Let's face it: Eva Mendes is totally together and gorgeous in any light, setting, and situation--but I started to forget her superstar status as she really began to inhabit Grace, the bedraggled young Latina mom she plays in the new film Girl in Progress. The film, from director Patricia Riggen (Under the Same Moon) opens Friday, May 11. Grace was a mom at 17 and totally missed out on her chance to have fun as a teen. She's trying to make up for it in her 30s, despite the fact that she is now the mother of Ansiedad (Cierra Ramirez), her teenage daughter who is desperate for some real parenting. Grace is convinced that she has a real future with her married boyfriend (Matthew Modine), whose house she cleans, and is either absent or oblivious whenever Ansiedad makes it clear she needs attention. Badly.

Ansiedad is so determined to get away from her chaotic home life that she comes up with a plan to skip adolescence and just be an adult already. Without her mom's presence and supervision, Ansiedad gets away with everything. Which is not lost on her. It's easy to root for Grace to get some fun and romance, even though she does it at the expense of her daughter, failing her, little by little, every day. Ansiedad hasn't had the luxury of being a kid either and tries to erase her last trace of vulnerability. Still, one night she bursts into her mom's room, crying for her in the middle of the night, only to find it empty. Again.

There were moments in the film that made me want to go wake up my daughter just to tell her that I'd never ditch her to stay out all night, especially when she needed me most. But she's only 7, and she needs her sleep. There's a lot to talk about, and it's a lot easier to talk about what Grace or Ansiedad did, or didn't do, than it is to talk about ourselves and our daughters--and what we need and what we'd do differently. I think this movie will start some interesting conversations between mothers and daughters that might not otherwise have happened. At least I hope so. Watch the trailer (below), check out a message from Cierra Ramirez to parents, and tell us what you think.

Geek confession time: Besides taking in a Nationals game, enjoying Woodford Reserve, hanging out at Jake's Boiler Room, or spending time with my perfect son Harrison, one of my favorite activities every year is pouring over pages and pages and pages of public opinion survey data and trying to make sense of it. How do teen guys age 15-19 from families with limited means living in southwestern states feel about the first time they had sex anyway? I gots to know, right?

Having now spent some quality time with the results of The National Campaign's latest survey of teens and adults I have come to the simple conclusion that making sense of it all is actually, well, simple. It's really not complicated at all. A moment to explain...

The school year is quickly coming to a close and that means one thing for many teens across the country: PROM! Finding a date, picking the right outfit, and planning a great night are all key parts of the prom experience, but many teens also find themselves dealing with more serious issues--peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, and the decision of whether or not to have sex.

Because of these concerns, prom time can be an especially worrisome time for some parents. Here are a few common-sense tips to help ensure a fun and safe prom night for your teen:

• Communicate your expectations and set boundaries. Good parenting is, in part, based on good communication and that's particularly important come prom night. Talk about your expectations. What behavior is acceptable? What isn't? What are the consequences if they don't follow your rules? Don't be vague. Be clear about your concerns for their health and safety and find out how they plan to avoid situations they might later regret.


• Talk about sex. Don't limit the conversation to one big talk. Instead, have an ongoing discussion about your values and beliefs. Be honest, show respect, and listen to your child. Encourage them to consider the physical and emotional consequences of sex and make sure that they know how to protect themselves. Need help starting a conversation? This year, our popular National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Quiz--available on May 1st at StayTeen.org--asks teens to confront a series of risky sexual situations all set against the backdrop of Prom Night. Ask your teens to take the National Day Quiz, take it with them, and download our discussion guide to get the conversation started.


• Ask the right questions. Here are some questions that you might ask: Who are you going to the prom with? Where is the prom being held? Who are the chaperones? If you've consented to after-prom activities, make sure you know exactly what their plans are. Where is the after-party? Will there be parents in attendance at the party? Will there be drugs or alcohol at the party? What is the phone number of the place where the party will be held? If you don't like the answers to any of these questions, exercise your right as a parent and don't allow them to go. Make sure you and your teen agree upon a plan well before they walk out the door.


• Stay in touch. Make sure you on stand-by and reachable by phone the entire time your child is out of the house. Establish a few mandatory call-in/text-in times throughout the evening. If your teen has a cell phone, have them set alarms for the check-in times.


• Hands on the wheel. Make sure you know how your teen is getting to and from prom. Know who is driving. Make sure they understand the dangers of drunk driving and distracted driving. If your teen is riding in a limo, check the company's policy on allowing alcohol in the vehicle. Or just call this guy. He's magnificent.

We hope that these tips will help your teen enjoy a happy, safe, and memorable night out and help you enjoy a quiet, stress-free evening at home.

MTV has announced that the upcoming fourth season of the original Teen Mom series will be the last one. Those final episodes won't air til later this year--giving everyone ample opportunity to reflect on what it all means--but I'd like to get the party started with my own Top Ten Lessons Learned from Teen Mom (so far):

1. Once there's a pregnancy, every road ahead is hard.
If Teen Mom has shown us anything, it's that pregnancy and parenting at a young age isn't easy and it isn't glamorous. We've seen these girls struggle in every way possible--within their families, in their relationships, financially, at school, socially, and more. That's not to say their lives would have been easy-peasy had they not gotten pregnant, but there is not a single episode of this show that has made it look like the life of a teen mother is anything but challenging.

2. Being a birthmother IS being a good mother.
Too often people assume that making an adoption plan is a cop-out, or an admission of failure, or proof that you don't love your baby. Catelynn's experience taught us otherwise and continues to be one of the most hopeful, heartfelt stories on all of television.

This season we watched Jenelle go through a number of emotional ups and downs. We also learned that she has a dependency on marijuana--and now we're watching her try to find sobriety. Jenelle made the decision to enter a rehab facility in California and it was very interesting watching her struggle to get clean.

I was surprised to learn that Jenelle's brother suffers from bipolar disorder and that Jenelle's psychiatrist suspects that Jenelle may be suffering from it too. Considering all of her extreme outbursts, it would make a lot of sense. During Jenelle's therapy sessions, we learn some important things about her, including that she has been smoking marijuana consistently since she was thirteen years old. I couldn't help but think about the role that fact may have played in her pregnancy. Teens who have used marijuana are four times more likely to have been pregnant or to have gotten someone pregnant than teens who have never used marijuana. Plus, nearly one-quarter of sexually active teens and young adults age 15 to 24 report that they have had sex without a condom because they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

It is no surprise that Jenelle's relationship with her mom, Barbara, causes her a significant amount of stress. We learned that what triggers Jenelle to go from calm to screaming is very often linked to her son, Jace. Jenelle freaks out when her mom criticizes her parenting skills. Although Barbara does make some valid points about Jenelle's lack of involvement and responsibility, it is nice to see Jenelle showing that she does truly care about Jace. I must admit that I was surprised that Jenelle completed the entire rehab program and took it seriously. While in rehab she finds ways to better deal with stress rather than turning to marijuana and learns how to effectively communicate with her mom. I think another huge victory for Jenelle was finally saying no to Keiffer. She realizes that he is a bad influence on her and that she needs to take care of herself and Jace.

We can only hope Jenelle stays healthy and focuses on staying clean, not only because she is on probation, but for Jace. Jace needs and deserves a healthy role model for a mother.

*****

Roxanne Martin is an intern for The National Campaign's Entertainment Media and Audience Strategy department. She recently graduated from George Washington University, where she studied human services and public health. Roxanne loves sports and traveling. She hopes to travel the world someday.