National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, May 2

This came from the Hannibal Clinic:

Hundreds of thousands of teens nationwide are expected to participate in the eleventh annual National Teen Pregnancy Quiz taking place throughout May 2012.  Sponsored by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and supported locally by the CHART Teen Task Force, the Teen Pregnancy Quiz is designed to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood through an interactive online quiz.

Starting on May 1, 2012 (and for a few weeks thereafter), teens are encouraged to go online to the National Campaign’s teen website--www.StayTeen.org--and take a short, scenario-based “quiz”.  The Quiz challenges young people to consider what they would do in a number of risky sexual situations.  This year's online National Day Quiz includes a Prom theme.  The Quiz is appropriate for youth 13 and up.  In 2011, nearly 600,000 teens nationwide took the online National Day Quiz.  72% said the Quiz made them think about what they would do in such situations, 61% said the Quiz made the risks of sex and teen pregnancy seem more real to them; and 62% said some of the situations in the Quiz were things that they or their friends had faced.  The National Campaign is also offering an online game with challenging puzzles testing teens' knowledge about issues related to teen pregnancy.  Teens can add the game  to their social networking profiles, and those who complete the puzzles will be eligible to win prizes.

Why a National Teen Pregnancy Month?  The national teen pregnancy rate declined 42% from its peak in 1990 and is now at a 40-year low.  In Northeast Missouri teen births declined 27% between 1995 and 2009.  However, recently released County Health Rankings from the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation show Marion and Ralls counties both above the state of Missouri rank for teen birth rate, and all 7 northeast MO counties above the national benchmark.  The message of the National Day Quiz is straightforward:  Sex has consequences.  The online quiz delivers this message directly to teens and challenges them to think carefully about what they might do “in the moment”.  Hopefully the Quiz will help teens think carefully about sex and contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the lifelong challenges of being a parent.

The CHART Teen Task Force is also promoting National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month with a media campaign utilizing billboards.  For more information about preventing unintended births to teens, or to join the CHART Teen Task Force with its work, contact Dr. Sandra Ahlum, chairperson at 231-3108.