TheNC: RT @ppmississippi: RT @Guttmacher FACT: Publicly funded contraception in the US helps prevent 810,000 abortions each year. http://ow.ly/AQSE
Read more >>

TheNC: RT @GirlsIncOC: Check out this video created by Girls Inc. participants to help prevent teen & unplanned pregnancy http://bit.ly/38LIHr
Read more >>

TheNC: RT @LatinaLista: Scenarios USA's annual student script competition needs script readers. Theme is masculinity — http://tinyurl.com/ygyzjs5
Read more >>

TheNC: What proportion of children 18 and under were without health insurance in your state as of 2007? Find out here - http://ow.ly/B7Nz
Read more >>

TheNC: Latino Initiative blog: Check out this awesome animated video from the Kings County Male Involvement Program of Fresno! http://ow.ly/B6Vk
Read more >>

It's not every day that you come across something online that you think is truly different, useful and, even fun. The other day I came across a website, "Maria Talks," that I think meets this criteria. The site was created through funding from the Massachusetts government, and it operates in conjunction with the Massachusetts Sexual Health Hotline. As someone who has spent plenty of time searching the web for resources on sexual health and birth control, I think that this site stands out.

At The National Campaign, we often send the message that safe sexual practices among teens are best achieved through ongoing conversation and communication. First and foremost, teens themselves have told us their parents most influence their decisions about sex, and we have long asked parents to take the lead and start that open and ongoing conversation with their children.

Read more >>

Today the CDC released a report on the effectiveness of various approaches to teen pregnancy and HIV/STI prevention. The study was conducted by the Task Force on Community Preventative Services, an independent panel convened by the CDC. The report suggests that such prevention programs are most effective when they combine a clear message on the benefits of postponing sexual activity with medically accurate and comprehensive information on how to reduce the risks of pregnancy and STIs among teens who are having sex--including the use of contraception.

Most of the American public gets this. It's common sense. Yet, today's results are debated by many, with some saying they prove comprehensive sex ed programs work and abstinence education programs don't, and some saying the reverse. This debate arises in part because comprehensive sex ed and abstinence-only actually encompass many, many different programs, with varying levels of effectiveness behind them. The debate is fueled as much by ideology as it is by science and will likely continue for some time to come.

For those practitioners, educators and parents looking for a common-sense way forward in the meantime, I suggest focusing on specific programs rather than programmatic approaches. Some, but not all, comprehensive programs have rigorous evidence of positive impacts. These have been well-summarized. To date, none of the abstinence-only curricula have this level of evidence behind them, although that is not to say there may not be some in the future.

Efforts have their best chance of success if they stay grounded in science, whatever the state of the science is at the time. It's also important to realize that, while the reproductive health education we provide our teens in school is critical, no curriculum, regardless of its underlying ideology, is a silver bullet. Communities that truly care about preventing teen pregnancy need a comprehensive approach that includes not only schools, but also parents, community leaders, the media, and teens themselves.

Read more >>

  An interesting study by the University of Pittsburgh published in the November issue of Pediatrics found a link between teen girls' body weight (actual and perceived) and their likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors. These included having intercourse before turning 13, having sex with more than four partners, consuming alcohol in connection with sex, and having unprotected sex.  The study surveyed 7,200 high school girls, with half reporting that they had ever had sex.

Some key points:

• Caucasian girls who believed they were underweight were more likely to have had sex and to have had four or more sexual partners than girls who considered themselves at a normal weight.
• Caucasian girls who were actually overweight were less likely to use condoms.
• African-American girls who were underweight were less likely to use condoms than those of normal weight, and overweight African-American girls were more likely to report four or more sexual partners.
• Latina girls of all weights were more likely to engage in a wide variety of risky sexual behaviors, from lack of condom use and sex before age 13 to having more than four sexual partners during their teens and using alcohol.

Read more >>

This piece is cross-posted from SexReally.com.

Alma Powell, a well-known advocate for youth, opened a grand dinner at the Newseum this week, the U.S. Capitol illuminated behind her, by asking a simple question: "And how are the children?"

It was an appropriate salutation, delivered to reporters about to receive awards for writing and broadcasting about disadvantaged children and families.

Powell explained that the greeting is used by Masai warriors in Africa as they pass each other on the road. It is their version of "How are you?" --a reminder that an individual is only as good as her or his child, a community only as good as its children.

It occurred to me that night that those who counsel teens and 20-somethings about sex and contraception are trying to convey something similar. One argument they make for using contraception consistently goes something like this: "Think about the baby you might have if you don't. What kind of a life will she or he have?"

So, not how are the children, but how will they be?

Read more >>

Some scary things to consider this Halloween:

• The teen birth rate is on the rise after 15 straight years of decline.
• Fully seven in ten pregnancies among single 20-somethings are unplanned.
• More than half of pregnancies reported by unmarried men in their 20s are unplanned.
• Rosie O'Donnell is launching a new radio show.
• The magic less sex/more contraception formula that drove down the teen pregnancy rate over the past decade plus now seems to have morphed into a more sex/less contraception formula.
• 3 in ten girls in the United States get pregnant by age 20.
• Mariah Carey continues to record and release music.

What are some things that are scaring you? Let us know.

Read more >>

This animated video was created by the Kings County Male Involvement Program of the California Health Collaborative in Fresno County. It is part of a collaboration between The National Campaign's Lati...
Read more >>

This piece was written by Carlos Pinto, Media and Project Manager of the National Campaign's Latino Initiative. It is cross-posted on the Campaign's blog, Pregnant Pause.Soap operas. They've been a p...
Read more >>

This piece was written by Ruthie Flores, Senior Manager of The National Campaign's Latino Initiative. It is cross-posted on the Campaign's blog, Pregnant Pause.Hispanic Heritage Month has arrived with...
Read more >>

This post, by the National Campaign's Partnerships Assistant, Liz Mustin, was cross-posted on Pregnant Pause.Sometimes it's hard to feel connected to the change you aim to make and the people who you...
Read more >>

This post, by Latino Initiative Media and Project Manager, Carlos Pinto, was cross-posted from Pregnant Pause.As I sat and listened to several Central Valley, CA, Latino teens tell me about their futu...
Read more >>