DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706180174

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY REBECCA MYERS CUTCHINS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   41 lines

COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN IS AIMED AT HELPING PARENTS, KIDS TALK

The goal is to encourage parents and their children to engage in open and honest communication about sex.

To that end, about three dozen people met June 13 to plan ``Let's Talk'' month, a community campaign to be held in October that supports parents in their efforts to talk to their children freely about sexuality.

The campaign, modeled after a program that began in North Carolina in 1980, seeks to involve religious organizations, the media, businesses, schools, community agencies, the juvenile court system, civic leagues and youth groups throughout the city.

Libraries, for example, might be asked to display publications on sexuality and teen development. Churches and synagogues could give sermons on spirituality and sexuality. A teen health fair might be held at a shopping mall, where panel discussions on preventing teen pregnancy could be given.

The campaign is being spearheaded by the Portsmouth Better Beginnings Coalition, which works to prevent teen pregnancy in Portsmouth.

``Parents need support in their efforts to give children accurate information about sexuality,'' said Yvetta Grier, the coalition's teen-pregnancy prevention coordinator. ``So this is just an outlet for enabling parents to know what needs to be said, how it needs to be said and where they can go for the information.''

The Better Beginnings Coalition plans to make ``help cards'' that list community resources and agencies that target teens. The coalition also is looking into the possibility of billboard advertising.

``Anything that an agency or organization can do during the month of October to promote communications between parents and children, that's what we're looking at doing,'' Grier said.

The coalition has tried to sponsor parent-child communication workshops in the past, Grier said, ``but for whatever reason, parents don't show. So we've found this to be a real need.'' MEMO: For more information about ``Let's Talk'' month, call Yvetta Grier

at 397-4818.

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