Working with the Media to Promote Teen Pregnancy Prevention

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TABLE 2Sample media messages for a teenpregnancy prevention initiativeMAKING IT HAPPEN130Here are 9 messages developed by theNational Campaign to Prevent TeenPregnancy that can help to reduce teenpregnancy. Some are directed to teens andothers to parents and other adults. Eachmessage suggests a specific action, conveysan important idea, or encourages aparticular point of view. Based on soundresearch and data, these messagesemanate from two ideas that are at theheart of the entire National Campaign:• Teen pregnancy is not “okay.”Adolescence is for education and growingup, not pregnancy and parenthood.Children need adult parents, not parentswho are children themselves.• There are only two ways to avoidpregnancy: either do not have sex atall, or use contraception very carefully.Teens must actively choose one orthe other. Public opinion overwhelminglysupports abstinence as thedesired standard for teens still inschool; there is also strong support forsexually active teens having access tocontraception.Building on these two core ideas, here arethe messages:1. Teens want to know what adults thinkabout sex, love, and what the differenceis. Take a position, be specific, and startearly. Talk with teens about values, notjust body parts. Research shows that parentsand other adults have more influenceon teens’ sexual decision-making thanthey think. Teens say in surveys that theywant to hear from their parents about sex,love, and relationships.2. Talk to boys as well as girls. The onemillion teen girls who got pregnant lastyear didn’t do it alone. We have to talkto our boys as well as our girls about consequences,responsibility, sex, love, andvalues.3. Not everyone is “doing it.” It is okayto delay, and many teens do just that.Only about half of teens under 20 havehad intercourse, and the majority reportthat they wish they had waited longer tobegin having sex. In fact, recent data showa slight but important decline in the percentageof teens who report ever havinghad sex.4. Younger girls should not date boyswho are much older. Among mothersaged 15-17, about one in four (27 percent)has a partner who is at least 5 years older.Teen girls who date much older boys areless likely to use contraception and aremore likely to have unwanted first sex.5. Have a plan. Know what you are goingto do “in the moment.” Finding yourselfin a sexually charged situation is notunusual; you need to think about howyou’ll handle it in advance—and how toavoid difficult situations altogether. Thevast majority of teens report that their firstsexual intercourse was unanticipated andunplanned. More than 80 percent of pregnanciesamong girls aged 15-17 areunplanned.6. It only takes once. A big myth amongteens is that pregnancy cannot happen the“first time.” In fact, 20 percent of teenpregnancies happen in the first month ofsexual activity, and 50 percent happen inthe first six months of sexual activity.Communication between the partners isoften poor; sex is almost alwaysunplanned and sporadic; denial and guiltmay impede using protection; and themechanics of securing protection may beunfamiliar. The message is: use protectionevery time.7. Do not be afraid of contraception. Arecent Kaiser Foundation survey confirmedwhat many professionals who work withyoung people have always suspected: thata basic distrust of contraception liesbehind a lot of teen pregnancy. Young peopleeagerly spread rumors about terriblecontraceptive side-effects, while those whouse contraception with no ill effectsremain silent.8. You do not have to have sex to keep aboyfriend. You do not have to have sex tobe popular. You do not have to have sexunless and until you decide to. A recentMs. Magazine poll found that 3 out of 4teenaged girls said they had sex “becausemy boyfriend wants me to.” Girls needhelp to resist the pervasive pressure tohave sex.9. Having a baby does not make you aman. Acting responsibly does. Many teenboys feel pressure to have sex and getgirlfriends pregnant. They need encouragementand support to abstain from sex oruse protection every time.
TABLE 3Sample media advisorytheNationalCampaign toPrevent Teen PregnancyMedia Advisory Contact: Bill Albert, 202-261-5655April 13, 1999Director of CommunicationsSEX AND TEENS: ARE PEERS GETTING A BAD RAP?New research, polling data, and advice for teens and parents to be releasedWinners of Teen People Public Service Campaign Contest Also AnnouncedWhat:New research and polling data—released by the National Campaign toPrevent Teen Pregnancy—on the surprising ways peers affect adolescentsexual debut and pregnancy will be discussed at a press conference to kick offMay as National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. New analysis ofpeer-led and peer-support groups will also be discussed.New national and state-by-state teen pregnancy and birth data—releasedthe same day by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and theAlan Guttmacher Institute, an independent research organization—will alsobe discussed.Two new consumer pamphlets—ten things teens want parents to knowand ten things teens want other teens to know about teen pregnancy—willbe released.Winning entries will be unveiled in the “Take a Stand Against Teen Pregnancy”contest, which challenged teens to create their own teen pregnancy preventionmedia ads.131MEDIAWhen: 10:30 am, Thursday, April 29, 1999Where:2222 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DCSpeakers: Reps. Michael Castle (R-DE) and Nita Lowey (D-NY), Co-Chairs of the NationalCampaign’s House Advisory Panel.National Campaign Chairman, and former New Jersey Governor, Tom KeanNational Campaign President Isabel SawhillNational Campaign Director Sarah BrownTeen People Executive Editor Amy PaulsenResearchers Peter Bearman, Ph.D., Susan Philliber, Ph.D., and B. BradfordBrown, Ph.D.About the National Campaign To Prevent Teen PregnancyFounded in 1996, the National Campaign is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whosegoal is to reduce the teen pregnancy rate by one-third between 1996 and 2005.
Page 4 and 5: MAKING IT HAPPEN102hours, confident
Page 6 and 7: MAKING IT HAPPEN104campaign to dela
Page 8 and 9: MAKING IT HAPPENkernel from which y
Page 10 and 11: Core message worksheetDesired Resul
Page 12 and 13: Selecting a media optionOPTIONCONSI
Page 14 and 15: Working with the news mediaMAKING I
Page 16 and 17: MAKING IT HAPPEN114Using the tools
Page 18 and 19: FIELD NOTESMAKING IT HAPPEN116Getti
Page 20 and 21: MAKING IT HAPPEN118• Do not go
Page 22 and 23: MAKING IT HAPPEN120Florida’s six-
Page 24 and 25: MAKING IT HAPPEN122• Create a buz
Page 26 and 27: ConclusionMedia campaigns designed
Page 28 and 29: MAKING IT HAPPEN126Sex Lasts a Mome
Page 30 and 31: TABLE 1 (cont.)MAKING IT HAPPEN128I
Page 34 and 35: TABLE 4Sample facts and stats sheet
Page 36: TABLE 4 (cont.)BRING “BEST BETS T

Working with the Media to Promote Teen Pregnancy Prevention

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