her war cry: "Our kids need to keep their clothes on," Cyr exclaims, bringing the presentation to a close. "Keep their clothes on and stay away from each other!"

Statistics, however, make Cyr's battle an uphill one. With the Allan Guttmacher Institute reporting that 70 percent of American teens forfeit their virginity before graduating high school, it is not surprising that 82 percent of parents call for sexual education to cover contraception, as well as abstinence. But in Washington, their calls are falling on deaf ears.