Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 20, 1994 TAG: 9404200106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Television ads using local teen-agers to get the message across will be featured as part of an $80,000 media campaign, funded by Planned Parenthood, a grant from the Public Welfare Foundation and an anonymous donor.
"We want to affirm postponing sexual involvement, but getting the word out about where to get [birth-control] services is also absolutely essential," said Kathryn Haynie, Planned Parenthood's executive director.
The local campaign is meant to complement the efforts of the statewide abstinence-based Campaign for Our Children and the city's new task force on teen pregnancy. City officials announced the creation of the task force in December, but it has not yet met.
The campaign also is timed to correspond to next week's National White Ribbon Campaign/Teen Prevention Week, a grass-roots effort begun by an Iowa schoolteacher and endorsed by President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Planned Parenthood will hand out nearly 8,000 white ribbons through area high schools, libraries, churches and media outlets to raise awareness of the issue.
This is the first ad campaign to involve Roanoke teen-agers and the first time Planned Parenthood has had the resources for television ads, Haynie said. Besides promoting abstinence, she said, the ads will encourage parents and teens to use Planned Parenthood as a resource, both for contraceptive services and educational materials.
Community interest in the subject has never been at such a peak, she added. "Sometimes communities have to experience a real crisis before they get involved, and I sense a real commitment coming from the community now."
Roanoke has the highest teen-pregnancy rate in the state among 15- to 19-year-olds, according to 1991 health department figures.
The teens featured in the ads will be students from the TRUST teen line and from the "Sex or Not?" decision-making group at Hurt Park. On Saturday, they will start painting a mural for the campaign in downtown Roanoke at the corner of Second Street and Salem Avenue with the help of Roanoke artist Robbie Muse.
The Hurt Park teens also will be part of a new teen advisory council formed to promote the abstinence message and educate their peers about birth-control services, alcohol and drugs.
"Drugs and alcohol have a large role in unintended pregnancies," Haynie said. "That's why teen pregnancy is so hard to combat. You could drop contraception on every street corner and not make a dent in the teen-pregnancy rate."
What makes Planned Parenthood's campaign distinct from other prevention efforts is that it uses the target audience as the messenger, organizers say.
"I can sit in meetings on teen pregnancy all day long, but we have to get the information to the kids - from the kids," said Anthony Drakeford, who will advise the teen council.
Asked if Planned Parenthood's support of abortion rights might add a controversial element to the campaign, Haynie responded, "I would challenge anyone who disagrees with us to come up with a better idea."
The ad campaign will start in mid-May. Organizations or individuals interested in participating in next week's White Ribbon Campaign can call Planned Parenthood at (703) 362-3968.
by CNB