The Mobile County Health Department is featuring five local students in a series of billboards around town as part of a teen pregnancy prevention campaign.
The "Think About It" initiative features members of the health department's Youth Leadership Team: Kierstyn Johnson and Robert Henderson of LeFlore High School, Jaquan Battles and Maya Harris of Baker High School, and Gregory Robertson of Murphy High School.
The mission of the campaign is to lower the teen pregnancy rate along the Gulf Coast. Records show that almost half of all births in Mobile County are to unwed mothers.
Youth Leadership Team members work in the community educating their peers and adults about teen pregnancy and prevention strategies. The team is also affiliated with the health department's TEEN Center, a resource for pregnant and parenting teenagers.
The website for the TEEN Center, Thinkteen.org, also is featured at the bottom of the image.
According to the website, the "Think About It" campaign:
- Encourages open and honest communication between parents/caregivers and young people about sexual health and relationships
- Implements evidence-based programs that are relevant to diverse populations
- Stresses community involvement and commitment to preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
- Encourages access to confidential reproductive and contraceptive services
The "Think About It" billboard has been on display in digital form at the Loop near Mellow Mushroom and also at Interstate 65 South, visible to motorists heading south out of Prichard toward Mobile.
Print billboards featuring the same students went up on June 9 at St. Stephens Road north of Gloria Street; York Drive, across from Northside Check Exchange in Toulminville; and Dauphin Island Parkway north of Robinhood Drive.
The idea behind the outdoor advertising, which was paid for with grant funding, is to raise awareness in the community that young teenagers are talking about and having sex more often than their parents and guardians may ever suspect, according to a media release from the health department.
Studies show that the children of parents who talk to them about the risks of sexual activity at a young age are less likely to engage in such activity during high school years, the release said.
Parents are also encouraged to visit ThinkTeen.org for information on ways to talk to children about the harmful effects of risky behaviors.
http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2014/06/teens_sex_and_billboards_healt.html
Comments (0)