The National Campaign

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What ruins your social life, kills your chances of getting a prom date, and basically ends teenage life as you know it? A zit? Not getting a driver’s license?

Sure… those things might set you back a little bit. But none of them permanently change your life as you or your partner getting pregnant as a teen.

Did you know that, in this year alone, over 700,000 teen girls will get pregnant? Think about it for a minute –imagine your three best girl friends…based on that statistic, at least one of them might get pregnant by the end of the year.

That number is too high…in fact, the rate of teen pregnancy is our country is higher than any other industrialized nation. We are first where we should be last.

Sex has real consequences, both physical and emotional. So what can YOU do? Get educated and get responsible. Teen pregnancy is one of the few completely preventable problems that we deal with in the United States. It is also one with some of the most widespread and harmful consequences. For example:

Fewer than one-third of teen mothers ever finish high school. Nearly 80 percent of the fathers of babies born to teen mothers do not marry their babies’ mothers and, on average, these absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support.

Babies born to teens are at an increased risk of low birth weight and the attending health problems: mental retardation, blindness, deafness, mental illness, cerebral palsy, and infant death. Children of teen mothers are more likely to do poorly in school, more likely to drop out of school, and less likely to attend college.

Teen pregnancy costs society billions of dollars a year. Each year the federal government alone spends about $9 billion to help families that began with a teenage birth. Forty-five percent of first births in the United States are to women who are either unmarried, teenagers, or lacking a high school degree, which means that too many children - tomorrow's parents - are born into families that are not prepared to help them succeed.

And if this news sounds grim now, know that between 1995 and 2010, the number of girls aged 15-19 is projected to increase by 2.2 million – meaning that these new teens will need the education, resources, and support that you need now. Get involved! For more information on the National Campaign, including more detailed statistics, ways to help, and information for special audiences, visit our websites: TheNationalCampaign.org and TeenPregnancy.org . For special information geared toward teens, please visit our new website, StayTeen.org .

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy seeks to improve the lives and future prospects of children and families and, in particular, to help ensure that children are born into stable, two-parent families who are committed to and ready for the demanding task of raising the next generation. Our specific strategy is to prevent teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy among single, young adults. We support a combination of responsible values and behavior by both men and women and responsible policies in both the public and private sectors. If we are successful, child and family well-being will improve. There will be less poverty, more opportunities for young men and women to complete their education or achieve other life goals, fewer abortions, and a stronger nation.

When the National Campaign was launched in 1996, we set a goal of reducing the teen pregnancy rate by one-third over 10 years. It now appears as though the nation will achieve this ambitious goal. Despite these declines, the teen pregnancy rate remains far too high. Consequently, in 2006, the National Campaign set another goal—to reduce the teen pregnancy rate by another one-third between 2006 and 2015. The National Campaign is now expanding its focus to reduce unplanned pregnancy among young adults. A second, separate goal addressing unplanned pregnancy among young adults will be announced in the upcoming months.

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At long last, Stay Teen and MySpace are thrilled to announce the winner of the “How Do You Stay Teen?” Video PSA Contest. We received tons of submissions from all around the country and we were completely blown away by the quality of your entries.

But one stood head and shoulders... or should we say "beak and feathers" above the rest. Congratulations to Laura M. from Daytona Beach, Florida and her winning video. As winner of this year's contest, Laura’s video — entitled “Stay Chicken” — is now a permanent piece of the Stay Teen Campaign.

Click here to visit Stay Teen's MySpace page and tell us what you think on our bulletin board.

Want to let your friends know you support the National Campaign? Grab one of the badges below and add it to your MySpace page. Simply copy the code under the image you want and paste it in your About Me section.