[Archived] Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy Establishes Parent Peer Education Program

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy
Establishes Parent Peer Education Program

The new year brings new initiatives for the Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy (ACAP) and new opportunities for the community to " Get Real " about reducing Alexandria's teen pregnancy rate.

During the last quarter of 2002, we conducted focus groups with Alexandria parents to determine how often and how comfortable parents are when talking to their children. The results, presented to Mayor Kerry Donley and ACAP in December, showed a strong desire by parents to receive more information and support on the topic of how to talk to their children about abstinence, sex, birth control, HIV/STD's and teen pregnancy.

Some highlights from the English and Spanish focus groups include:

Parents of children aged 9-12.

- Few are talking to their kids about sex and teen pregnancy.
-The primary reason for the lack of conversation is parents believe their children are not ready for a discussion and / or are not thinking about sex.

Parents of children aged 13-15.

- Parents assume children are getting taught about sex in school.
- Discussing birth control options is viewed as giving approval to sexual activity.

Parents of children aged 16-19.

- Parents are more likely to have discussions about sex with children of this age group.
- Most fall into two categories: those recognizing their child is sexually active, and those that do not want to ask.

Two key points that parents agreed on are:

- Abstinence is the major message they want to deliver.

- For younger children and younger teens, they want to deliver the message with a focus on "values"; for older teens, the message would be to protect their future.

Mayor Kerry Donley gave his endorsement for ACAP to proceed with plans for Alexandria's first Parent Peer Education program. The Program was presented at January meetings of the Alexandria City Council and Youth Policy Commission, and was enthusiastically received.

ACAP's goal is to create a peer education group for parents of 5th - 9th grade children. Parents will be trained as peer educators to teach other parents how to talk to their children about adolescent issues.

The DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has had a similar program for the past three years and has agreed to assist Alexandria in creating its program.

Fourteen Parent Educators as well as Fourteen Parent Mentors are needed for this program which begins in late March. Involvement includes an initial training, which ACAP provides at no charge, a manageable time commitment, and an invaluable life experience.

Contact Patsieann Misiti for details at 703.838.5030 x 103 or Patsieann.Misiti@ci.alexandria.va.us

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