Check out some recent blog posts we found interesting. Hope you do, too!

When Bitter Breakups and Digital Photography Meet: What to Teach Our Kids About Revenge Porn

“Revenge porn,” a term used to describe cyberbullying that includes posting sexually explicit pictures of someone else, has become so prevalent that some states have passed specific laws to punish this behavior. What should kids be taught about this?

As parents and educators, I think our responsibility is two-fold. First, we have to remind those growing up in this digital age of what should not but can happen to the pictures you decide to take. We need to teach young people to do a gut check before they hit send.

Mental Health Day: What About Teen Parents?

Gloria Malone examines why the mental health of teen parents is often overlooked, and how we can change that.

In the event that we feel strong enough to speak to someone about our struggles and how we feel broken our confessions are met with hurtful statements like: “That’s what you get. You made your bed now lay in it.” “No one told you to get pregnant.” “Oh you don’t like being an adult? Then you shouldn’t have done adult things” and even more hurtful and abusive comments.

At-Risk vs. At-Promise Youth

The term “at-risk youth” is familiar to most, but what about the lesser-used “at-promise”?

While reviewing research regarding at-risk youth and prevention strategies, I was introduced to a term I hadn’t heard before: At-promise youth.  Proponents of the term say it describes youth as having capacity to be successful, rather than implying (through the term “at-risk”) that lower socio-economic kids lack potential to achieve success.

Candy Corn, Cold Weather, and Conversations…

It’s never too early to begin communicating with your children in age-appropriate ways about sex, love, and relationships. The topics can be difficult, however, for parents to broach. This blog post from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy provides tips and resources to make this type of important conversation a little easier for parents.

Believe it or not, despite the glazed looks in their eyes and the horrified expressions on their faces, teens consistently say that parents–not peers, not partners, and not pop culture–MOST influence their decisions about sex.  In fact, according to our most recent Survey Says polling report, teens say it would be much easier for them to avoid pregnancy if they were able to talk more openly with their parents about these topics.

Studies Look at Access to Family Planning Services Provided at Federally Qualified Health Centers

Contraception recently published two studies that look at the types and access to family planning services provided at community health clinics that are “considered a popular primary care option for low-income women of reproductive age.” This blog post from Our Bodies Ourselves includes important findings and implications from each study.

The studies, produced by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health, examine the services at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). These health clinics provide primary and preventive care on a sliding scale, primarily to low-income and uninsured patients. It’s also worth noting that when states attempt to defund Planned Parenthood clinics, these are clinics to which many women may get directed for care.