Help Teens Avoid Too-Early Pregnancy and Parenthood in the Month of May
May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month (NTPPM). NTPPM is sponsored by Advocates for Youth and seeks to involve communities in promoting and supporting effective teen pregnancy prevention initiatives.
Despite improvements in the rates of teen pregnancy in the past few years in the United States and although U.S. teens initiate sex about the same time as their European counterparts, the nation continues to have the highest adolescent pregnancy and birth rates in the industrialized world. Given this data, it is imperative that Americans empower young people to make healthy decisions about sex. Efforts to support and expand current positive trends should involve all parts of the community - youth, parents, teachers, policy makers, health professionals, businesses, the media, and faith communities, among others.
NTPPM activities implemented within communities or states can make an enormous difference to teens and their families and can also offer a good basis from which to build more inclusive and multi-faceted initiatives in the year to come. Advocates for Youth has developed a planning guidebook to help communities organize activities during NTPPM. The guide includes information on how to organize local campaigns and offers ideas for local events. In addition, the guide offers vital guidance on involving teens in the planning, running, and evaluation of NTPPM as well as describes how to work with the media.
The National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
The National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, also in May, is a good opportunity to involve teens, parents, educators, and the community in the fight against teen pregnancy. This year’s National Day will be held on May 3rd. Promoted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood and help them come up with their own plans for avoiding pregnancy.
On National Day, teens are asked to go online and take a fun, engaging quiz called “How Do You Score?: Sex Has Consequences,” that presents them with several real life scenarios involving sex and asks them to choose a course of action. Taking the National Day Quiz is quick and easy – teens simply log on to www.teenpregnancy.org (AOL keyword Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy) to go directly to the quiz. It is provided in both English and Spanish and remains online throughout the month of May. However, teens are encouraged to take the quiz on the actual National Day.
The first annual National Day in 2002 had 75,000 quiz takers. In 2003, nearly 300,000 people from all fifty states took the National Day quiz. In 2004, 560,000 individuals logged on and took the quiz. And in 2005, more than 630,000 people took the quiz. Results from the 2005 quiz revealed, for instance, that 66% of the teens said that the National Day quiz made the consequences of sex more real to them.
The National Day’s web page includes frequently asked questions, tips for getting involved, as well as information on the 2006 National Day partners. Currently there are over 160 partners including organizations in the health, entertainment, education, faith, and media fields. In addition, the website offers an informational sheet on how teens can support the National Day. The National Day 2006 promotional materials are now available online and include postcards, posters, pens, a temporary tattoo, and 2006 National Day awareness wristbands.
For additional information regarding the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, please contact:
Barbara Huberman, Advocates for Youth
Phone: (202) 419-3420
Fax: (202) 419-1448
Email: barbarah@advocatesforyouth.org
For additional information about the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, please download a free 2006 National Day brochure or contact:
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
1776 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
Phone:(202) 478-8500
Email: campaign@teenpregnancy.org
Source: National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month (NTPPM) Planning Guidebook, Advocates for Youth, 2005, and National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy's website.