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!

I went to NYC yesterday because my boss, Sarah Brown, was one of the panelists at a National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy event. Bristol Palin was also a panelist.

Bristol is a parenting teenager - like hundreds of thousands of other girls in this country, she got pregnant and had a baby last year. She and her boyfriend have broken up (as is usually the case in these situations) and she is urging other teens to avoid what she's been through. She loves her son, as most moms do, but she says she wishes she had waited. Waited to have sex, waited to have a baby, waited a little longer before growing up this way. And people are attacking her for it.

I don't get it. She's a kid who made some mistakes and she's warning others not to make the same ones. If she were a recovering addict urging young people not to use drugs no one would call her a hypocrite. If she had killed someone (killed someone!) while driving under the influence and was warning other teens about drinking and driving she'd be hailed as courageous. If she had a history of disordered eating and was reaching out to young girls about forming healthy relationships with food she'd be a hero. Why is this any different? I think more of us who have learned from past experiences should work to save others from the heartache we've had.

This piece is cross-posted on RH Reality Check.

There is reason to be concerned on this 8th National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The extraordinary decline in teen pregnancy and childbearing - one of the nation's preeminent success stories of the past two decades - is in danger of being reversed. Cue sober music.

From the early 1990s, until 2007, the teen pregnancy rate in the United States plummeted 38 percent and the teen birth rate declined by about one-third. State and local level trends mirrored national trends almost everywhere: Over the past decade, we've seen declining rates of teen pregnancy in all 50 states and among all racial and ethnic groups - extraordinary progress on an issue many once considered intractable.

However, the most recent news on this front has not been as positive. After 14 straight years of declines, the national teen birth rate increased 5 percent between 2005 and 2007 and many states are reporting statistically significant increases in their respective rates of early childbearing as well.

Today is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.  We hope that everyone concerned about teen pregnancy will do what they can to promote this fun and informative online event. The purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood.

Thanks to the hard work of more than 200 National Day partners, state and local organizations who are organizing National Day events all across the country, and teens themselves, the National Day is already off to a strong start.  Already, more than 60,000 teens have participated by taking the National Day Quiz and more than 7,000 have added our National Day "Relationship Reality Pop Quiz" widget to their personal websites and social networking profiles.  The advance turnout for this year's event has simply been amazing and we expect that hundreds of thousands more will participate over the course of the month.

Remember, the National Day Quiz and Widget will both be online throughout May, so it's not too late to help spread the word. Need some ideas? Check out our Tips for Getting Involved. For more information, visit the National Day section of our website.