MA Alliance Teen Pregnancy Prevention PSA Contest!

I am so thrilled to be part of the MA Alliance community serving as a member of their Teen Parent Policy Advisory Board (TPPAB) and contributing blogger on their blog, The Pushback. The mission of The Pushback is to "push back against all that ignorance, bitterness, and prejudice and show what young parenthood really looks like." One of the areas myself and other bloggers have talked about are the lack of quality PSA's [public service announcements] aimed at preventing teen pregnancy. Who can forget the disastrous Pause Before You Play PSA with Bristol Palin & The Situation. 

So when I heard about the Alliance's PSA contest, I was PSYCHED! Details below:

In preparation for the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on May 4, 2011, they are holding their 1st Annual Teen Pregnancy Prevention PSA Contest!  Create your own ad on why and/or how we should work to prevent teen pregnancy. Drawing on personal experience is encouraged!

The winners will receive (drumroll, please…) 1st Place: $100 gift certifcate to Amazon.com! (2nd Place will get $50, 3rd Place will get $30).

Here are the rules:

1. Your PSA should be accurate. If you cite statistics, you should be able to let us know where you got them from and be confident that they are correct.
2. Your PSA should not diminish the capabilities, potential, or hard work of those that do become young parents.
3. No scare tactics, please!  Young people deserve better.
4. We believe young people have the right to information about their sexual health and how to prevent pregnancy.  PSAs that focus exclusively on abstinence are discouraged (though focusing on abstinence in part is totally fine!)
5. We want PSAs generated by youth and young adults!  We’re defining that as under age 25.  If you work in a group, at least 1/2 the group should be under age 25.

So, get your creative ideas flowing! Print ads, images, and videos are all accepted.  You can send them to Gretchen by April 28.  Submissions will be posted here and readers will have the chance to vote on them the week of May 2, with winners announced the following week.

If you could create the ideal Teen Pregnancy Prevention PSA what would it look like? What would it need to connect with teens?

I'm excited to get my creative hat on this weekend creating my PSA! I encourage all of you to submit and/or pass on to friends who you think would be interested!

Happy Friday!

Teen Parent Lobby Day 2011

Last week was the annual Teen Parent Lobby Day at the Boston State House hosted by The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. I am a member of the Teen Parent Advisory Board (TPPAB) through The Alliance and we were given the opportunity to speak at Lobby Day and share part of our stories about the challenges of being teen parents.

*above is video from Lobby Day

 

Lobby Day was inspiring and motivating, but a message we wanted to rely to the audience of over 700 teen parents and teen parent programs across the state is that, "the journey is ongoing. While all of the TPPAB members have pursued higher education & gained some form of stability, we still face struggles & hardships every day, & continue fighting the fight of being young parents because we want more for ourselves. More for our children."

Read my post Making Hisotry: Teen Parent Lobby Day 2011 HERE over at The Pushback!

Bristol Palin & 'The Situation' PSA...are you SERIOUS?!

While getting ready for work last week, I needed a bit of motivation so turned on the radio to help me along my way. In the midst of brushing my teeth one of the hosts of the station was talking about a new PSA featuring Bristol Palin and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino urging teens to “pause before they play.” I’ve never been a fan of either Bristol or Mike, but I was intrigued and watched the PSA later that morning. 

According to the press release for the PSA which first aired on November 16^th through The Candies Foundation, “the underlying message of the video is that both safe sex with protection and abstinence are methods to prevent teenage pregnancy.”

The PSA horrified me on several levels, and I reached out to a friend and former teen mom and blogger, Natasha Vianna for her thoughts and reactions to the PSA:

Firstly, I wish there was a way to capture the expression on my face upon watching this “Pause before you Play” video. It was a combination of shock, disgust and suspense – because I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and tell us we have been Punk’d. In this video, Bristol Palin and “The Situation” from Jersey Shore promote that both safe sex with condoms and abstinence are methods to prevent teen pregnancy. As we are well aware, Bristol Palin is a former teen mother and for a great portion of the video, that isn’t made too clear. The Situation tells her that if she doesn’t wear a condom during sex, “You may end up with a situation, and you may not like that situation”. She responds, “I avoid  situations”. Now I know Bristol’s mother is an abstinence-only believer but does Bristol really avoid situations? Regardless, this video was not the best way to promote methods of teenage pregnancy prevention. The only messages I got from this campaign are that Bristol is a horrible actress, The Situation loves having sex, and do not watch Dancing with The Stars.

My thoughts exactly Natasha! Of all people to advocate preventing situations the best people they could come across were Bristol and Mike?? Bristol was appointed the ambassador to The Candies Foundation last year, and Mike well he’s a D list reality star, for lack of a better term. What I find extremely ironic is that Bristol is a former teen parent and told Fox News in 2009 that abstinence is “not realistic at all.”

Bristol and Mike are not in my radar and I am utterly perplexed as to why these two are constantly in the spotlight. This PSA is full of horrendous acting and childish language. When tackling an issue like teen pregnancy, there is no room for silly metaphors like situations. It’s a serious issue that needs to be addressed seriously; especially in these PSA’s which thousands of teens will see.

I’ve never watched any episodes of The Jersey Shore, but this Situation character has been splashed on TV’s and magazines for months. Doing what? Grinning while lifting up his shirt and at the same time putting gel in his hair? Pah-lease. And you want me to take advice from him? Does he even know how to spell abstinence?

Is this PSA an effective tool to urge teens to practice abstinence or safe sex? No, no, no. Bristol is basically saying, hey teens do as I say not as I do! It’s extremely laughable and she should be embarrassed. It’s funny, she’s urging teenagers not to have babies, but let’s take a look at Bristol. She’s in the spotlight, she’s ‘famous’ and she’s on Dancing with the Stars. Oh and occasionally she may have to watch her son. What message is this spreading to our highly impressionable youth?

The Candies Foundation along with Bristol and Mike were attempting to make a video that would appeal to the youth, by using simple language and even simpler acting. Society has lowered its standards when videos like these are floating across the internet. Yes, practicing safe sex with the use of condoms and birth control are effective ways of preventing teen pregnancy along with abstinence, but not from the mouths of Bristol and Mike. 

Have you seen the PSA? What are your thoughts? 

Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy's 2010 Teen Pregnancy Institute: Expecting Success for Youth and Young Families

As a former teen parent, I love to hear about and get involved with organizations in my area whose mission is to support teen parents especially on the policy level. When I heard about the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, I knew I needed to get involved somehow. I’ve recently been added to the contributors on their blog The Pushback.

More about The Pushback:

We know the stereotypes and prejudices that teen parents have to face — but we also know the truth. We know that teen parents can be capable caregivers and fabulous role models for their children. We know that, with support, they can achieve academically and professionally. We know young families can be successful.

This space is to push back against all that ignorance, bitterness, and prejudice and show what young parenthood really looks like.

When I heard about The Alliance’s 2010 Teen Pregnancy Institute: Expecting Success for Youth and Young Families I knew I had to attend. The Alliance’s 12^th annual conference was a full day event packed with information, workshops, collaboration, and advice on how providers can better serve and aide the youth and young families they serve. The majority of attendees were those that work directly with youth and their families in teen parent services, teen pregnancy prevention, family planning, education, and early childhood education. There was also a special screening of The Gloucester 18. Remember the highly publicized suspicion of 18 girls in Gloucester, MA making a pregnancy pact to get pregnant around the same time and raise their children together? The documentary was truthful, honest, and dispelled all the rumors regarding the supposed pregnancy pact. It’s a must watch for all teens and youth and family workers.

I signed up for the following workshops: 

 

A: Helping Young Families Access Emergency Assistance Family Shelter, Prevention, and Re-housing Resources

B: Youth Activism: A Tool for Self-Empowerment

C: Teen Parent Panel

All were amazing and extremely informative and enlightening. The workshop I enjoyed most was the Teen Parent Panel. The panel of 4 former teen mothers was asked questions that came from the audience about their experience being a teen parent. The 4 all come from various backgrounds and experiences, and one, Natasha Vianna, a fellow blogger at The Pushback, has recently become a friend. I cringed hearing some of their stories, because I had such similar stories hidden away. The panel discussed reactions from their parents when they told them they were pregnant and the weight of outside influences during and after pregnancy. They also offered some advice to other teen parents, and the one I really bonded with was when one stated that we have to seek out help and become our own best advocates. We are the ones able to change ourselves and our circumstances; we cannot expect someone to change our life for us. We have to speak out for what we want and be willing to work and sacrifice for it. When asked what is the first step to a successful teen mom they agreed that an education is what is most important. 

Natasha and I at the end of the conference

There is sooo much more I can post about the workshop, but I wanted to give a brief overview of the conference and some of the information that was shared. I may write another post focusing on the workshops themselves and what I learned from them. The Massachusetts Alliance is a phenomenal organization and I encourage you all to visit them on the web and follow them on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy Contact information:

http://www.massteenpregnancy.org/events/2010/11/17/2010-teen-pregnancy-institute

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mateenpregnancy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MATeenPregnancy

The Pushback: http://thepushback.org