Planned Parenthood Recognizes Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

ALBANY, NY (05/08/2008)(readMedia)-- Albany, NY – Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP) recognizes the power of prevention during National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month and throughout the year. Unfortunately, this country still faces a teen pregnancy health care crisis. This year an estimated 750,000 American teens will become pregnant; 40,000 teens will become pregnant in New York State alone. The U.S. continues to hold the regrettable distinction of having the highest teen pregnancy rate among the most developed nations.

Locally, UHPP educators will be actively engaged in events designed to recognize and promote Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. “The national recognition that comes during May,” stated Rob Curry, UHPP Vice President for External Affairs, “gives us a special opportunity to bring attention to the need for more and better sex education for our youth. During the month, we will be working with local schools and community agencies to draw attention to the statistics, to call out for increased support for comprehensive sex education, and to reach out to both youth and adults with medically accurate information about sexual health and responsibility.” A list of planned UHPP activities is attached.

A big focus for the month will be the Healthy Teens Act (S.1342-Winner). The Act would establish a state grant program to provide funds to schools and communities that want to expand and improve comprehensive sex education. The NYS Assembly has passed the Healthy Teens Act each year for the past four years, but the Senate has failed to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

“The facts have become undeniable,” said UHPP President/CEO Patricia McGeown. “How can our state Senators turn their backs in the face of this reality? In New York State, 4 in 10 young people have had sex before they graduate from high school. One in 4 teen girls now has a sexually transmitted infection. Every day, our teens are exposed to sexually charged advertising and contradictory media messages. They are looking to us for honest and accurate information, so they can make responsible decisions. Unfortunately, in the last decade, more than $1.5 billion has been wasted on dangerous abstinence-only programs that deny teenagers lifesaving information. In New York, we turned an important corner by deciding to no longer accept federal abstinence-only dollars and to, instead, focus on comprehensive, medically accurate sex education. Now we must walk the walk, and not just talk the talk. We need to allocate real dollars to support communities and schools who want to expand and improve sex education.”

“As a mother, I know it can be difficult to talk with kids about sex. While parents are the primary and most important sex educators, they need support and assistance. That’s why over 88% of New Yorkers want schools to provide comprehensive sex education—education that includes information about abstinence as well as contraception, healthy communication, responsible decision making, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections.”

Planned Parenthood is a leading advocate for school education programs that will keep teens healthy and help reduce teen pregnancy. Planned Parenthood also partners with parents to help them talk with their teens about comprehensive sex education. In 2007, UHPP community educators and high school peer educators provided 334 programs reaching over 3,000 youth in grades K-12. Additional programming was provided to college students, parents and youth-serving professionals. Planned Parenthood providers and educators see firsthand the price that young people pay when they are denied access to medically accurate, comprehensive sex education that could help them protect their lives and their futures.

###

UHPP operates four health centers and serves over 10,000 patients each year in Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer and Greene Counties. All centers provide confidential STI testing and treatment, as well as HIV testing and counseling. UHPP educators provide over 500 programs each year to young people and professionals around the Capital Region

UHPP Activities Planned for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

• Throughout May, UHPP will be promoting a scenario-based quiz that teens can take on line at www.stayteen.org. Information about the quiz is being mailed to youth-serving agencies, and teens will be able to access the quiz using computers at the teen clinics provided at UHPP centers in Hudson and Albany on Thursday afternoons. The quiz is designed to help teens honestly examine difficult decisions surrounding sexual health and risk, and to provide them with critical information and guidance in making healthy decisions.

• At Livingston Middle School, UHPP Community Educator Maureen Murphy is hosting the “Feed and Read” program for 7th grade girls. Those attending will eat pizza and read together from a book that focuses on many teen sexual health issues including self-esteem, body image, sexual assault and peer pressure. Reading is followed by a discussion, led by Murphy, about the various sexual health topics presented in the book.

• The Albany S.T.A.R.S. peer educators are high school students trained to serve as sources of factual information about sexual health and responsibility for their peers. The students provide presentations for high school classes, including the health classes, for local organizations, and table at community events. The S.T.A.R.S. peer educators will be tabling at Albany high school lunch periods throughout the month of May. They will be passing out teen pregnancy prevention information, along with pens that encourage students to visit the teen pregnancy prevention website: www.stayteen.org. They will also be tabling and doing teen pregnancy prevention outreach at Tulipfest, held May 10-11 in Albany’s Washington Park. Finally, it is hoped that before May is over, plans will be finalized to reinstate a weekly “STARS Teen Drop-In Center” at Albany High School.

• UHPP administers a similar S.T.A.R.S. program in Columbia County. This month, these S.T.A.R.S. peer educators will be delivering education programs at at several local high school after-school programs as well as for community groups. The programs will include the promotion of a scenario-based quiz, which teens can take on-line at www.stayteen.org. Also, the peer educators have been invited to decorate the county health department bulletin board with info about National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month.

• During the week of May 19-23, UHPP staff and volunteers will join supporters from across the state in pushing for passage of the Healthy Teens Act through lobbying, media releases and visibility events. Details will be forthcoming.

-30-