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There is a crisis of silence in our community. This silence is due
in part to the lack of communication between parents or caregivers and
the teens in their care. Silence is also due to the lack of advocacy
for the health care system to provide appropriate comprehensive
teen-friendly health care to every DC teen.
DC
Campaign is working to shatter the silence and bring the conversation
about comprehensive teen-friendly health care to the forefront of
issues for parents, schools, health care providers, religious
institutions and local government. DC Campaign is changing the
conversation about teens from discussions that blame and shame teens to
positive discussions about what adults must provide young people to
become healthy, productive adults.
(right) At the workshop participants take the pledge to make teen pregnancy a thing of the past.
A recent report from
the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that both teens
and parents agree that parents often have more impact on a teen’s
decision regarding sexual activity than a teen’s peers. All of the DC
teen groups we talked with told us that they want earlier, more
accurate and more comfortable conversations and guidance from their
parents about sex, sexual responsibility and the consequences of sex.
In
order for parents to guide their children through the challenges of
adolescence parents must educate their children on making healthy
choices, especially regarding issues concerning sex. To do this parents
must have the necessary information and resources, feel comfortable and
confident enough to have conversations about sex with their children,
and take the initiative to talk with their children about sex as a
natural part of growing-up.
“Talk is a Four Letter
Word” is a three session (90 minutes each) workshop for parents and
caregivers that will help participants increase their knowledge,
comfort and confidence in talking with their teen about the
often-awkward topics of love, sex and relationships, and encourage and
support them beginning that conversation with their teen(s). In
addition, the workshops will raise awareness of teens’ primary health
care needs among parents, and encourage and support both participants
and host organizations to increase their advocacy for improved delivery
of adolescent preventative services.
If you are interested in hosting a workshop,
contact Brenda Rhodes Miller at
202-789-4666 extension 11 or at
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.
Participants and leaders after another successful workshop.
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