In case you haven't seen the Campaign's newest publication, I highly recommend it. And not just because I work here.

As someone who is admittedly ALWAYS attached to some form of media, the format for these helpful tips really strikes a chord with me. While I generally make my contribution to the Campaign's work by keeping my nose buried in some piece of legislation (light reading, anyone?) this got me thinking about the work that my colleagues on the other side of the office do to figure out all the ways we can reach folks through digital media.

These types of projects are becoming increasingly popular with our partners who work on teen pregnancy prevention. The Birds and Bees Text Line, which is sponsored by the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina and has garnered national media attention, and the text messaging contest that FutureNet in Iowa held earlier this year are just a couple examples.

Are your organizations, states, or communities doing innovative work to connect with those of us who are tethered to our handheld devices? How are you using digital media to advance pregnancy planning and prevention? Are you sending text message reminders for people to take their pill? Texting appointment reminders? Let us know what you're doing!

Ps--if you're interested in learning more about how social media and mobile technology can be used to prevent teen pregnancy, check out our new youtube playlist of highlights from our June 26th conference "Taming the Media Monster: Teens and Sex in the Digital Age."

Sheldon J. Segal is no longer with us. Segal, 83, died October 17 at his home in Woods Hole, MA. Although his work helped millions of women all over the world, he labored and died in relative anonymity.

What gives?

Segal is credited with leading the team that developed the contraceptive implant Norplant. He was also instrumental in the development of the Mirena intrauterine device and copper-bearing IUDs. In other words, Segal played a critical role in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls one of the greatest public health achievements of the past 100 years---contraception.

You might have missed this news because the front page of several major newspapers featured other such absolutely essential fare as the fight for airplane overhead space (USA Today) and a new opus from Stephen King (Wall Street Journal).

What gives?

Rest in peace, Sheldon Segal, and thank you.

Photos are often used to document a trip or special event; they capture fleeting moments in time, and often pieces of art as well. A team of teens in Bayfield, CO are using photos in a slightly different way through a specific technique called photovoice. The goal of the EPIC team (which stands for Every Pregnancy is Considered) is to improve the lives of teens in their small town. To do so they are using photographs of everyday occurrences to document the strengths and weaknesses they see in their community.

The photo above seems simple enough--a nice snow covered playground. To the artist however, the park is an example of how there are plenty of community resources dedicated to smaller children in the community, but the teens lack a fun, safe space of their own, and they're just a little too big for the playground. The other photos in the exhibit include pictures of family members who are important to the teens, fun things to do in other surrounding towns that are hard to access without reliable transportation, and how the teens entertain themselves in their town.

The team of talented artists presented at the Colorado Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention's annual conference in Denver, CO. The teens and photos certainly stole the show, and it was great to hear from them directly what they thought might help prevent risky adolescent behavior in their town. The most striking part of the presentation is that it is not just teens telling you what they think--the images allow you to have a sneak peak into their lives. They had a few ideas for what the community might do: a mobile health clinic, a teen center, and reliable, low-cost transportation to nearby towns were a few of the suggestions.

Have you ever used photovoice? How could photovoice serve your community?

Like I said at the end of my first post about The Sims 3, the teen pregnancy rate for sims is zero. Makes perfect sense seeing as how teen sims can't WooHoo. But, as we all know, teen pregnancy is all too common in real life, so why not have it in a game that's supposed to be realistic?

According to the publisher, EA Games, teen pregnancy is not part of the game because it could raise the game's ERSB rating from T (for Teen) to M (for Mature Audiences Only), and it's so off-limits that they won't even allow people to discuss teen pregnancy in their forums.

Don't miss the season premiere of the hit ABC Family original series "Greek" on Monday at 9pm/8c. It's a look at the lives and relationships of college kids - funny, dramatic, and full of great characters. The National Campaign is working with the show, so look around their website and stay tuned for a PSA later this season.

Need to catch up before the premiere? Watch the Cram Session videos and relive the previous seasons of "Greek."

1.4 million people bought The Sims 3 in the first week it was released, and I was one of them. For those of you who are not familiar with the franchise, here is the premise: The player creates characters, or "sims," and then controls pretty much everything about them, such as their clothes, house, and traits, and then makes all of their decisions for them. I know this sounds like it would be a total waste of time -- it is -- but it's really entertaining.

And when it comes to starting a family in the Sims, things get really interesting. Sims can "WooHoo" without the risk (or, according to some players, with very little risk) of getting pregnant, and to get pregnant the user has to select "Try for baby." As some people have said in various forums, "WooHoo" is considered by some to mean sex with contraception. Statistically speaking, this makes perfect sense. Even with perfect use of the pill, there's still a 1% risk of getting pregnant.

For "research purposes," I wanted to see what would happen if my single, broke Sim had a baby. She had no desire for a baby, but I control everything she does so she didn't have a choice. I had her invite her boyfriend over to her house and, long story short, when she suggested to him that they try to have a baby he rejected her advances completely (as evidenced in the above photo). And to think, he had no problem when he was WooHoo-ing with her the night before...

Usually the dog days of summer are a TV wasteland - all the good shows are in repeats and if there are new shows on, it's hard to get into them because there are vacations, BBQs, and blockbuster summer movies to go to instead. But if you're into teen pregnancy stories, then this summer is actually a great time to be watching TV.

ABC Family's "Secret Life of the American Teenager" (Mondays at 8p) and MTV's "16 & Pregnant" (Thursdays at 10p) are both showing new episodes this summer and both are well worth watching.

Last week, The Washington Post examined Hollywood's recent fascination with 20- and 30-somethings who are still fumbling their way towards something resembling adulthood. Appparently, being a grownup is so scary that being immobilized is way better. Until: something big happens that grows you up fast. In Hollywood, that turning point seems to be an unplanned pregnancy. "Knocked Up," "The Last Kiss" and "Away We Go" are just a few of the movies Post writer Monica Hesse points to as examples of babies turning aging adolescents into grownups.

Is that really a baby's job?

For the past several years more than half of teens surveyed in our occasional polls have told us that they wish they had waited to have sex. Martino and colleagues explore this concept in greater depth in the June edition of Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health. They test the idea that TV contributes to these high levels of regret because TV sets unrealistically high expectations about the positive outcomes of sex (and teens might not actually experience these positive outcomes). The authors use data gathered from the same teens at 3 different time points from 2001-2004 to determine the impact of TV on feelings of regret about sexual initiation. They determine that their hypothesis is correct for teen boys who watch a lot of sex on TV, but not girls.

In other words, teen boys who watch a lot of sex on TV are more likely to report that their expectations about sex fall after they actually have sex. Girls' (who incidentally report much higher regret) expectations about sex remain consistent before and after they first have sex. Other reasons why teens regret having sex have to do with their readiness for sex, their partner, or the status of their relationship. Clearly this article raises a lot of important questions including...

Why do you think so many teens wish they had waited to have sex?

Do you think access to more sexually explicit material on the internet will influence sexual regret?

When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I was chosen to be one of 6 kids from my class to attend a "leadership workshop". It meant a weekend away from home with other kids of the same age from all over the Pittsburgh area, hanging out at a retreat facility and learning how to be better teenagers, better students, and better people in general. We did all of those activities typical of a weekend like that - ice breakers, team building stuff, reflections on life, our future goals, and everything in between. And even though it was more than 15 years ago, that weekend stands out in my memory as one of the hands-down best I've had...I remember the experience vividly and would do it again in a heartbeat.

So what's my point here? All these memories hit me today because The National Campaign is now accepting applications for our 2009-2010 Youth Leadership Team. The YLT is a similar sort of team building, weekend-adventure kind of thing, but with the added bonus that skills are used year-round. Let me explain... The YLT is a select group of 14- to 17-year-olds from across the nation who work with The National Campaign in a variety of ways: they serve as our eyes and ears when it comes to understanding teen culture, we call upon them to share their opinions and perspectives with the press, we show them off on Capitol Hill and have them talk to their Senators and Representatives about the importance of teen pregnancy prevention. Sometimes we even go bowling. We meet in person twice over their 18-month term, but we work together year-round to help them raise awareness about the issue in their home communities.

Do you know a teen who would be a great fit on our YLT? Take a minute to learn more about the Youth Leadership Team and read our YLT Frequently Asked Questions. If you know a teenager who you'd like to sponsor, download the YLT Application Packet here.

Spread the word!

As Stefanie points out below, and as several of our other bloggers have mentioned, the media--TV, movies, magazines, etc.--are brimming with "information" about sex and relationships. Sometimes they even go so far as to point out that sex without contraception can lead to pregnancy. However, these Hollywood portrayals more often than not lead to some sort of happy ending in which the couple sticks together and everything works out by the time the credits roll around.

If only real life worked out so neatly...just yesterday I was reading the morning free paper and stumbled upon an advice column featuring a letter from a woman who is concerned about her friend who became pregnant as the result of a drunken hook-up with a former boyfriend. According to the letter, the friend is holding on to the hope that the boyfriend (who has previously stolen, lied, and cheated) will come back because of the baby. Have you heard this from someone you know? How'd it turn out?

Unfortunately, research suggests that most couples who have an unplanned pregnancy aren't married or even living together by the time the baby is two (i.e. "Sex won't make him yours, and a baby won't make him stay"). Far be it from me to say that drunken trysts with ex-boyfriends are off-limits, but it's time we start talking and thinking about the consequences of conceiving and bearing children as a result. Huge advances in the field of family planning have given us great contraceptive methods that can be used/taken/inserted long before we are at the bar/club/bedroom. So...

How do we encourage more people to use these modern, effective methods instead of relying on the mantra of "it won't happen to me"...or thinking it might be for the best if it "accidentally" does?

Does media influence teen sexual behavior? Can media be used to impact teen behavior in a good way?

Almost everyone has an opinion about the influence of the media on teens' behaviors ranging from violence and drug use to sex. In a report released today, Managing the Media Monster: The Influence of Media (from television to text messages) on Teen Sexual Behavior and Attitudes, we've turned to five experts to uncover the research on this topic and help us better understand how media can be used to promote healthy behaviors (such as abstaining from sex or using contraception every time you have sex).

The introduction, written by Dr. Jane Brown, provides a brief overview of the report and includes the key recommendations for consideration if you are developing a media program. Chapter 1, by Dr. Michael Rich, explores what the research tells us about the link between media and teen sexual behavior. You might remember a study that was released last November about the link between exposure to sexual content and teen pregnancy. Dr. Rich discusses this study and many more in his chapter. What do you think about the link between media and teen sexual behavior?

Chapter 2, by Drs. Tilly Gurman and Carol Underwood, explores effective media interventions from the international community. There have been a lot of fantastic media interventions implemented and evaluated outside of the U.S. and they offer some important lessons learned for U.S. practitioners. Chapter 3, by Dr. Sarah Keller, also focuses on media interventions, but takes a look at those implemented in the U.S. She also discusses the potential application of digital technologies for changing teen behavior, and provides some examples of what researchers have been trying out. Do you have any suggestions for how we might use media to influence teen behavior?

Many people have plenty to say about the media and its influence on teens, especially when it's about teens, sex, and the media. This report and supporting materials—including tips for starting a media campaign and working with the media—can be found on our Web site and provide a clear look at what rigorous research tells us about the negative and the positive when it comes to teens, sex, and the media. So, grab a cup of coffee, take a look, and tell us what you think. Enjoy!

This past Friday, I had the privilege of heading up to Philadelphia to accept a Freddie Award for The National Campaign's "Too Young" educational film in the category of Adolescent Health.  For those of you who don't know, the Freddie Awards are also known as "the Oscars for healthcare media" and seek to encourage the development of cutting-edge health-related educational materials.  Surrounded by our fellow winners -- including heavyweights from places like Discovery Health Channel and HBO -- I felt like a small fish in a big pond and it was such an honor for our little film to be recognized with our very heavy, very naked statue of Hermes. For more information about the Freddies and to learn about some of the evening's other winners, check out http://www.TheFreddies.com.

If you haven't seen "Too Young" yet, what are you waiting for?  The entire film is just shy of five minutes long and it's embedded above, so you really have no excuse.  For more information, to order copies of the film, and to download a companion fact sheet and discussion guide, check out the "Too Young" section of our website.

If you've been paying attention to all to the news over the past year, you know that teen pregnancy happens in all kinds of families and all kinds of communities. Despite more than a decade of significant declines in teen pregnancy and birth rates, it is still the case that 3 in 10 girls will get pregnant at least once by age 20. But it is one of the few public health issues that is actually 100% preventable.  It has been our hope from the start that this film would help raise awareness about this important issue and get teens thinking about avoiding pregnancy and parenthood. Given the great response we've received, we are very proud of "Too Young" and the conversations it is generating nationwide.

Read our thank you's after the jump...

Somehow I managed to live 30+ years without having to change a single diaper, but that all changed eight weeks ago today when my wife and I became new parents to our daughter, Lucy. While I am not a parenting expert yet and still have a lot of questions, I think I am getting the hang of life as a new parent. Dirty diapers, it turns out, are only the tip of the iceberg. In the last two months, I have learned a great deal about babies and what it means to be a father - things I never knew before.

Get your Mr. Mom on after the jump.

The increase in the teen birth rate, Jamie Lynn Spears, the Gloucester un-pact, and---who knows, the performance of Michael Phelps in the Olympics---have all elicited a serious round of media finger-pointing.  You know the argument; the media is providing a heavy coat of coarse to teen culture and they are to blame for our increasingly sexualized culture.

Fair?  Of course not. 

Read what Sarah Brown thinks about all this in an op-ed that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and check out the accompanying editorial.

This just in from Massachusetts about a pack of little girls who decided to get pregnant together.  This is exhibit #50928345 in a basic reality today: our culture and its constituent parts--parents, media, faith leaders, elected officials and more--have failed in one of our most critical and basic jobs, which is communicating to the next generation about what babies need and deserve.  And what are those things?  The list includes having adult parents who are deeply and sincerely committed to each other; who are willing to be active, devoted parents for decades; and who have done the best they can to get educated so that they and their children need not struggle with poverty.  I cannot believe that if these girls had been surrounded by a culture and families who were clear and explicit about these simple facts that they would have been so reckless.   

Why didn't they just go get tattoos together or do some other innocuous adolescent thing?  This Massachusetts story provides a possible answer:  casual, non-marital child-bearing among teens as well as older individuals has become so common and inconsequential that it actually now IS the consumer equivalent of a tattoo: meaningless.

Two events of interest taking place deep inside the Beltway this Wednesday:

1. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing Wednesday on abstinence education programs. 
2. The Brookings Institution is holding a gabfest (they are always interesting) with some thoughtful folks on the effects of media on young people and children.  The Future of Children Journal, "Children and Electronic Media," published by Brookings and Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, will be released at the event.

More in due course on both...