National day to prevent teen pregnancy

The purpose of the National Day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood.  On that day, teens nationwide will be asked to go to www.teenpregnancy.org and take a short, scenario-based quiz that asks young people what they would do in a number of situations.  The quiz is available in both English and Spanish.

“The National Day, as well as this online quiz, can help teens understand that sex has consequences,” said Katherine Newland, adolescent health coordinator at the Indiana State Department of Health.

“We hope that this interactive quiz will teach teens that pregnancy can happen to them, and that they need to make a plan for avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood,” Newland said.

In 2002, more than 11 percent of all births to Indiana residents were to mothers between 10 and 19 years of age.

Nearly 300,000 individuals took the National Day Quiz in 2003.  A survey of the some of the teens that participated in the 2003 National Day indicates that 57 percent of teens said that the National Day Quiz made the consequences of sex more real to them and 70 percent said the Quiz made them think about what they would do in such situations.

The National Day is sponsored by the nonprofit, nonpartisan, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and National Day founding partners, Teen People magazine and TeenPeople.com.