Communications strategies and teenage pregnancy - Essay Example

? Communications Strategies and Teenage Pregnancy Fetaw Hinsa DePaul Nancy A. Davis June 23, The purpose of this evaluation was created with the goal to look at methods in which teenagers are warned about the cautions of preventing teenage pregnancy. Many organizations and even high school education programs attempt to curb teenage pregnancy to try to bring it to a halt. There are numerous young parents added to the statistics on a daily basis. In order to try to halt the exponential increase of teenage pregnancy, it is thought that maybe it is not only in how the message is received but also how it is delivered. If the communications method was altered to not just discuss abstinence only methods but to educate about the real life components of being a parent of a young age, it could otherwise change the minds of young teenagers that take the risk of becoming pregnant and then face parenting decisions when they are barely emerging childhood themselves. Communication Strategies and Teenage Pregnancy Sex education has received a lot of support over the last few years among teachers and paretns as a method to combat the ever increasing cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and teenage pregnancies. According to McKay (2000), sex education has a place ever day in homes, schools, churches, and in the media. In schools, the sex education curriculum includes, but is not limited to, sexual development, sexual health, interpersonal relationships , as well as romance, intimacy, sex, body image and gender roles. Sex education programs teach knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, morals and skills that promote strong and healthy relationships, good character and healthy sexuality. Sex education takes place in many schools, organizations and churches to create awareness about the effects of early and misinformed sexual relationships. The sex education that teenagers receive is questionable in regards to how effective it is and if it has made any impact on teenage pregnancy rates. The goal is to evaluate potential communication strategies that can be used to teach sexual education. This project also examines how the government and the media play a role and can help spread the message using methods to curb teenage pregnancy. When looking at sex education, one in four American teenagers received abstomence education. Of teens ages 18-19 years old, 41 percent claim to know very little or nothing at all about condoms or birth control pills. In middle schools in the United States, nearly 75 percent of students received information about abstinence in order to prevent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV compared to just over 30 percent of middle schoolers whom learned about contraception. In high school, the rates are not much better. Approximately 85 percent of high school students learned more about abstinence while less than 60 percent of students learned anything about contraception. It looks like abstinence practices continues to be the focus of these sex education programs ("Guttemacher Institute," 2012). When evaluating longitudinal studies that occur from the point a teenager gets pregnant and following them through the course of their life, the outlook is bleak. Children born to teenagers are approximately three times more likely to become a teenage parent themselves (Teasdale, 2006). When comparing this to a society where young women wait until their late twenties or early thirties, become educated and start establishing a future for themselves, this means that they will likely be more responsible parents as they are finally adults. Generally when the young mom has reached the age of 30 and has been a teenage mom, she is 22 percent more likely to be living a life stricken by poverty, less likely to have a partner or to be employed (Teasdale, 2006). This is in comparison to mothers that gave birth to children when they instead became mothers at the age of 24 years old or older (Teasdale, 2006). While some of these strategic methods of communication may be working such as teenage parents talking to other teens or providing information about contraception, many are not, as teenage pregnancy is still occurring at a high rate. If there were particular changes in communication strategies that can more effecitvely reach adolescents, they might be able to slow the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States. While the message is still similar- focusing on abstinence and other aspects of sexuality including prevention of pregnancy- new approaches that may reach teenagers in a way that may make them second guess their choice to have sex and/or to have unprotected sex. Teenage pregnancy is not only on the rise but also so are sexually transmitted diseases. This is because teenagers are taking in engaging in sexual relations at an early age. In 2009, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, it was discovered that 46 percent of all high school seniors had had sexual intercourse. Of these, 14 percent had experienced sexual activity with four or more partners (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western cultures (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). One in four teenagers has contracted a sexually transmitted infection. Among teenagers who had had sex for the first time, nearly ten percent of all first time encounters were non-consensual (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). It is evident that there is a problem in the United States for a variety of reasons that include peer pressure to media influence that may impact teenage pregnancy rates. While the media and pop culture seems to be very influential, that would be a great avenue to start raising more awareness about the issues of teenage sex and pregnancy. No avenue is perfect but different methods are invaluable. Teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases have been the focus of many sex education programs in a variety of areas. Sex education is the actual process of providing knowledge and information to people about the beliefs and attitudes about sexual identity, intimacy, relationships and other sexually related topics. Among these topics is teenage pregnancy and sex education does not just discuss the anatomy of the body or abstinence or tell just how pregnancy occurs. There is also information about sexual abuse and sexually transmitted diseases as well as other information about sexuality that should not be ignored. There are ways to avoid the vulgarity of sexual related issues and sex education being taught to young teens is a right of American teenagers (Sharma, 2006). This study and discussion proposes to focus more on the effectiveness of sex education in controlling and curbing teenage pregnancies among adolescents. These risks of becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease or infection are some that teenagers are unnecessarily facing. If they were to wait to have sex or use prevention methods, they may be less likely to have to go through these scenarios. There are so many other things that a teenager is learning as they go through this period of adolescence. During adolescence, teenagers are going through puberty and experiencing other physical and hormonal changes that are unnatural to them and it can be a struggle. It can be emotionally trying on a teenager. It is a time when teens are vulnerable, many are willing to do whatever it takes to fit in with their peers. It is during this time that they are learning more about who they are, developing plans for the future. Sometimes they do not look at the bigger picture when making choices that can limit opportunities for their future. While many sex education programs focus on 'abstinence only,' there are other aspects of this discussion that are ignored. There might be several reasons for this. The issue almost seems to be too mature in nature to discuss with a young adult. It might also conflict with the interests of some people who feel that sex education may instead encourage premarital and teenage sexual relationships rather than preventing pregnancy. If the message were to change, what would it do to teenage pregnancy rates? The only way to determine this is to look at current strategies of sexual education and how these methods seem to be working to prevent teenage pregnancy. The future is in the hands of these young teens and when they are faced with a situation that is often encouraged by peers or the media, they become desensitized to the issue of sex because it appears as if "everyone is doing it." Sexual education is one area that educators and parents turn to when hoping that teenagers will gain information about sex and possible teenage pregnancy. However, sexual education is limited in schools by the confines of what topics can be discussed and how it is approached. It is a controversial issue where while teenagers are taught abstinence as the major part of their sexual education, they are rarely taught anything else in regards to contraception or methods of protection. While that seems to be a good portion to discuss, it completely ignores other aspects of sexuality and the possibility that students are losing their virginity at very early ages (DoSomething.org, 2012). Focusing on other aspects of the message would seem to be just as important and influential on teenagers in a way that they can grasp and apply it to themselves. . Of the educators in schools, an average of at least 90 percent of teachers think that students should be exposed to knowledge about contraception. Unfortunately, 25 percent are prohibited to share that information about sexual education with their students. Surprisingly though, at least 75 percent of American parents wish that sex education courses were more comprehensive rather than focused on abstinence only education (DoSomething.org, 2012). This is indicative that a large majority of people, including parents and teachers, feel like their teenagers or students need to be further educated about their options when they are encountering situations that could possibly lead to sexual relations. If sexual education, at this point, is not working to curb teenage pregnancy, there must be another way to get the point across. One thing that shines some light on th issue is the most recent facts on American teenagers and pregnancy. According to the Guttemacher Institute, while most teenagers start having sex in their late teenage years, only 13 percent have had sex by the age of 15. By the time a teenager has reached their nineteenth birthday, this percentage jumps to 70 percent (Guttemacher Institute, 2012). Of the 750,000 pregnancies that occur for teenage mothers, 82 percent are not intended pregnanies (Guttemacher Institute, 2012). Could it be because the teenager was uninformed about their options? An increase in sexual activity leads to an increase in pregnancy. If the teen was more aware of options that could prevent pregnancy, rather than just abstinence, the percentage of unintended pregnancies among teenage mothers could possibly decrease because they are more aware of their options if they choose to engage in sexual activity and do become pregnant. Of those unintended pregnancies, 59 percent end up in a child being born while 25 percent results in abortion of the unborn fetus (Guttemacher Institute, 2012). A campaign unleashed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton as a part of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Act included a total of $50 million in order to fund abstinence until marriage education programs in the country's public schools. Prior to this, conservatives in the government campaigned to teach about sexuality from a moral standpoint. This means abstinence only sex education was the preferred choice of educating teenagers about prevention of pregnancy (Sember, Kropf, di Mauro, 2006). . The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was also founded in this year same year focusing on "improve the well-being of children, youth and families by reducing teen pregnancy." The organization used a media campaign that encouraged teenagers to not only practice abstinence but to also reduce sexual activity or to use condoms if they chose to be sexually active. One image that was used in this campaign was one of a scantily clad teenage girl in which the caption reads, "Condoms are CHEAP. If we'd used one I wouldn't have to tell my parents I'm pregnant." Another part of the campaign compared a retail sales receipt in which condoms were only approximately four dollars and compared it to a list of items required to take care of a baby that totaled over $164. These are just a couple of examples of several similar strong images used in the campaign against teenage pregnancy (Sember, Kropf, di Mauro, 2006). These examples were pushed by the government in an effort to try to put a halt to teenage pregnancy. This is just one organization that has tried a communication strategy that has a different approach than abstinence only. It does not take on the naive approach that teenagers are not having sex. Teenagers are having sex and the messages in these campaign initiatives were strong and clear in regards to how cheap contraception is in comparison to having a baby and raising it when a teenager is barely still a child themselves. Teenagers are by nature more ego-centric and putting into perspective the bigger picture of becoming a parent may be difficult for them. When looking at other ways that the media has been used to curb pregnancy, a lot of the blame seems to be placed on urban America where there is an alleged increase in rates of teenage pregnancies. The stereotype of teenagers living in a poverty stricken urban area is one of poor, uneducated teens having to struggle for themselves, often dropping out of high school and becoming young parents. There seems to be no way out for them. However, the by the media may have it all wrong but still reinforces this stereotype. It connects teenage pregnancy with this socioeconomic class with gangs, drugs, racial tension, homelessness and failing schools. Many of the media stories cover the negative aspects of urban life portraying city dwellers as low income racial minorities that live off the government (Dreier, 2005). If the media took a different approach and recognized that even upper class Caucasian girls become pregnant as teenagers, the message may be different. One's socioeconomic status may not be a factor in the reason that teens are becoming pregnant. It is common that young girls ranging in age from 15-19 in poor communities are more than three times as likely to give birth to children while still a teenager. They are also more likely to bare more children total. Having a child at such a young age limits what she can do in terms of continuing her education. A young mother is often faced with the choice to make: to give up education to take care of their child. As a result, their potential for prospective employment is damaged. Many of these young girls will likely face poverty, struggles and maybe even homelessness because of the loss of options for themselves (Armstrong, 2009). The media is a major outlet of influence when it comes to sexuality, showing it more explicitly now more than ever with little information about sexual responsibility and contraception as well as other non-abstinence pieces of information (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Evidence indicates that the media largely influences when a teenager becomes sexually active. Magazines, movies, television, music and the Internet shows sex as something that is casual and comes without consequence. If the media were to reveal the truth about having sex at an early age, then the message would be quite different and not as at all glamorous. Adolescents need the media to inform them more about the truth of human sexuality and the importance of using contraceptions if choosing to have sex. It has been determined that teenagers in America spend at least seven hours per day engaged by some type of media which includes media that has sexual content and messages. Television is the most popular still among teenagers and of all of the prime-time slotted programming on television today, at least three-fourths of these programs contain sexual content of some nature. Of all of these programs, only 14 percent of sexual situations that are mentioned on television discuss the potential risks or responsibilities that go along with engaging in sexual activity. Sex talk without risk on television increased between the years of 1997 to 2001, then reality television opened a completely different perception of sexuality. Many of the reality television shows focused on couples having casual hook ups (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Television is not the only scapegoat. When evaluating music, there is approximately 40 percent of lyric lines that contain sexual content and six percent of this contained positive sexual messages. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, almost every movie that is rated R since the 1980s includes at least one scene in which there is nudity and several scenes that have a sexual reference of some nature. According to this source, on average, magazines that are aimed at beauty and glamour and are popular among teenage girls, of these, contain at least 25 pages are typically dedicated to topics of a sexual nature though most of it is in regards to health. Next, there is the influence of the Internet which distributes large amounts of sexual material and pornography and cannot be regulated. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter have also enabled teeagers to portray themselves in sexually suggestive ways, images of which are mostly on the profile webpages of teenage girls rather than boys (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). In addition, out of a national survey of approximately 1300 adolescents, it was reported that 20 percent of them had sent pictures or videos via "sexting" or texting sexual material through text messages (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). On top of all of these other media messages are advertisements which predominatly use sex as a selling point with women in advertisements shown often to be thin, beautiful and wearing suggstive clothing. Though some of the messages in advertisemets are sometimes merely intend to be harmless or even funny, they actually devalue the meaning of sexual relationships (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). What one 'hears' in the media is that sex is fun and carefree. Rarely are there any positive messages that discuss safe sex unless there happens to be a condom commercial and even those portray sex and promiscuity. American media makes sex look like everyone is doing it. It is treated like it is a casual sport (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Most countries, other than the United States, embraces the idea that providing more information about sex education lowersteenage pregnancy rates (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Does it seem as though Americans are naive to the activities of their teenagers? If a parent is sweeping the issue under the rug, what kind of message does that send? Do parents really know what their kids are up to? With the media acting as a baby sitter to many teenagers, obviously the influence is there. If sexual content is consistently a part of found on American television, why is it that offering contraception to teenagers is seen as a big no-no? Parents surely know that their teenagers are watching these such television shows. It seems to be a hypocritical message that society is sending to American teenagers. Fortunately, the media does have the power to be a positive influence in spreading the message about safe sex. Some programming is even incorporating education in with entertainment so that there is at least some sort of story line that shows the truth about sex (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Some messages that have been sent out in the media in most recent years are done so via the realities on the television shows on the MTV television network and include “Teen Moms” and “16 and Pregnant.” Though these are merely television shows, they are on a television network that is commonly viewed by the teenage demographic. They involve real struggles. Showcasing scenarios of real life and perhaps teens reaching out to teens is a new approach to help curb teenage pregnancy in ways that they can interact as peers rather than teenagers feeling like condescending adults are telling them what to do instead. A young teenage mom or dad is more likely to be able to connect on a level with other teenagers that are practicing behaviors that could result in pregnancy. If a young mother could get her message out on the importance of a teenager putting their own goals and dreams ahead of having a child, teenagers may be more apt to learn from it. Young mothers and fathers could be invited to come in and speak to a group of teens. This would be best in smaller groups because in front of larger groups, teenagers are less likely to discuss or ask questions. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask a teenage mom to come in and bring their child if they want so that students can see what kind of care it takes for a young mother to come talk to an audience of young people while still having to care for a child. It may be a dose of reality the difficulties of becoming a young parent. There could also be discussion groups either with or without adult facilitators. Teenagers will be more apt to discuss sex and pregnancy amongst themselves without adults lingering over their shoulders. If there is a question and answer forum, the students may be more apt to get something from it because they are able to interact with the young parent so that he or she may share their story on what kind of behaviors they were doing, what their mentality was before the became parents, what happened after they became young parents, how it has changed their lives and what their message to young teenagers would then be after that. Students could then be questioned after being in this question and answer forum to see if it had changed their mentality about teenage pregnancy. While this is just one tool or activity, there could be several more that could introduce the situation. When teenagers are at summer camps, why just focus on teamwork and arts and crafts? Why not take a day or so to have young teenage moms come in and they could be paired up with a teenage parent and their child. The non-parent teen would be responsible for taking care of the teen parent's child, with the supervision of the parent. The teenage parent would be a mentor and would be there to help ensure that their child was taken care of but a lot of the care would be done as the non-parent teen acting like a babysitter or spectator that would be there to ensure the safety of their child during this hands-on experiment. If teenagers refuse to obstain from sex at a young age, these young adults should be taught the importance of pregnancy prevention. In order to change the communication strategy to curb teenage pregnancy, it is important that all stakeholders involved in the realm of education, such as administrators, personnel, parents and students, try to combine efforts in a conglomeration to develop strong sex education programs that have a common goal. Teenagers should also be aware of the options that they have when they do become pregnant such as adoption or even abortion in addition to becoming a teenage parent. Teenage pregnancy is a prominent problem in the United States and in similar areas and evidence of rising teenage pregnancy is indicative that present sex education programs are not not necessarily effective in controlling teenage pregnancies. Communication strategies, if they differed from methods that are commonly utilized, may largely contribute to the effectiveness of sex education as it has not necessarily curbed teenage pregnancy. If teenagers were more aware of preventative measures, it may slow down the rate of teenage pregnancy. These preventative measures could be taught through communication strategies that focus on other issues rather than just abstaining from sexual activity. When considering the types of sex education that young adolescent girls receive now, some evidence suggests that even as teenagers, it may be too late. Governmental mandates have required that while sex education is offered, it must be limited to abstinence-only programs. A statistic that shows its effectiveness is indicative in the fact that in 2002, 62 percent of sexually active teenagers had actually been taught about contraception and pregnancy prevention before they lost their virginity. In 1995, 72 percent of young girls had received the information. It is no wonder that the lack of effectiveness has resulted in an increase in teenage pregnancy (Orecchia, 2009). Surprisingly, when looking at the actual thoughts and beliefs of people not wanting their teenagers to have sexual education is somewhat mythical. In a poll conducted by National Public Radio, only seven percent of Americans say that sex education should not be taught in public schools. While there is controversy about what should be taught, it seems as though parents really think that maybe it should be offered somehow (NPR, 2004). Actually, if sex education were to be offered in the classroom, it is a talk that would save the parent from having to discuss the birds and the bees. It is painstaking for parents and teenagers. Good sex education programs can help in preventing and controlling the ever rising cases of teenage pregnancies. However, it is not about quanitity of sex education programs but instead quality. That is where the methods of how the message is conveyed can make a diffrence to these young people. The increasing cases of teenage pregnancies and school drop outs in America requires additional methods for curbing this social problem. This study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of these programs in controlling teenage pregnancies among the youth. The quality of sex education programs needs to be changed so that teenagers not only are provided quality information and education but also are made available of resources if they ever find themselves in a critical situation. When looking at statistics provided through research, every year, 14 million adolescent girls ages 15-19 give birth to a child. Looking at this from a cultural standpoint, more than 90 percent of these births occur to women living in developing countries, with the highest rates of teenage pregnancy occuring in the areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. Cultural differences may apply to these statistics. Overall, 33 percent of women from under-developed countries give birth before the age of 20. Approximately 10 percent of women of the same age in other developed countries had children before the age of 20 (Armstrong, 2009). Fourteen million teenagers per year becoming young mothers is a staggering figure. While statistics say that 4.5 million teenage girls have abortions annually, approximately 40 percent of these are done in an environment that is unsterilized. When looking at the issues of that the newborn babies may face, they also have a decreased chance of survival. While American students may at least have some sort of exposure to sex education, an estimated 100 million teens across the world do not have access to reproductive health information, contraception, and services (Armstrong, 2009). A second message that should be conveyed via the media is that teenagers should wait to become parents. Teenagers need to become more aware of their own goals that they would like to achieve during their lifetime. Teen pregnancy is linked to several issues that could occur later in life such as women having problems with their internal reproductive organs since they were young mothers, they could become homeless or be more likely to live in poverty (Armstrong, 2009). It would be interesting to do a survey questionnaire immediately after they were exposed to a program like this to see if they had changed their mind and then wait a month to see if their mentality had remained the same or if the message had worn off by that point. An approach would also be to give these young teens a personal inventory that is anonymous about their views and attitudes of teenage pregnancy prior to teaming up to see what life is like with a child. Teenage moms are also more likely to have mental and emotional issues upon the birth of a child, not knowing exactly what to do. Many of these new moms are at least three times as likely to have post-partum depression and have a higher risk of declined mental health for around three years after the birth of their baby (Teasdale, 2006). Teenage mothers are also more likely to put their child at rish by partaking in other risky behaviors such as smoking, drinking or doing drugs because they are not aware they are pregnant. They are also less likely to take care of themselves and get prenatal care from a doctor. As a result, many of these babies, are also at a higher risk for having a lower birth weight. Plus, teenage moms are about 50 percent less likely to breastfeed their baby which could later result in detachment issues (Teasdale, 2006). As a now grown woman, Tara Ridenhour was once a teenage mom and is now facing the same situation with her own daughter who is 16 years old. "I hoped that my daughter would learn from my mistakes but instead, Cielo followed in my footsteps." Ridenhour had her own struggles as a single mom and will now become a grandmother in her thirties. Though she finished high school, she, like many others put off education only to settle for a low paying job. "I know that I talked to my daughter about sex but coming from a parent, as a mom, my child thought I knew nothing. She thought she was an exception to the rule I guess. We will deal with these obstacles but I wish that she had had sex education offered to her not just taught from other adults but from people her own age that had made mistakes and become young parents too," (T. Ridenhour, personal communication, May 9, 2012). Cielo is just like many other teenage girls. She is active in school events, gets good grades and even has an interest in horses and barrel racing. However, she made a choice that has changed her life forever. Ridenhour said that though her daughter is even active in her church youth group, it was a topic that was never discussed amongst peers because church was never an appropriate place to learn such a thing. "I wish there were some sort of outreach group that could effectively communicate the struggles. My teenage mother-to-be daughter may have actually listened to her peers. Positive peer pressure is just as influential as negative peer pressure and though the thought of her facing the same struggles I did as a young parent are scary, I know that somehow we will just have to get through it," (T. Ridenhour, personal communication, May 9, 2012) The strategy does support a model of delay of early sex but this should not be confused with abstinence. Delay supports young people to make informed choices about their life and health and gives them the skills to do so. Abstinence is not a model which is effective. Recent research in the United States has shown that the declining teenage pregnancy rates in the country are due to better use of contraception, not abstinence, according to a study from Columbia University. Researchers found that just 14 percent of the decreases in pregnancy among 15 to 19-year-old girls had been because they had avoided sex. Approximately 86 percent of the decrease can be contributed to the improved use of contraception such as birth control pills and condoms and other methods of birth control options (Darroch, Landry & Oslak, 2009). The communication strategy seems to be one that would ideally be implemented seems to be one of the most logical methods in educating one another about the results of becoming pregnant at a young age and the way that it can hinder future goals and achievements. Sadly, sometimes, the choice is not made for her to become a young teenage mom and instead she may be unwillingly forced into having unprotected sex through rape. This is a whole different issue in itself because in these instances, the teenage girl may not have known what was happening to her and then she stops having her period and only she knows what has happened. While this might be captured in teenage pregnancy rates as a whole in society, there is also the unfortunate case of rape. Reaching out to these young teenage parents is to utilize a completely different strategic communication as they are victim of circumstance. They need as much positive support as they can get rather than to be frowned upon by society telling them that being a young pregnant teenager is wrong. While teenage pregnancy is no ideal situation, no young girl should be the victim of violence and then carry a child which when she bears will be a daily reminder of what she went through. Artifacts In order to devise a communication strategy that may be implemented that would be most effective to curb teenage pregnancy, the use of media should be largely implemented. There was a time when after school specials on television were something that teenagers came home to right after school was out for the day. While MTV is broadcast to a demographic of young adults and teenagers, this is a great avenue to utilize in order to convey the message about the controversy underlying the issues of teenage pregnancy. While many messages in the media portray realistic messages, some television shows are lacking a moral lesson. Sex and violence are so predominant that they are becoming second nature to people, particularly teens. To change this message, there are still ways to send humor to viewers and entertain them without being so sexually graphic. For example, to cease the number of teenagers that smoke, there have been a number of campaigns that discuss the dangers of smoking and show people that have smoked for years and shown the harmful effects. These public service announcements are short but yet powerful, lasting only fifteen to thirty seconds. If the public service announcements instead used messages regarding teenage pregnancy, it may speak to teenagers that are engaged in watching particular networks that have program suited toward their age demographic, such as the MTV network. The public service announcement could use teenage parents discussing their own personal stories, speaking directly to the teenage viewer. The message would not be one that is a lecture but one of reality and one that tells their story of how they did not think that it would ever happen to them but how that a teenage girl and her partner took a chance one night and engaged in sexual activity. A raw candid view of an interview with the teenage mother that reveals her true feelings and struggles would be a message that is most effective. In turn, a public service announcement cannot just blame teenage pregnancy on young females. These communication messages should also show young males and tell their side of the story. Perhaps the young boy had dreams of going to college to play football and instead his days are filled with dirty diapers. It is all about the realism of the portrayal of the message. From experience as a teenager, some people react better when a topic is more candid and raw. It helps to emotionally connect with a person even if it is through the media. When given a certain kind of message, a teenager may have an epiphany that what the teenager on television is saying is actually true. Another way to meet teenagers head on when trying to spread the communication message, is to utilize reality television. Shows such as "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" are helpful in showing the reality of teenage parents. However these shows are on MTV. This same network also runs television shows that depict high school students in situations that involve sexual activity and peer pressure regarding sexual content. The network seems to send contradicting messages. Television shows such as "Jersey Shore" depict people that are just slightly older than teenagers but they engage in reckless sexual behaviors as well as other activities that are not a good influence on teenagers. Teens start to think that this is normal and begin to look at these ignorant people as role models. "Snooki' is almost a household name but what good has a character of her appeal done for anyone? Why is it that these networks cannot develop a character who is real but makes intelligent and informed decisions. Is he or she seen as boring? This is where the change of the communication strategy should be rethought in order to make a positive impact on teenagers and young people rather than show them reality television in which people act like reckless idiots. Teenagers that are motivated and have positive things going on in their lives are powerful subjects as well but their behaviors are not depicted as entertaining enough. It is as if the message that is negative about teenage behavior is one that is most common and portrayed by the networks as the most entertaining. MTV is not the only network that could work at sending the message because there are several other broadcast networks that could also assume the role of sending a different communication strategy. Made for television movies similar to that which are on the Lifetime Network but feature young adults in these real life scenarios would also help send a different kind of message of the true effects of what could happen if a teenager engages in sexual activity. Young adults may be able to personally relate to these characters on a more personal level but still be engaged. Sometimes Lifetime Network will have movies that discuss the issues of teenage pregnancy but they have the parents so proactive that it is almost either not believable or can easily put off a young person from listening to the message. When it comes to print media, this is an area that could also be utilized to change the message about teenage pregnancy. Much of the magazine content that is geared toward young women is focused on sexual content. Flipping through a copy of Seventeen magazine that is geared toward teenagers often talks about sex positions. While often it does discuss issues in regards to the questions of "Am I ready for sex?" and other sexual content related letters for advice from readers are a common part of the magazine's content, the readership mostly seems to be exposed to questions that encourage sex or at least contraception. While this is a positive thing, it rarely divulges the details of the reality of teenage pregnancy. If magazines of this nature that usually have a targeted demographic of young teenagers were to change the content to a more informational and realistic approach in regards to teenage sex, it would be a great avenue to reach several young women. Some of these magazines also at least have advertisements about contraception but the only information is usually in regards to side effects or health warnings. In addition, some magazines that discuss parenting as a topic could look at other ways to deal with parenting. Many of these are geared toward parents of younger children and rarely focus on parents with teenagers. If there was a portion of these magazines or even a separate magazine all together that would focus on parenting a young adult, the content could focus on advice about talking to a teenager about sex and the risks that accompany engaging in sex including teenage pregnancy. Many times parents do not talk to their teenagers about sex enough because there is a stigma that it is an embarrassing topic to discuss for both the parent and their child. Othertimes the parent may be naive in thinking that their teenager is not faced with the issue of engaging in sexual activity. Sometimes parents need advice on how to talk to their teenager and the method of approach. Content in magazines could be targeted to address this subject. It is best to send teenagers a message that is worth listening to. This is why changing the communication strategies of how sexual relations are portrayed appears to be the only way to make a difference. It does matter what the source is whether it be from their peers, from school programs or teenage pregnancy awareness groups or even the media outlets. The point is that the message should change to show the reality of teenage pregnancy. The knowledge of what to teach, when to teach and why are the most important factors when providing sex education to the youth. The effectiveness of sex education in reducing cases of teen pregnancies and related effects can only be achieved if sex education programs are offered at the right time and with the right messages. The possible youth interpretations of the lessons provided by sex education programs should be considered and evaluated before the programs are rolled out. References American Academy of Pediatrics. (2010, September). Policy statement – sexuality, contraception and the media. Pediatrics, 126(3), 675-682. The Council on Communications and Media. Armstrong, B. (2001). Adolescent pregnancy. Handbook of social work practice with vulnerable and resilient populations (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.  Darroch J.E., Landry, D.J. and Oslak, S. (2009). Age differences between sexual partners in the United States. Family Planning Perspectives, 31(4):160-167. DoSomething.org. (2012). 11 facts about sex education in the U.S. DoSomething.org. Dreier, P. (2005). How the media compound urban problems. Journal of Urban Affairs, 27(2), 193-201. Blackwell Publishing Limited. Gibbons, S. (2008). Teen pregnancy 'pact' sparks media frenzy — But they miss the story. Media Report to Women, 36(3), 23-24. Guttmacher Institute (2012, February). In brief: Fact sheet: Facts on American teens' sources of information about sex. Guttmacher Institute. NPR. (2004). Sex education in America: an NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy school poll. National Public Radio. Washington, D.C: NPR. Orecchia, A.C. (2009). Sex education groups for adolescent girls: A review of current practice and research. Graduate Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1(2, article 9). Ridenhour, T. (2012, May 9). Personal communication. Sharma, D. (2006). Sex education. Detroit: Lotus Press. Sember, R., Aleisha, K., & di Mauro, Diane (2006, September). Images against teen pregnancy. American Journal of Public Health, 96(9), 1561. American Public Health Association. Teasdale, G. (2006). Teenage pregnancy briefing document: Towards 2010 and beyond. Hull, United Kingdom: Teenage Pregnancy Unit. Read More