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(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–www.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 www.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. For a full list of National Day partners and to learn how you can support the National Day, please visit www.TheNationalCampaign.org/national.
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 www.TheNationalCampaign.org.