They get upset and then school boards get intimidated. Project Reality Several organizations in the Chicago area are bringing abstinence-only messages into the schools. One of those is Project Reality, based in north suburban Golf and funded through grants from the Illinois Department of Human Services. The national, non-profit organization publishes texts and videos, trains teachers to use its curriculum and sends its speakers into middle school and high school classes. Libby Gray, Project Reality's public relations director, said her group's programs reach 52,000 children a year, many of them in the Chicago area.
Abstinence is our message.
It's not a mix of abstinence and then teaching how to use contraception. We focus on STDs, we focus on the emotional factor of early sexual activity and the psychological effects. We feel they've been getting the contraception message for years and they haven't been given the abstinence message in a real way. Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst uses Project Reality materials in a four-week sex ed unit for 8th graders. Guidance counselors teach the unit, focusing on emotional aspects of teen sex.