ST. PAUL, Minn. - Listen up, parents, educators and youth leaders! Science says you really do make a difference in preventing teen pregnancy.

Michael Resnick, director of the University of Minnesota Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center, says that for the last generation of Americans, too many adults have embraced a kind of "cultural mythology" that what adults and parents say and do is no longer important to adolescents.

"Nothing can be further from the truth. What we understand, on the basis of all of the evidence, is that parents are the primary educators and influencers of young people. Youth are watching, they are listening, they crave our attention and they are waiting for the kind of guidance and input that they need to know, in order to learn how to navigate life."

Resnick, a professor of pediatrics and public health, adds that in the past 20 to 30 years, there has been an evolution of scientific understanding about what truly works in teen pregnancy prevention: Beyond parental support, adolescents need to feel connected and engaged at school and in their communities. Having this connectedness, Resnick explains, is critical if they are to complete their education, prepare for success in life and make smart decisions about their future.

"What I would like to see happen with all of our young people is to have every one of them able to say 'I've got so much going on in my life right now, I have so much opportunity and so many wonderful options, that having a child at this point in time - during my adolescence - is not something I want to do.'"

This can be achieved, he says, if all adults involved in young people's lives make a focused, concerted effort to support them - from parents to educators, from community youth programs to religious institutions.

The biggest challenge for adults working in the field, Resnick says, is to not get derailed by policymakers who put ideology before the evidence or by those who want to impose programs, restrictions or policies that are simply not in the interest of children and youth.

"All of us who are working with and on behalf of young people really need to be fearless in our presentation of the evidence and be able to clearly communicate to others, who may not understand young people - may not even like young people - what we know about what works and what our young people need."

After more than a decade of federal dollars and support thrown into "abstinence until marriage" programs that have not stood up under rigorous scientific evaluation, Resnick says, he is encouraged by the current administration's re-engagement with science.

"We see that in the funding and the priorities expressed through the Office of Adolescent Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other initiatives that really demand there be a solid evidence base in order to receive government funding and support."

Examples of evidence-based pregnancy prevention include service learning, youth development, role-playing, mentorship and comprehensive programs that encompass both sex education and abstinence principles.

Resnick delivers the keynote address at 9 a.m. today at the annual conference of the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting, held at the Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center, Minn.

Department of Health and Human Services information about evidence-based pregnancy prevention is available at http://1.usa.gov/mm0sNd.





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LANSING, Mich. -- The voices of expectant and parenting youths are being amplified by the first-ever Michigan Young Parent Advisory Council.

Diamond Weakley is among the 13 teens on the council, which is based in Saginaw. She said the group is reducing the stigma and isolation she's experienced as a young parent.

"A lot of families don't support youths having children before graduating. So it makes us feel better about becoming young parents and keeping our kids instead of listening to everybody about how hard parenting may be," Weakley said.

Council Facilitator Robert Clark, a case manager at Saginaw Intermediate School District, said one of their first projects was to raise awareness about the lack of spaces where parents can change a baby's diaper in women's and men's public restrooms.

"So their next objective is to let these companies know why it's important to have a baby changing station in their restaurant or facility," Clark said.

The program is supported by the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health through funding from the National Institute for Reproductive Health. Council members are compensated for their time and efforts, including child care during meetings.

Clark said it's important to support and empower young parents as they work toward their goals, and to ensure they feel respected.

"And let them know it's OK to ask for help and they are heard when they do need anything," he said. "Because they are young parents, they feel like a lot of older adults talk down at them instead of talking with them on their level."

Teen mothers and fathers are at higher risk of dropping out of school and living in poverty, and have higher incidences of repeat births. Weakley agreed being a young parent is hard, but said her daughter is worth it.

"When I look at her and I see her smile, it just makes me want to live better," Weakley said. "Honestly, without my daughter, I don't think I would have graduated high school. I try to do everything that I want to see her do in her future so that she can say, 'Well, my mom did it, so I can do it.'"

Research shows when young parents are supported, they are better able to finish high school, pursue higher-level education and find employment.


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WHITESBURG, Ky. — Access to sex education is on the decline in rural areas, but one eastern Kentucky native aims to fill the knowledge gap with a traveling free sex education workshop called Sexy Sex Ed.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2006, 71% of rural women were taught about birth control as an option to prevent pregnancy. That number shrunk to 48% by 2013. Tanya Turner, creator of the Sexy Sex Ed workshop said growing up in Bell County, she didn't receive any kind of instruction on sex or her own anatomy.

"I hope I'm not the only person teaching progressive, body-positive sex education in rural Appalachia, but all the stats show sex education in rural places is in on a huge decline,” Turner said.

What started out as a small project nearly a decade ago has grown into a year-round traveling workshop that has reached hundreds of youths across five Appalachian states. Recent grant funding will allow Turner to expand her traveling workshop series.

Turner said her workshops weave in elements of theater, visual art, and writing to explore safety, anatomy, and consent.

"There are a lot of myths that I have to do a lot of myth busting, around virginity and birth control, consent - a lot of consent issues I think come up,” she said.

She said many teens are desperate for information, and pointed out many feel they can't ask their parents or other trusted adults questions about sexuality.

"'Cause they're certainly not getting it in their public school systems and in their homes, and what they are having access to in large part is very fear-based, very shame-based and not helpful, and honestly pretty traumatizing - certainly can be, especially for queer folks and people who are already marginalized,” Turner said.

Research has shown that when sex education includes information about contraception, teens are less likely to become pregnant compared to those who receive abstinence-only or no sex education. According to federal data, Kentucky ranks among the top five states in the country for teens births.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennesseans can now get a clearer picture of teen pregnancies in the state.

The State Comptroller's office has released an interactive map that illustrates which counties have high teen birthrates.

John Dunn, a spokesman for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, explains the map shows the percentages of teen pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17.

"What our map shows is that there are 37 Tennessee counties, which is more than one-third of the counties in the state of Tennessee, that have a teen pregnancy rate which exceeds 19.5, and that means that those counties have to teach a Family Life Education Program in their high schools," he explains.

In Tennessee, counties with elevated teen pregnancy rates are required by law to offer Family Life Education in public schools.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, since 1991, Tennessee's overall pregnancy rate has dropped by at least 45 percent.

A recent report by the Offices of Research and Education Accountability said Tennessee school districts lack guidance on what they should be teaching young people about preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

State law says any sex education course must include presentations that encourage abstinence.

Dunn says the map is one way lawmakers can identify the steps being taken in their districts.

"The primary reason we put this information together is to provide lawmakers with information about their districts, so that they know whether or not education requirements like the Family Life Education program are being taught in their schools," he states.

According to the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, the number of teen pregnancies among 15-to-17-year-olds is on the decrease. Last year, pregnancies in that age group totaled more than 1,900, but five years ago, there were more than 3,000.




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