Seventh Annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Takes Place May 7, 2008

Bill Albert
202-478-8510

Jessica Sheets
202-478-8523

Hundreds of Thousands of Teens Expected to Participate

5/5/2008

(Washington, DC) - Hundreds of thousands of teens nationwide are expected to participate in the seventh annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on May 7, 2008. The purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood through an interactive online quiz.

On the National Day, teens nationwide are asked to go to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy's new teen website - StayTeen.org - and take a short, scenario-based quiz (available in English and Spanish). The quiz challenges young people to consider what they would do in a number of sexual situations. In addition to the National Day Quiz, The National Campaign is also offering an online application that allows teens to add the National Day Quiz to their profiles on websites like MySpace and Facebook and an online video contest for teens at StayTeen.org.

The message of the National Day is straightforward: Sex has consequences. The online quiz delivers this message directly to teens and challenges them to think carefully about what they might do "in the moment."

Despite significant reductions in the teen pregnancy and birth rates since the early 1990s, 30 percent of teen girls become pregnant at least once before age 20 and the vast majority (82 percent) of teen pregnancies are unintended.

"After 15 years of steady decline, the teen birth rate increased slightly between 2005 and 2006," said Sarah Brown, Chief Executive Officer of The National Campaign. "Clearly a renewed focus on preventing teen pregnancy is needed and we hope that - in some modest way - the quiz will help teens think carefully about sex and contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the lifelong challenges of being a parent."

Support for the National Day: Organized by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the National Day has widespread support from a diverse group of over 200 media outlets, teen websites, health sector leaders, education leaders, businesses, youth-serving groups, groups representing elected officials, fatherhood and male involvement groups, faith-based groups, and other prominent national organizations.

The National Campaign is pleased to work in partnership with leading entertainment media companies who are promoting the quiz and delivering prevention messages in May and beyond, including:

ABC Daytime's "One Life to Live," whose teen character Starr Manning (Kristen Alderson) is dealing with the consequences of teen pregnancy. Through the story line and through Kristen Alderson's weekly blog, the show's fans are learning the facts and using the show to start family conversations about sex, love, relationships and preventing teen pregnancy. Find out more at http://blogs.abc.com/kristen/.
The Candie's Foundation, a leader in raising awareness of teen pregnancy by mobilizing celebrities, creating innovative ad campaigns, and keeping the national spotlight on the issue, will honor ABC Daytime (and other national leaders) for its commitment to the cause at the annual Event to Prevent gala in New York City on May 7. Find out more at http://www.candiesfoundation.org.
NBC's "The Baby Borrowers" is teaming up with members of The National Campaign's Youth Leadership Team to screen the new reality series and to start a dialogue about the reality of teen pregnancy and the importance of prevention. The National Campaign and NBC collaborated on discussion guides for parents and teens, which will be available online when the show premieres on June 25 at 8-9:00 p.m. ET. Find out more at http://www.nbc.com.
The N, Nickelodeon's network for teens, will run teen pregnancy-related episodes of favorite shows including "Degrassi: The Next Generation," "The Hills," "Dawson's Creek," and others throughout the day on May 7, and will run The National Campaign's "Stay Teen" PSAs all day. For more about The N, visit http://www.the-n.com.
Fox Broadcasting Co. will air "Stay Teen" PSAs throughout May during popular prime-time shows including "Mad TV," "American Dad" and others. Tune in and find out more about Fox prime time programs at http://www.fox.com.
ThinkMTV.com, TheCWTV.com, Seventeen.com and YourProm.com are among the top web sites for teens that are featuring teen pregnancy prevention messages, promoting the quiz prominently throughout their sites, and encouraging users to grab the widget and get involved. Please visit their sites to find out more.

For a full list of National Day partners and to learn how you can support the National Day, please visit http://thenationalcampaign.org/national/partners2008.aspx

To find out about National Day activities in communities across the country, please visit http://thenationalcampaign.org/national/plans2008.aspx

For general information about the National Day and why it matters, please visit http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/national.

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About the National Campaign: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative supported almost entirely by private donations. Our mission is to promote values, behavior and policies that reduce both teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy among young adults. By increasing the proportion of children born into welcoming, intact families who are prepared to take on the demanding task of raising the next generation, our efforts will improve the well-being of children and strengthen the nation. To find out more, visit http://www.TheNationalCampaign.org.

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Seventh Annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Takes Place May 7, 2008

Hundreds of Thousands of Teens Expected to Participate