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Photo Essay Documents Adults and Teens Committed to Healthy Adolescent Sexuality
“We are not kids today.
We are not those people.
We are real.
We care about this issue.
This is our story.”
— Guillermo Ortega, 17
LOS ANGELES, January 30, 2002 — A six-month project profiling teens and adults was released today by the Get Real About Teen Pregnancy public education campaign. The “Get the Picture” photo essay highlights adults and teens who are working on a variety of successful approaches to preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The 20-page photo essay features fifteen teens and six adults from California cities including Hollywood, Oceanside, Sacramento, Richmond and South Central Los Angeles. The piece tells the story of responsible teens and dedicated adults who are examples of those in the state working to be part of the solution to the problem of teen pregnancy. Through efforts such as mentoring, peer education and condom distribution; they serve as models of how everyone can be involved in their own communities to deal with this issue.
“We’re extremely proud of these teens and adults who have made a commitment to educating others about healthy adolescent sexuality,” said Gary L. Yates, president and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation. “Teens who receive accurate information and support from peers and adults tend to make more responsible decisions about their sexual behaviors.”
The teens and adults highlighted in this document are involved in numerous prevention efforts in their communities. Some teens distribute condoms to youth in places where they hang out and others serve as educators about sexually transmitted diseases in teen clinics. Others are active in youth outreach programs that educate teens about sexual health, self-esteem and dealing with peer pressure while some work in jobs as teen mentors.
“There are a lot of misconceptions among teens about their health and sexuality,” commented Victor Betts, 17, one of the teenagers profiled in the document who works as a peer educator with Every Teen Counts, a teen pregnancy prevention project in Oceanside. “I want to set the record straight and that's why I work at our teen clinic. I like being able to help teens take care of their sexual health needs through education and support.”
Although teen birth rates are dropping, California still leads the nation in overall teen pregnancies with more than 56,000 babies born to teenagers last year. “The decline in teen births demonstrates that many California teenagers are making responsible decisions about sex; however, there is much more we need to do to ensure that all youth have the supportive environments and accurate information they need to help them prevent unintentional pregnancies,” Yates added. “‘Get the Picture’ demonstrates that there are many teens and adults who are committed to assisting California's teens in making informed, responsible decisions about sex.”
The photo essay will be distributed to decision-makers and policy leaders in California to educate them about realistic approaches to teen pregnancy prevention and programs that are effective in helping teenagers prevent unplanned pregnancies.
“Get the Picture” is part of an ongoing series of informational documents produced by the Get Real About Teen Pregnancy campaign. The Get Real campaign is funded by a grant to Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide from The California Wellness Foundation as part of its $60 million, 10-year Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative.
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