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To
learn how the KEEP Abstinence-Until-Marriage Program can be offered to students you know, call
the Oklahoma Family Policy Council today at (405) 787-7744 or toll-free 1-(888)-381-0044, or visit the
KEEP Web-site.
Since
1996, the U.S. Congress has appropriated funds to spur the creation
of new, directive, character-based, abstinence-education programs nationwide.
In response to requests from many of Oklahoma's family-practice physicians,
Oklahoma Family Policy Council created the KEEP Program in 1999. KEEP
complements OFPC's ongoing mission to strengthen Oklahoma families through
informed, involved citizenship and improved public policy.
Since 1999, KEEP has reached over 60,000 Oklahoma students with the abstinence-until-marriage message. What an impact KEEP is having in these young lives!
 
KEEP (Kids Eagerly Endorsing Purity) is a medically accurate, directive,
character-based, abstinence-education program authorized by the U.S.
Congress and the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Over a third of
Oklahoma's 77 counties now offer innovative programs like KEEP, which
has been endorsed by many of Oklahoma's most influential public officials.
KEEP's
goals are simple: (1) to convince as many teens as possible to abstain
from sex until marriage, and (2) to present sexual expression within
marriage as society's behavioral standard. KEEP teaches kids that abstinence-until-marriage
is the only sure way to avoid STDs, emotional damage and pregnancies.
Educationally,
the KEEP Program consists of an intensive, multi-week classroom curriculum,
weekly teacher-led student discussions, the use of creative visual aids
and games, videos, and at least one classroom visit from a licensed
medical doctor who teaches a class on sexually transmitted diseases.
KEEP
is available for all youth, aged 12-19, living within much of Central Oklahoma or Tulsa
Counties (and in surrounding communities statewide, too. Ask for details).
The Central Oklahoma KEEP Program now reaches thousands of students in
a large number of Oklahoma County schools.
Since 2003, the Tulsa County KEEP Program has gained strong momentum and is now taught in numerous public and private Tulsa-area schools, and also in many schools in the surrounding counties.
OFPC's
funding for KEEP comes through a combination of privately donated funds,
substantial in-kind contributions from caring Oklahomans, and via the
federal government through either a SPRANS Community-Based Abstinence
Education implementation grant or a §510 grant, both authorized
under Title V of the Social Security Act.
 
KEEP
Program Distinctives:
Young people who participate in KEEP learn dynamic, convincing reasons
to abstain from sex until marriage and to abstain from illegal drugs
and alcohol forever.
Committed,
well-trained adult volunteers present the multi-week KEEP Program in
public and private schools, youth organizations and churches in Oklahoma
and Tulsa Counties (and in other areas, too)-often free of charge (expenses
may apply outside of Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties. Ask for details).
To
teach, KEEP's volunteer teachers must have successfully attended an
intensive two-day teacher-training seminar sponsored by the Oklahoma
Family Policy Council and been accepted into the program.
  
Teachers
present exciting, memorable (often-funny) interactive games and stories
that really fix the weekly lessons in kids' minds. The KEEP Tool-Kit, which is available
exclusively to KEEP's trained instructors, is a unique resource that
provides teachers with the necessary skills and tools to consistently
present the interactive games and stories with excellence.
Practicing,
licensed physicians and other health professionals associated with the Oklahoma Physicians Resource
Council (OPRC) supplement the KEEP curriculum by personally teaching
one class on sexually transmitted diseases and infections.
As
required by Congress, the KEEP Program includes a professional, strictly
confidential, evaluation component, utilizing a pre- and post-test prepared
by the University of Oklahoma's Institute of Public Affairs. Participating
students-with a parent's permission-complete a confidential survey of
their attitudes about sexuality prior to and at the conclusion of the
course. The purpose of this confidential survey is to evaluate in an
unbiased way the overall effectiveness of abstinence-until-marriage
education programs compared with comprehensive sex education approaches
of the past four decades.
  
KEEP is available on an equal access, age-appropriate basis to all students,
schools, youth organizations and churches in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties
(and in other communities, too). We invite your participation with OFPC
and KEEP to help bring the life-saving message of sexual abstinence-until-marriage
to many more of Oklahoma's young people.
To get started, simply call
the Oklahoma Family Policy Council today at (405) 787-7744 or toll-free 1-(888)-381-0044—or if it's more convenient, please e-mail either gpoteat@okfamilypc.org (Oklahoma City-area) or rosemary@okfamilypc.org (Tulsa-area).
For more information, we also encourage you to visit the KEEP Web-site.
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