Kathryn Edin, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
Why do so many poor American youth continue to have children far sooner than most Americans think they should, and in less than ideal circumstances? Kathryn Edin spent five years interviewing low-income, single mothers to answer these questions and learn how they think about marriage and family. Dr. Edin’s research offers an intimate look at the lives, desires and motivations of young people who believe they have little to lose by bearing children at a young age. Dr. Edin’s findings have important implications for our work in teen pregnancy prevention and teen parent support. They challenge some of our current assumptions and practices and offer insights into how we can better work with teens who are not being reached by current educational and outreach efforts.
Lawrence Wallack, DrPh, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University
While the first language of America is individualism, there is a second language that is less often spoken. This is the language of community and interconnectedness. Americans are fluent in both languages, but are much more comfortable “speaking” individualism than community because is seems more readily understood. Dr. Wallack will examine the importance of framing our issues by reconnecting with the values that generally underlie social advocacy, highlight how policy and individual storylines change based on the broader political environment, and encourage each of us to fulfill our role as advocates for social change.
Lawrence Wallack, DrPh, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University
Communication is about being a good storyteller. Our issue has great stories, great values and great hopes. But unless we better link these stories with social policies and effectively convey them through the news media, our hopes will remain only hopes. Many of our organizations do not fully take advantage of the potential of the news media to advance policy change. We react to specific news stories or call a journalist with a story idea, but for the most part, we don’t use media as an advocacy tool. This workshop presents a compelling argument for creating a media strategy and highlights ways to effectively put the power of the news media to work on behalf of adolescents and young families.
Countering Normalization of Sexual Harm: Strategies for Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Teenwise Minnesota Annual Conference: Workshop
Cordelia Anderson, Sensibilities, Inc.
The normalization of sexual harm, fed by a mainstream media, pornography, new technologies and marketing to children and teens, is related to risky sexual behaviors, desensitization to exploitive behaviors and a diminished value of meaningful relationships. Professionals who work with adolescents and parents, particularly teen parents, are challenged to help teens navigate through these toxic messages and become sexually healthy and responsible. This session shares research, proposes a plan of action and challenges each of us to determine our role in countering normalization of sexual harm with the youth and families we serve.
What’s Up with the Guys? Sexual Decision-Making Issues for Teen Males
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Teenwise Minnesota Annual Conference: Workshop
Ted Sikes, The Family Life Council of Greater Greensboro, North Carolina
Though we know it “takes two”, we often forget to focus on the guys. This workshop examines cognitive development, communication, and social and cultural influences that relate to sexual decision-making by adolescent males. This session draws on current research, as well as years of experience working with diverse groups of teen males through the nationally recognized and evaluated Wise Guys program. Participants have the opportunity to take part in interactive exercises that highlight how cultural expectations of masculinity can lead to risky and even destructive behavior.
Sharon Cooper, MD, FAAP, University of North Carolina
Teens who experience sexual violence are at greater risk of pregnancy and children of teen parents are at greater risk of child abuse. What isn’t clear, is how to integrate this knowledge into our pregnancy prevention programs and services. Dr. Cooper used this presentation while examining the pervasiveness of sexual exploitation, the normalization of sexual violence in our culture and the impact this has on our primary prevention efforts with young people.
Teen pregnancy prevention has progressed greatly over the past 25 years. Much has been learned about what works and what doesn’t. This keynote address identifies lessons learned, separates fact from fiction, and offers a vision for the future.
New Research, New Conclusions: Sex and HIV Education Programs that Work
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Teenwise Minnesota Annual Conference: Workshop
Douglas Kirby, PhD, ETR Associates
Based on an intensive review of sex and HIV curricula that led to reduced sexual risk-taking, this presentation, and its workshop, presented the results of more than 80 studies and introduces the “revised characteristics of effective programs.” The newly “revised characteristics” are similar to, but different from Kirby’s “10 characteristics” that have guided much of our work for the past five years.
Finding Common Ground: Appropriate Messages about Sex for Youth
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Teenwise Minnesota Annual Conference: Workshop
Douglas Kirby, PhD, ETR Associates
Dr. Kirby presented evidence from the U.S. and Uganda that indicates that clear behavioral messages are important to changing sexual risk taking behavior in young people. This presentation gives the limitations of common messages currently given to youth in the United States, offers examples of messages that may be effective with different groups of teens and, along with its workshop, encourages participants to develop their own messages for the youth they serve.
For professionals new to the field, this presentation reviews the basics of teen pregnancy prevention including: pregnancy, STI and birth statistics, trends in teen pregnancy and sexual behaviors, risk and protective factors associated with teen pregnancy and prevention strategies that work.
Leah Sweet, Teenwise Minnesota and Melissa Reed, Community University Health Care Center
A backdrop for an interactive workshop, this presentation covers basic advocacy skills to inform and educate your local and state policy makers, outlines the lobbying rules that affect non-profit organizations and identifies strategic methods to effectively advocate on behalf of young people and the programs that serve them.
Parent-child connectedness is characterized by the quality of the emotional bond between parent and child and by the degree to which this bond is both mutual and sustained over time. Both parents and children are acknowledged as active players, or agents. It is important to remember this bi-directional focus. This presentation covers some of the basics.
Ivan Juzang, Motivational Educational Entertainment (MEE) Productions
Based on extensive research with urban youth, Mr. Juzang describes the environmental context, peer group dynamics and social interactions that influence youth sexual behaviors; the impact of media depictions of sexuality on youth decision-making; strategies for attracting and motivating the hardest-to-reach youth; and ways service providers can increase the effectiveness of their outreach, media and materials.
Elizabeth M. Saewyc, PhD, RN, PHN, University of British Columbia, School of Nursing
This presentation, along with its workshop, examines the research from Minnesota that connects sexual abuse history and teen pregnancy for boys and girls, as well as the potential long-term effects of sexual abuse that can complicate teen parenting. It includes information about populations who are at increased risk for abuse, dispels some of the more common misconceptions about sexual abuse in our society and discusses why pregnancy may be seen as a window of opportunity in the lives of abused teens.
This presentation describes the impact of parent-child connections and communication on adolescent reproductive health behaviors, sharing research from the work of ETR, Associates and Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Plain Talk: Using What Works With Latino Youth and Families.
June 21-22, 2004
MCH Summer Institute: Building Healthy Families and Communities
Lisa Turnham, Teenwise Minnesota, Kara Beckman, Neighborhood House and Teen Walkers and Talker participant.
Plain Talk, a community engagement strategy to reduce teen pregnancy is being implemented in communities across the country. Neighborhood House in St. Paul is the first organization to replicate the process in Minnesota. This presentation highlights the first phase of replication: assessing community needs through community social mapping and surveying.
A Work in Progress: Building a State Plan for Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting.
November 11, 2003
NOAPPP Annual Conference
Nancy Nelson and Lisa Turnham, Teenwise Minnesota
Collaborative efforts to prevent teen pregnancy and support teen parents are an accepted and effective public health strategy. A critical element of any collaborative effort is a well-organized and articulated plan for action. This presentation examines a process for creating a statewide plan using examples from A Work in Progress: Building the Minnesota State Plan for Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting.
This presentation highlights what community professionals, parents and teens can do to prevent teen pregnancy. Examples are provided for the Hmong community and include research and science-based strategies.
Logic Models. Using evidence-based strategies to combat disparities in teen pregnancy.
June 26-27, 2003
MCH Summer Institute: Addressing Health Disparities
Lisa Turnham, Teenwise Minnesota and Rebecca Fee, University of Minnesota Prevention Research Center
One of the recommendations of the Minnesota State Plan to prevent teen pregnancy is to use data and evaluation to inform program planning and continuous improvement. This presentation introduces logic models as an evidence-based tool to enhance teen pregnancy programming and combat health disparities.
A Work in Progress: Building a Minnesota State Plan for teen pregnancy prevention.
May 1, 2003
Teenwise Minnesota Annual Conference
Lisa Turnham and Joy Miciano, Teenwise Minnesota and Grit Youngquist, Saint Paul Ramsey County Department of Public Health.
This presentation walks through the eight recommendations of the Minnesota State Plan providing “real life” examples from work in Saint Paul and Ramsey County.