MOAPPP’s October 2003 E-Monthly

• • Let’s Talk Month
  • Will your county invest in teen pregnancy prevention and services for teen parents
  • HIV survey released by Minnesota AIDS Project
  • Health and physical education requirement for Minnesota schools was eliminated
  • National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy: Parent Power: What Parents Need to Know and Do to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  • Shoulder to Shoulder – Raising Teens Together
  • Adolescent Health Among Minnesota’s Racial/Ethnic Groups: Progress and Disparities
  • Minnesota Kids Who Don’t Live at Home
  • Soy Unica! Soy Latina!
  • Sex Education: Needs, Programs and Policies
  • 2003 Kids Count Data Book
  • African American and Latino Children Measures of Well-Being
  • MELD Resources for working with Young Families

Let’s Talk Month

Welcome to October and Let’s Talk Month. Let’s Talk Month, a nationally recognized event, is a time to support parents and caring adults in their roles as primary sexuality educators of their children. Let’s Talk Month emphasizes parents’ important role in helping their children develop healthy sexual attitudes and behaviors. Parents and caregivers have the unique opportunity to convey information, as well as share with their children their values, beliefs, and family expectations. Young people who clearly understand their family’s values concerning sexuality and relationships are more likely to avoid risk-taking behaviors.

Let’s Talk Month offers professionals an opportunity to plan community activities that encourage caring adults to discuss sexuality and the importance of postponing early sexual involvement, with the children and teens in their lives. MOAPPP supports your efforts by providing information and resources on our Let’s Talk Month web site, MOAPPP.org. Here you will find a variety of resources to help you plan activities including classroom exercises, fact sheets, research on families, media outreach, and more! In addition, we will maintain a calendar of events and provide technical assistance to interested community organizations.

MOAPPP supports the valuable work that you do. We would like to advertise your events on our website. Please contact us if you have plans for Let’s Talk Month or need assistance with your Let’s Talk Month activities.

Will your county invest in teen pregnancy prevention and services for teen parents?

County boards are making their decisions about funding for services, including home visiting, child care, emergency assistance, etc. Find out when your county’s budget hearings will be held and speak up for adolescents! Make sure your county is investing in teen pregnancy prevention and teen parents. Call your County administrator for the dates and times of the hearings.

HIV survey released by Minnesota AIDS Project.

This survey, released on September 25, found that there is a knowledge gap in Minnesota about how HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, is transmitted. Over 40 percent of Minnesotans still believe that the virus can be transmitted through a sneeze or cough. Nearly 40 percent believe that toilet seats can post some sort of risk. Further details are online at www.mnaidsproject.org.

Health and physical education requirement for Minnesota schools was eliminated.

With the recent changes to education policy and the adoption of new standards, Health and Physical Education are elective areas, left up to each school district. Minnesota schools are now only required to have those “elective” standards developed at the high school level, not for the K-8 levels. There remains a statute to provide HIV/STD/ unintended pregnancy prevention education. Contact your school district and school board to advocate for standards for all grade levels; identify appropriate sexual health education resources recommended by the MN Sexuality Education Resource Review Panel (online at MOAPPP.org); and receive more information about the changes from the MN Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance at web.stcloudstate.edu/mnahperd.

National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy: Parent Power: What Parents Need to Know and Do to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

According to new survey data, parents continue to underestimate the influence they have over their children’s decisions about sex. While the majority of teens say parents most influence their sexual decisions, parents believe that teens’ friends are most influential. To view the full results of the survey or to read Parent Power, please visit www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/parentpower.

Shoulder to Shoulder – Raising Teens Together

Shoulder to Shoulder is a campaign for Minnesota parents of teens created by partners in the Positive Parenting for Adolescent Health Consortium. They provide real advice for real parents about how to navigate through the teen years and connect parents together to share stories and swap tricks of the parenting trade. Minnesota professionals can access Campaign materials and find out about local events by visiting the website: www.shouldertoshoulderminnesota.org. On the website you can order copies of the Shoulder to Shoulder Parent Booklet and Community Outreach Guide.

Adolescent Health Among Minnesota’s Racial/Ethnic Groups: Progress and Disparities

published by the Center for Health Statistics at the Minnesota Department of Health. Download at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/data/popassess.htm. The 8-page article uses survey data to look at changes in the health and well-being of African American, American Indian, Asian, Latino and White adolescents. Contact Pete Rode at if you would like to receive a printed copy or if you have comments or questions.

Minnesota Kids Who Don’t Live at Home

report from the Wilder Research Center on kids who have been removed from home for their own protection or care; those removed because of delinquency; and those who are homeless on their own. The report summarizes what is known about these youth and about effective ways to serve them and their families. www.ourchildrenmn.org

“Soy Unica! Soy Latina!”

a bilingual initiative for Latina girls ages 9-14 and their mothers and other caregivers, developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is designed to help them build and enhance their own self-esteem, mental health, decision-making and assertiveness skills. The project encourages cultural pride by emphasizing the strengths inherent in the Latino culture. The interactive website for 9-14 year old girls is enhanced with other materials, including posters, brochures, activity books and stickers. www.soyunica.gov/default.aspx and 800-773-8546. See the Soy Unica!Soy Latina! Event to be held in St. Paul on October 17.

“Sex Education: Needs, Programs and Policies”

brings together the latest research and analysis on sex education in the United States and its effectiveness in preventing unintended pregnancies and STDs among teenagers. It can be downloaded for presentation or printing at www.guttmacher.org/pubs/spib_SE.pdf.

“2003 Kids Count Data Book”

features 10 key measures of child well-being and state-level estimates of the percent of kids in each state living in various kinds of distressed neighborhoods. www.kidscount.org or 410-223-2890.

African American and Latino Children Measures of Well-Being

“African American Children: State-Level Measures of Child Well-Being from the 2000 Census” and “Latino Children: State-Level Measures of Child Well-Being from the 2000 Census” available at www.kidscount.org or 410-223-2890.

MELD Resources for working with Young Families

MELD has a revised series of six facilitator guides that provide step-by-step group-based activities to encourage child development. A matching set of parent-friendly books is also available: “Baby is Here!” “Feeding Your Child,” “Healthy Child/Sick Child,” “Safe Child & Emergencies,” “Baby Grows,” and “Baby Plays. Order from www.meld.org or call 612-332-7563.