Mustache Madness....A different type of March Madness

So it’s almost down to the wire…this competition of MEN. The competitors are starting to look more than a little…scruffy. Who will be crowned champion of these men among men? Well, we will just have to wait and see, but it’s anyone’s guess at this point, when you remember the madness…the MUSTACHE MADNESS!

It all started with 19 brave men. The number 19 represents the number of teens that give birth each day in South Carolina. The contestants all started with baby faces and individual fundraising goals, and then, the game began. Each man has, for the last three weeks, been growing their mustache (ONLY A MUSTACHE) and raising money through the help of friends and family. As each man reaches his goal, he is allowed to go back to his facial hair status (bearded, shaved, or the inevitable Soul Patch!), but until he reaches his goal, it is MUSTACHE MADNESS for him.


The SC Campaign staff have gotten in on the fun and have been supporting the competitors that are co-workers in different ways, including temporary tattoos! SC Campaign competitors include training coordinator Ryan Wilson, CPO Doug Taylor, and CEO Forrest Alton.



Other agencies have gotten in on the act too, and the men are doing whatever they can to raise the money to be done with the competition. They have hosted beer nights at their homes where the $5 went to the donations, put out “Stache Cash” jars at their work places to grab money from good humored customers, and have even resorted to using cute furry friends or children in their weekly photos to get the “Aww” votes!

So if you are interested in getting in on the fun too, please do! Go to our website, www.teenpregnancysc.org and visit our DONATE NOW page. Click on MUSTACHE MADNESS and donate to your favorites!


By: Taylor Wilson, Communications Specialist -Contact Taylor at twilson@teenpregnancysc.org.

Telling the Story Again

I am already wondering what I am going to do!  It is just a few weeks from Easter, that holiest day in the Christian year, that day in which everyone shows up!   We will bring out extra chairs, have special music, and know that our sanctuary will be full.

The problem is the sermon!  What am I supposed to say?  I have been the pastor at Providence Baptist for 15 Easters!  I have preached every Easter story at least 3 times.  You would think that people would know it by now!  Maybe this year I will use a different text -- perhaps Judges 11:29-40.

Can you imagine the uproar?  People come to church on Easter expecting to hear THE story!  It is one that every preacher feels compelled to use.  We don’t tell it the same way from church to church;  I won’t tell it the same way this year as I have before—but we will tell the story.   We will tell it because it is important, because we need to remember it, and because it forms the center of our faith.

It is the same story, but we continue to tell it.  That is what we do with the important lessons of our lives.  Yet many times when it comes to lessons about sexuality we fall into the delusion that we don’t have to worry about that since we had THE talk.
 
It is not THE talk.  It is a continuing conversation.  It is a conversation that stresses different points—from parts of our bodies, to sexual intercourse, to setting limits, to values.  These are conversations that take years to tell!  And so we need to return to them over and over and over again.  We need to do it for ourselves, but also for our families, for our world.

This year we are having one of those conversations again, the one concerning contraceptives.  Many times in the past few weeks I have heard people say, “I thought we made this decision 50 years ago?”  (I have said that myself!)  But have we had it since?  Have we explained that hormonal therapy isn’t just about birth control?  Have we had the conversation that explains that married couples choose hormonal therapy in order to be responsible parents?  Have we explained how using hormonal therapy is a way of caring for our world?  Have we had a conversation about the ethics of contraceptives?

We did have this conversation 50 years ago and now we are getting to have it again.  And we should!  Can you imagine a minister who said, “I did an Easter sermon 15 years ago.  We don’t have to do that again!”  The important conversations are those we have over and over and over again.  As we should! 

(And no, my text for Easter Sunday is not Judges 11.  It is John 20:1-18.  If you are in Charleston for the Family Circle Cup come by.  We are just down the street!  How’s that for shameless promotion?)

Rev. Don Flowers has been the pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Charleston for 15 years and is a former Board Chair of the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. 

Poli-talks...My Least Favorite at Parties!

Traditionally, and even though I know friends that would scoff at this, I do not like to talk about politics.

When it starts at parties, especially in company of mixed views, I am quite certain it will kill the good time we are all having. To “Mighty Mouse” the situation I “come to save the day” and will suddenly bring up such a random subject that people can’t help but leave the “dirty poli-talks” for another day, sans Taylor.  (“My favorite for a while was, how about those Banana Slugs, did you see the game last night, whew!”  For those that don’t know what I am talking about, like most of my friends, click here.)

The one thing that ALL of my friends will agree that I L-O-V-E talking about is teen and unplanned pregnancy prevention.  I love to talk about what I do, because I also L-O-V-E what I do.  So I talk, and talk, and talk, and talk about contraception, and parent child connectedness, and how abstinence is the best option for our young people, but that they still need the education for when they decide to become sexually active to know how to protect themselves….talk, talk talk Wahwahwahwah wah wah wah wah….I am quite sure half of my friends believe I sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.

But something has changed here recently.  I can’t talk about my FAVORITE subject without talking about my LEAST FAVORITE subject.  Just like the weird guy at the party, politics are sticking their nose into my convo.

The “political debate” about “contraception” feels so foreign to me, as it does to many of my friends.  To see this on CNN or on any other news channel is like mixing pickles and chocolate (NOT GOOD…DO NOT TRY).  A personal decision like when to have a baby and how to prevent having one until you are ready is not one for the floor of the House or Senate.  It isn’t even one for open discussion between elected officials behind closed doors.  It is between a sexually active person(s) and a medical professional.

I will not end my good time by debating the politics of contraception here, but I will say this. The whole point of this is that people have the right to select their method of family planning.  I do not care what others do for their pregnancy prevention, be that natural family planning or using long acting reversible contraception (LARC).  As Americans, we have the right to make our own plans for our own lives, individually, without the need to consult on the state or federal government level.  When folks stop remembering that and start wanting the family planning conversation to be a POLITICAL CONVERSATION, I start calling them the “Party Poopers” and will immediately change the subject “so how about those Banana Slugs…what a team, am I right!”

by:  Taylor Wilson, Communications Specialist

Marathon Training and Teen Pregnancy Prevention are more Similar than You Might Think

I am not a natural runner.  Some people run and look graceful, powerful, effortless. Not me.  I look like I am running mile 10 when I am on mile 2. I look like I am fighting for every step.  But, nonetheless, running has become a really important part of my life. Along with two friends, I get up at 5:00 in the morning 3-4 times a week to run, and I completed my first half marathon last year.  I was supposed to run my second half-marathon this weekend, but instead found myself frustrated on the sidelines with an injury.

This unwelcome break gave me a chance to reflect on what makes running so special to me. Running is simple and hard.  It is continuing to put one foot in front of the other, even when all you want to do is quit. It is taking setbacks, like an injury, in stride, and it's knowing that you’ll get better if you put in the work.  Occasionally, there is a big accomplishment along the way that makes all the work pay off.

 It is not too much of a stretch to think about lowering the rates of teen pregnancy as a marathon.  One of the central tenets of the SC Campaign is that we are committed to prevention now and in the long term.  Teen pregnancy prevention is not simple  -- it is hard, and the challenges facing South Carolina are daunting.  We have the 12^th highest teen birth rate in the country.  We are disproportionately and negatively affected by child poverty, health disparities, and other indicators of child wellbeing.

 However, through steadfast commitment to young people, the SC Campaign continues to invest in strategies that work such as effective, evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs;  accessible contraception for teens who are sexually active; and helping parents have conversations about sex, love, and healthy relationships. We are able to maintain this commitment because we have a vision of young people who have the chance to go to college, who are empowered to make decisions about their health, and  who can wait until they are ready to start a family.  While we have some significant challenges, we also have some major accomplishments.  Teen birth rates have never been lower in the state or in the nation. These decreases represent real people: young people who have a chance to finish high school, go to college, start a job or otherwise continue to build their vision of the future without the responsibility of pregnancy and parenthood until they are ready.  So, just as I will keep getting up far too early to go for a run, we will all keep working to help young people in our state have the chance to build the future they want. 

- Shannon Flynn is the Research and Evaluation Director at the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Contact Shannon at sflynn@teenpregnancysc.org

Leap Day Reflections

Remember that day when you were so busy you fell asleep in your work clothes? You woke up and said “If only I had an extra day to get [insert task] done.” Ok, those may have not been your exact words. Maybe you asked for a personal assistant, housekeeper or an extra set of arms. Good news! You can abandon your design for the housekeeping robot. Leap day is here! It’s that gift we get every four years: an extra day! Think of all the things you can do with an extra day!

What will I do with this extra day? I’d like to tell you I have a hot air balloon ride with a seaside picnic planned, but I don’t. I’ll start my leap day with my usual Wednesday morning yoga class followed by a rewarding day working with some of the smartest people I know. My day will wrap with dinner beside my significant other with our dogs at our feet. Although this sounds strikingly similar to other Wednesdays in my life, I will do something that I often forget to do: pause. I will stop and take a moment to reflect on the last four years. I’ll spend time reflecting and remember to send a thank you skyward for all that I have been blessed with these past four years.

I know I shouldn’t state the obvious, but: a lot can happen in four years. My life has certainly changed since 2008. Take a moment to reflect on your last four years. What has happened to you since 2008? I hope that you were able to check a few items off your list of goals. Can you think of any event(s) that forced you to put one of those goals on hold or something that changed your path? Now take a moment to think about another set of four years: high school. How do you remember your high school days? When I think about high school, I remember feeling unsure of myself and being concerned about what my peers thought about me. I also remember being carefree and staying up so late I saw the sunrise. Now think about what a pregnancy in your teen years would have done to your path. Would you be where you are today?

Every day in South Carolina, nineteen teenagers give birth1. For those nineteen teenagers, their lives have changed in the most significant way possible. They’ve been thrown into the adult world whether they were ready or not. For those teens who had not yet graduate high school, their four year path to a diploma has been compromised. Parenthood is the leading cause for teenage girls to drop out of high school2. In South Carolina, nearly one in five (19%) 8th graders will not make it to the 12th grade in four years3. As a native, I take pride in my state. The fact that almost a quarter of teens in my home state are not able to graduate from high school in four years makes me uneasy, but further empowers the work that I do.

It is my hope that all teenagers are given the opportunity to achieve all of their goals. As adults who have been in their shoes, it is our responsibility to educate them and be good role models. Show teens how bright their future is and how important it is that they succeed. On the next leap day in 2016, it is my wish that the teens of today will pause and reflect on their accomplishments. I want those teens, who may no longer be teens, to smile that same proud smile you have when you look back on your last four years. Not only do I want for them to see a clear path to their future, but my wish is that they will look over their shoulder to see the path they have cleared and the obstacles they have overcome to get where they choose to be.

Take the gift of this leap day and reflect on your last four years. Celebrate your accomplishments. Make plans for your future. Remember to take a moment to reflect. Continue your hard work and dedication to our future generations and continue to give yourself time to pause.

- Jordan Slice is a Research and Evaluation Assistant at the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Contact Jordan at jslice@teenpregnancysc.org.

References
1South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Teen Pregnancy in South Carolina. Retrieved February 2012 from http://www.teenpregnancysc.org/uploads/2012%20Teen%20Pregnancy%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf.
2National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Why It Matters: Teen Pregnancy and Education. Retrieved February 2012 from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/pdf/education.pdf.
3Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Center. Profile for South Carolina. Retrieved February 2012 from http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/stateprofile.aspx?state=SC&loc=42.

Condoms Don't Belong at the Country Club

I have a weakness for reality TV. I’m not proud to admit it, but I do, so it’s unsurprising that as I was flipping through channels recently, I got sucked into a new reality series called “Big Rich Texas.”

The thing I immediately loved about Big Rich Texas is that these ladies are Southern. Sure, the Texans are catty and rich, as any reality TV star must be, but they also pride themselves in being demure and proper. It’s the “proper” aspect that made for the interesting episode I saw the other night.

Melissa picked her 15 year old daughter Maddie up from a doctor’s appointment and noticed she was holding a brown paper bag. She asked Maddie what the doctor had given her, and Maddie reluctantly held up a birth control pack. Then Melissa grabbed the bag and discovered the bag also contained a bunch of condoms. She immediately yelled, “Are you having sex?!” but seemed to calm down after Maddie promised she wasn’t.

Later that night, Maddie and her 15 year old friend Grace were getting ready for a big soiree at the country club, when Maddie showed Grace the condoms. Y’all, this was my favorite part! Maddie and Grace decided to open a condom, and they reacted exactly the way you would hope two 15 year olds would react. They started shrieking about how slimy they were. Then they tried to fling them at each other, until they started screaming after one stuck to the bathroom mirror.

The trouble started when Maddie decided to give Grace some condoms, and Grace’s mother, Connie, found them in her purse during the country club event. To put it lightly, Connie did not react well. She yelled at Grace, immediately confronted Maddie’s mother Melissa, and made Grace leave the party early.

I’m not a parent, so I’m automatically not very qualified to judge Connie’s reaction.  I realize that even though it seemed extreme to me, you really don’t know what it’s like to find condoms in your 15 year old daughter’s purse until you’re living that situation. I would probably freak out too. I do hope, however, that Connie had a chance to watch the footage of Grace and Maddie playing with the condoms and realize how innocent they actually are. Unfortunately, there are too many 15 year olds in South Carolina who wouldn’t have been fazed by the condoms, because they’re already having sex. Grace carrying them around in her purse “just because” doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.

I think sometimes our “properness” gets us in trouble in the South. Maybe if we were more willing to talk openly about these things, teens wouldn’t be so eager to have sex, and there wouldn’t be so many teens having sex at the young age of 15. It’s also important to remember that talking about sex does not mean we’re encouraging teens to do it, or conveying that it’s ok. It just means we’re answering their questions and eliminating their curiosity, which leaves one less reason for them to have sex before they’re ready, or to be unsafe when they are.

-- Lauren Angelo is a Graduate Assistant at the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and a MPH student at the University of South Carolina. Contact Lauren at langelo@teenpregnancysc.org

Teens Need a Plan B (but they can't get it over the counter)

Written by: Dr. Melisa Holmes, Co-founder of Girlology and Board Member of the SC Campaign

Emergency contraception (EC), marketed as the product Plan B, is largely misunderstood. As a parent, do you understand it? If not, you’re certainly not alone as evidenced yesterday by a surprising move by the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, who overrode the decision of the FDA to remove the age restriction on emergency contraception availability.  Using science and research to prove safety and effectiveness, the FDA concluded that Plan B One Step should be available over the counter to all ages and no longer require a prescription for those under 17. In political move that ignored the science, the decision was blocked.

As a parent of teens, and a physician to teens and their moms, I understand the concern about moving Plan B from behind the counter into the aisles so that anyone can pick it up along with condoms, pregnancy tests, cold medicine and band-aids. But even though it’s not readily available to all ages, all reproductive age girls and women should know about it and know how to access it, because knowing what to do in case of an emergency is always a good idea. And teens, in particular, need a Plan B (for themselves, or when they are helping a friend).

So, if you understand what EC is and how it works, you’ll realize that there’s little to worry about, but a lot to talk about – especially with your teen. Here’s the lowdown on Plan B.

What is it?
Plan B is a synthetic progesterone pill that is taken after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.  It is recommended after unprotected sex, misuse of usual contraception (i.e. forgotten pills, late patch change), and after rape.

If it’s taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, it is 75% effective in preventing pregnancy, but the sooner it’s taken, the more effective it is – up to 95%.

Remember that the “standard” birth control pills contain estrogen and progesterone.  The “mini-pill” that is used for nursing mothers and women who can’t take estrogen contains only progesterone.  Interestingly, progesterone is also the hormone that is often prescribed to women with past miscarriages because progesterone provides important support to an early pregnancy. That means, if a girl or woman is already pregnant, Plan B will not affect, harm or abort the pregnancy.  This is NOT the abortion pill, RU486 or mifepristone (which blocks progesterone).

How does it work?
Basically, Plan B works in similar ways to “traditional” birth control pills, but faster.  How it works depends on when it is taken in relation to the menstrual cycle and unprotected sex.  It has been shown to prevent ovulation (the release of the egg from the ovary), which would obviously prevent fertilization.  It also has been shown to change the endometrium and make is less hospitable for implantation, therefore preventing the fertilized egg from “taking hold.” This is where the controversy comes in for some: if you have ethical problems with preventing a fertilized egg from settling into the endometrium when it arrives in the uterus, then all hormonal birth control should be off your list because that’s one of the ways hormonal birth control works (it also prevents ovulation most of the time, but the other mechanisms improve effectiveness).

Is it dangerous?
Nope.  In fact, it is safer than ibuprofen.  Although most drugs, including “traditional” birth control pills, have a list of contraindications (you hear them listed in pharmaceutical-speed-talk on commercials), Plan B has none. The contraindications and complications that accompany birth control pills are caused by the estrogen in them. Plan B is only progesterone. A progesterone overdose isn’t dangerous, but it might make you moody, nauseated, bloated and mess up your period.

Will teens abuse or overuse it?
Plan B is definitely not a mood enhancer (think premenstrual symptoms), so recreational use won’t be a problem.  But will teens change their behavior and have more unprotected sex if EC is readily available? The research says no. Specifically, research on EC and risk taking has shown that teens (and adult women) that have EC readily available do not increase their bouts of unprotected sex, but they are more likely to use EC appropriately compared with girls and women that have been told about EC but don’t have a prescription or dose on hand. Teens shouldn’t be expected to abuse Plan B anymore than they “abuse” condoms. And at $49.99 a dose (at my local pharmacy), it’s definitely not a first line choice for birth control.

If there’s Plan B, what happened to Plan A?
The naming of this branded emergency contraception formulation is brilliant because it acknowledges that this is a back up plan.  There should always be a “Plan A,” but when it falls through, it’s nice to have a Plan B, too.  This is where parents can step in and have the conversations that matter around this topic.
For teens, sexual abstinence is a preferred Plan A. There’s no question that the most reliable way to prevent pregnancy is to not have sex.  For high school students, this is what most of them are choosing these days (yay). But there are still plenty of teens that choose to have sex, and way too many teen pregnancies occurring in our country.  Plan B provides one more method that can help prevent the far-reaching impact of teen pregnancy.

Most physicians that work with teens and young adults liken the game plan for sexual health to a “belt and suspenders” approach. That means we recommend a hormonal method to prevent pregnancy and condoms to prevent infections.  So for teens, an acceptable Plan A would be to use condoms PLUS birth control pills, the patch, the vaginal ring, hormonal injections, implants or an IUD.  The best method for a teen is the method she can use consistently, correctly and confidently.

As parents, we have to acknowledge that there will be a day when our teen or young adult child chooses to have sex.  Before that happens, we should help her make a plan for staying safe and healthy.  Part of that is making sure she has a good plan in place, and that she thinks through a back up plan, an emergency plan of sorts. Having a back up plan is simply a smart strategy for life. Plan B emergency contraception is a back up plan that she may never need, but it is one more method she can put in her contraceptive tool kit.