Today is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. In honor of this day, STEPPS hosted a twitter chat yesterday evening on the realities of teen pregnancy prevention. Young parents answered a series of questions about their sex ed background and thoughts on prevention.
Follow #ND12 for the National Day 2012 tweets and #YPsupport for our Young Parent Support chats!
Q1. Did your parents talk to you about sex and relationships? Did you feel comfortable talking to your parents?
@PEACE_LOVEx3 A1. My parents talked to me but not in the appropriate form. Seemed more like accusations, not advice
@andykopsa A1: Oh my no! Would have been fab if they did. I did with my daughter. Changes outlook on sex & preg if parents involved
Q2. Did you receive sex education in school or anywhere else? If not, would that have helped you in preventing pregnancy?
@MsAlexandraV I got sex ed for an hour in 7th grade – me & my classmates weren’t paying attention. Our sex ed “teacher” was our creepy gym teacher – like we were going to listen to him about sex
@Shaleaka23 A2. I did not receive sex education. I feel that it would have been helpful
Q3. Do you think being a parent at 16 is different than being a parent at 19?
@PEACE_LOVEx3 A3. In addition, I think people (society) will take a 19 year old more seriously than a 16 year old. Nonetheless either age is hard, and both ages miss out on a lot and struggle
Q4. Do most teens think teen pregnancy just won’t happen to them? Did you think you would become a teen parent?
@coolguymorales A4. nope , they think it won’t happen and nope never thought it’d ever happen to me at all .
@andykopsa A4. I NEVER thought I would be a parent – let alone a teen parent. Teen = invincible = not the case
Q5. Did you have any pregnant or parenting friends before you became a parent?
@colonxjp A5 Yes and i remeber saying “how do you do it”, “thast must suck”. and ” ill never be that stupid”. now people say that to me.
Q6. Do you feel that young parents are pressured to have more children while they are still young but not ready?
@colonxjp A6 sometimes, my bf family tells me xavier needs someone to play with, and that i shouldnt have my kids so far apart.
@kaishax23 A6. yes i think all the time young parents are pressured to have more kids it gets aggravating
Q7. How will you prevent your children from becoming teen parents?
@PEACE_LOVEx3 A7. No lectures joint effort in communication. I want a relationship with little superiority with my son
@singlema being HONEST, OPEN MINDED & REALISTIC are important too. we all expect children to wait til marriage, but that is a fairytale.
@PEACE_LOVEx3 A7. I think it’s important to realize that my son will have sex, and he won’t be married.
Q8. At what age do you think it’s appropriate to talk to your children about sex and relationships?
@GloriaMalone ALWAYS! I speak to my daughter about it and she’s 6. Its about tailoring the info correctly for the age group.
@missstaceyj3 I don’t really think there is a right age you just teach them little by little being appropriate for each age
Q9. What are some good campaigns/messages you’ve seen on teen pregnancy? What do you like about those campaigns/messages?
@laurensinger91 A9) truthfully, I really haven’t seen any I like.
@MzTai84 A9. WRAP IT UP!!! Not just for teens but so self explanatory.
Q10. If we were going to create a teen pregnancy prevention message, what would it need to look like?
@colonxjp A10 REAL young parents, telling their REAL storys, and not just showing the bad and what society think of us. i#YPsupport
@NatashaVianna A10. That teen pregnancy can happen to anyone, the truth about dating young, understanding love, understanding “forever”
Thank you to all our participants and followers for an amazing conversation!
Stronger Generations Initiative 