Statement of Pennsylvania Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Supporting Documentation for Position Statements

I. Parents/guardians are the primary sexuality educators of their children.

• Strong parent/child relationships that promote open communication about sexuality help prevent teen pregnancy.
• Parents should be supported in obtaining the skills and knowledge necessary to provide their children with clear, accurate and developmentally appropriate information.  They should be encouraged to engage in an ongoing dialog with their children to provide the information, skills and values they need to grow into happy, healthy and sexually responsible adults.
• Children want their parents to talk with them about values, relationships and sexuality.

Resources

Effects of a Parent-Child Communications Intervention on Young Adolescents’ Risk for Early Onset of Sexual Intercourse by Susan M. Blake, Linda Simkin, Rebeccca Ledsky, Cheryl Perkins and Joseph M. Calabrese.

Talking with Kids About Tough Issues, Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation

Talking with Kids About Sex and Relationships, Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation

Shop Talk, Volume 5, Issue 24, Parent-Teen Communication and the Initiation of Sexual Intercourse, SIECUS

Ten Tips for Parents, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

II. Young people deserve comprehensive and accurate information about sexuality and reproductive health.

Sexuality education is a lifelong process of acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs, and values about identity, relationships and intimacy.  It encompasses sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles.  Sexuality education addresses the biological, sociocultural, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of sexuality from the cognitive, affective and behavioral domain including the skills to communicate effectively and make responsible decisions.  Sexuality education seeks to assist children in understanding a positive view of sexuality, provide them with information and skills about taking care of their sexual health and help them acquire skills to make decisions now and in the future.

• Sexuality education does not increase teen sexual activity.
• More than eight out of every 10 Americans believe that, in addition to abstinence education, young people should be given information about protecting themselves from unplanned pregnancies and STI’s. 
• Programs should begin early and encompass the entire educational experience of the child.
• Education should include information on both abstinence and contraception that is medically accurate.
• The most effective sexuality education programs will increase a teen’s capacity and motivation to prevent pregnancy.
• Research indicates that effective curricula have the following characteristics:

• Clearly focus on reducing one or more sexual behaviors that lead to unintended pregnancy or HIV/STI infections

• Behavioral goals, teaching methods, and materials were appropriate to the age, sexual experience, and culture of the students

• Are base upon theoretical approaches that have been demonstrated to be effective in influencing other health related risky behaviors

• Last a sufficient length of time to complete important activities adequately

• Employ a variety of teaching methods designed to involve the participants had have them personalize the information

• Provide basic, accurate information about the risks of unprotected intercourse and methods of avoiding unprotected intercourse

• Include activities that address social pressures on sexual behaviors

• Provide modeling and practice of communication, negotiation, and refusal skills

• Select teachers or peers who believe in the program they are implementing and then provided training for those individuals.

Resources

Effective, Comprehensive Sexuality Education by Anna Hoffman – Advocates for Youth

Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education, National Guidelines Task Force

Abstinence Based vs. Abstinence Only Sexuality Education, New Mexico Teen Pregnancy Coalition

Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education Reaches Highest Level, Advocates for Youth & SIECUS

Abstinence Plus, Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 7, 2001

Sexuality Education: Our Current Status, and an Agenda for 2010 by Susan Wilson, Family Planning Perspectives

Sex Education: Politicians, Parents, Teachers and Teens, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy

Changing Emphases in Sexuality Education in U>S> Public Secondary Schools, 1988-1999 by Jacqueline E. Darroch, David J. Landry and Susheela Singh, Family Planning Perspectives

9 of 10 Minnesotans Support Sexuality Education in Schools, Press Release, MOAPPP

Tune In - New Mexico Attitudes on Sex Education, New Mexico Teen Pregnancy Coalition

Teach Abstinence: Not IF, But HOW!, Family Life Matters, review of conference by Network for Family Life Education

No Easy Answers by Douglas Kirby, Ph.D.

Consensus Statement on Adolescent Sexual Health, National Commission on Adolescent Sexual Health

Fact Sheet:  The Next Best Thing:  Encouraging Contraceptive Use Among Sexually Active Teens, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Teenage Sexual and Reproductive Behavior in the United States, Kaiser Family Foundation

Myth or Fact?  1998 Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Americans’ Knowledge on Teen Sexual Activity and Pregnancy

Abstinence Only Education:  Why First Amendment Supporters Should Oppose It, National Coalition Against Censorship

III. Policy and program development addressing teen pregnancy prevention should be based on current research and proven strategies.

The experiences of developing countries, the experience of the United States during the mid-1950’s to the mid-1970’s, and the results from a small number of evaluations of youth development programs all suggest that programs that focus upon education, employment, and life options for young people may markedly reduce adolescent pregnancy rates.  Pregnancy prevention initiatives must have multiple effective components that address both adolescent sexual behavior as well as the other contributors to teen pregnancy including poverty, lack of opportunity, family dysfunction, as well as social disorganization.

• Having a scientific basis for an approach shifts the focus from opinions about the best way to prevent teen pregnancy or about the consequences of taking a particular action toward the firmer ground of facts and validated experiences
• We support gathering information about youth behavior from the youth themselves with instruments such as the Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey
• Research has shown that teens need a wide variety of preventive strategies to choose healthy options to avoid pregnancy
• Research indicates that evaluated programs that have been found effective have common characteristics:

• Information about abstinence and contraception
• Theoretical basis that emphasizes skill building
• Focus on active learning through experiential activities
• Acknowledgment of social and media influence on behavior
• Age appropriate information and activities
• Developmentally appropriate information and activities
• Culturally appropriate messages
• Exploration of personal values and feelings
• Training for those implementing programs

• We can learn from other industrialized nations who have been more successful in preventing pregnancies, abortions and births among teens.

Resources

No Easy Answers by Douglas Kirby, Ph.D.

Effective Comprehensive Sexuality Education, by Anna Hoffman, Advocates for Youth

Solutions:  Getting Real About Teen Pregnancy, Communications Sciences Group

Start Early, Stay Late:  Linking Youth Development and Teen Pregnancy Prevention, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Fact Sheet:  The Next Best Thing:  Encouraging Contraceptive Use Among Sexually Active Teens, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Teens on Sex:  What They Say About the Media as an Information Source

Adolescent Sexual Health in Europe and the U.S. – Why the Difference? By Sue Alford and Ammie Feijoo, Advocates for Youth

Campaign Prospectus:  Enlisting the Help of the Media to Reduce Teen Pregnancy, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Can the Mass Media be Healthy Sex Educators? By Jane D. Brown and Sarah N. Keller

IV. Young people should have access to safe and confidential sexual and reproductive health care.

• Our first priority should always be to encourage teens to delay sexual activity.  However, no matter how much encouragement we give to youth to say “no”, many will still become sexually active
• We support the Pennsylvania law that ensures confidentiality to teens seeking pregnancy testing, contraceptive services and diagnosis and treatment of STI’s
• Between 85-95% of sexually active adolescent females who use no birth control method become pregnant within one year of initiating intercourse.

Resources

Adolescent Access to Confidential Health Services by John Loxterman, J.D., Advocates for Youth

Family Planning/Population Reporter, Vol. 6 No. 4

Family Planning and Adolescent Services, Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania

Issues in Brief:  Minors and the Right to Consent to Health Care, Alan Guttmacher Institute

Contraception Counts:  Pennsylvania Information, Alan Guttmacher Institute

State Policies in Brief:  Minors’ Access to Contraceptive Services, Alan Guttmacher Institute

Serving Minors:  Legal Guidance for Family Planning Providers by Susan Frietsche, M. Robin Maddox

Fact Sheet:  The Next Best Thing:  Encouraging Contraceptive Use Among Sexually Active Teens, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

The States in 1999:  Actions on Major Reproductive Health Related Issues by Adam Sonfield, Anjali Dalal and Elizabeth Nash

V. The promotion of a culture that recognizes sexuality as normal and promotes respect and responsibility will lead to a reduction in negative consequences of sexual behaviors.

• Recognize that all persons are sexual and that sexuality is a natural, healthy part of living
• Model healthy sexual attitudes and behaviors
• Take responsibility for our actions
• Demonstrate respect and tolerance for others
• Teach that sexual relationships should never be coerced or exploitive
• Reject stereotypes about the sexuality of diverse populations
• Promote the rights of all people to accurate sexuality information
• Promote the development of healthy, non-sexual relationships.

Resources

Adolescent Sexual Health in Europe and the U.S. – Why the Difference? By Sue Alford and Ammie Feijoo, Advocates for Youth

Talking with Kids About Sex and Relationships, Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation

How to Talk To Your Kids About Anything, Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation

Ten Tips for Parents, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Consensus Statement on Adolescent Sexual Health, National Commission on Adolescent Sexual Health

Reconceptualizing Adolescent Sexual Behavior:  Beyond Did They or Didn’t They?  By Daniel J. Whitaker, Kim S. Miller and Leslie F. Clark

VI. Pregnant and parenting teens should have access to quality health care, education and support services, with the main goal of promoting health and preventing repeat teen pregnancies.

All new parents are tested both financially and emotionally when their first child is born.  For teen parents, the stresses are proportionately greater because they have not had the time to become fully independent adults.  Teenage parents often experience inequity in education and encounter discrimination when they seek housing and jobs.  Teenagers with children face a greater risk of not completing high school or finding the resources to pursue a college degree.  More often than not, these young adults must nurture their children while living in poverty or on the edge of poverty.

• Repeat births to teenagers carry high individual and societal costs
• One-third of pregnant teens receive inadequate prenatal care; babies born to young mothers are more likely to be low birth weight, to have childhood health problems and to be hospitalized than are those born to older mothers
• In 1997, 1 of every 6 (17%) adolescents had no health coverage
• 50% of adolescents who have a baby become pregnant again within two years of the baby’s birth
• In 1996, 22% of all births to 15-19 year old women in the U.S. were repeat births
• Households begun by teens account for 44% of the welfare caseload and over half of all welfare expenditures go to families started by a teen birth
• The federal government spends approximately $38 billion a year to families that began with a teen birth and invests only $138 million a year in preventing teen pregnancy
• Repeat childbearing is common in all race and ethnic groups

Resources

Why Invest in Teen Parents, Alliance for Young Families

Sex and America’s Teenagers, Alan Guttmacher Institute

Facts prepared by Dr. Marianne E. Felice, UMASS, for Campaign for our Children, Inc.

Centers for Disease Control Fact Book 2000-2001

Births and Deaths in the United Sates, S. J. Ventura, K. D. Peters, J. A. Martin & J. D. Maurer, National Center for Health Statistics

Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Issues in Pennsylvania by Anastasia Snyder

Cost Study, Advocates for Youth