Planned Parenthood Advocate

Planned Parenthood Celebrates 20 Years of Parent-Child Retreats

In 2010, teens across the country, ages 12 – 19, were asked: When it comes to your decisions about sex, who is most influential?  The most common response?  Parents.

Research proves the protective significance of Parent-Child Connectedness (also known as PCC) for growing children.  PCC, a strong emotional bond between parent and child, is known in the public health world as a “super protector,” buffering adolescents from the many challenges and risks they face. Strong PCC protects against 33 negative adolescent outcomes such as unintended pregnancy; HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs); violence; depression; eating disorders; alcohol, tobacco and drug use; and poor academic achievement. 

Today Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota celebrates 20 years of steadfast commitment to fostering PCC in local communities.  Since 1992, Planned Parenthood has offered more than 100 Parent-Child retreats (totaling over 1,000 participants) across the state of Minnesota.  At these one-day retreats, parents and mentors discuss emerging sexuality with their children in a comfortable, supportive environment.  Tonight at Planned Parenthood’s flagship headquarters in St. Paul, past and present program participants, volunteers, staff and supporters will join to recognize this incredible achievement.

Planned Parenthood is dedicated to providing accurate, age-appropriate, culturally relevant information to children and teens, and offers a broad range of education programs across Minnesota.  To learn more about the importance of supporting Parent-Child Connectedness in our communities, check out Planned Parenthood’s complete report, or download Planned Parenthood’s Let’s Talk tablemat! 

	All-day retreats for daughters, ages 10-12, and their mothers or female mentors.  Participants learn and play together while exploring puberty, healthy sexuality, and family communication and connection.  Offered in English, Spanish and Hmong.
	All-day retreats for sons, ages 10-12, and their mothers or female mentors.  Activities are designed to support positive communications about puberty and sexuality and to emphasize the value of building healthy relationships.

Parents are Talking With Their Kids About Sex But Often Not Tackling the Harder Issues

Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Launches Activities Around October’s Let’s Talk Month

Eighty-two percent of parents have talked to their children about topics related to sex and sexuality, according to a new poll released today. However, when it comes to the tougher, more complicated topics, many adolescents are not getting the support they need to delay sex and prevent pregnancy.

The national poll, “Let’s Talk: Are Parents Tackling Crucial Conversations about Sex?” shows that parents talk to their kids about a wide range of sexuality-related topics, including relationships (92 percent) and their own values about when sex should or should not take place (87 percent).

However, fewer parents are talking with their kids about tougher, more complicated topics. Only 74 percent are talking about how to say no to sex, and while 94 percent believe they are influential in whether their child uses condoms or other forms of birth control, only 60 percent are talking with their children about birth control.

This new finding underscores the importance of October’s Let’s Talk Month, which encourages parents to talk to their children about sex and sexual health. As part of Let’s Talk Month, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) will be hosting day-long parent-child retreats throughout the entire month of October and hosting a family dinner night with our Twin Cities Teen Council.

Teen Risk Taking and the Parent-Child relationship

On Monday, the CDC released a study on teen risk taking.  The study found that gay and bisexual teens are engaging in risk-taking activities at higher rates than their heterosexual peers. The survey tracked a wide variety of risk taking behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol and drug use, attempted suicide, physical activity levels, weight management, condom use, and behaviors leading to unintentional injuries like seatbelt and helmet use.
 
According to the survey:

• 20-48% of gay and lesbian students smoke as opposed to 8-19% among heterosexual teens
• 10% or less of heterosexual teens reported attempted suicide. Among gay and lesbian students the number is as high as 34%, and 32% among bisexual students
• Gay and lesbian students were over three times more likely to attempt to lose weight through laxatives or vomiting

The Power of Parent-Child Connectedness

May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, and as part of an ongoing commitment to public health and education, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) has released a report on Parent-Child Connectedness (PCC), a key strategy in reducing teen pregnancy and building strong families. The report also has a fact sheet filled with PCC strategies and resources for parents.

The report comes just as Teenwise Minnesota released a new study showing that Minnesota’s teen birth rate has fallen to the lowest point in at least 40 years. While causes of the downward trend are still a subject of debate, studies show that Parent Child Connectedness is a key factor in preventing teen pregnancies and many other negative adolescent outcomes.

PCC is a strong emotional bond between parent and child. It’s known in the public health world as a “super protector,” buffering adolescents from the many challenges and risks they face, including unintended pregnancy.

Studies show that strong PCC protects against 33 negative adolescent outcomes, such as unintended pregnancy; HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs); violence; depression; eating disorders; alcohol, tobacco and drug use; and poor academic achievement.

Minnesota State Teen Birthrates fall to 40 year low, but major disparities still exist

In a recent report by Teenwise, Minnesota’s teen birthrate has fallen to a 40 year low.  After increases in 2006 and 2007, Minnesotas overall teen birthrate dropped to 24.3 births per 1,000 females (aged 15-19).  This rate is significantly below the national average.

Via the Star Tribune:

Minnesota's rates were higher than the national averages, however, for Hispanics and Asian-Americans, and among the worst in the nation for African-Americans. Minnesota's teen birthrate for American Indians is nearly double the national average.

Report contributor, Brigid Riley, said the vast disparities between racial and ethnic groups are likely due to the inequities in income and education, as well as a variety of other factors. She also emphasized the importance of sexual education programs that discuss abstinence and also provide teens with the information they need to keep themselves healthy and safe.

Riley cited teen programs that work in schools that give teens a “more nuanced conversation about health relationships.” Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota has several peer education programs that do just that—comprehensive sex education one classroom at a time.

Read more about Minnesota teen birthrates in the Star Tribune.

--by Karina, Web Editor, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund