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About one-third of teen girls become pregnant at least once by age 20 and fully half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.  Not too good

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Nov 17 2008

starsSomebody Get That Statue Some Pants

freddie.gifThis 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...

There were so many people involved in this project whom we must thank. Sincere thanks to "Too Young" Director Constance Marks for donating their time and considerable talents to this project; The Lund Family Center in Burlington, Vermont and The Door in New York City for connecting us with the young people in the film and for their work year-round on the behalf of teen parents; and to photographer Jocelyn Lee for letting us use her stunning photographs.  We also thank Wyeth Pharmaceuticals for supporting this project as well as other National Campaign activities.

Most of all, we offer our deepest gratitude to the teen parents who shared their stories with us.  Their voices and commitment to sharing their experiences make it clear that teen pregnancy can happen to anyone, but it doesn't have to. This film could not have been possible without them.

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