OCTOBER IS LET’S TALK MONTH

(Washington, D.C.) – During Let’s Talk Month parents, champions and those with young people in their lives are encouraged to seek and engage them in important conversations regarding sex, love and relationships. Here are five compelling reasons why these conversations cannot wait:

1. Young people age 15-24 acquire half of all new STIs and one in four sexually active adolescent females has an STI, such as chlamydia or human papillomavirus (HPV), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
2. From 2015–2017, approximately 40% of adolescents age 15–19 reported having had sexual intercourse.
3. Fewer than half of high schools and only a fifth of middle schools in the U.S. teach all 16 topics recommended by the CDC as essential components of sex education.
4. Per the data, from 2011–2013, 43% of adolescent females and 57% of adolescent males did not receive information about birth control before they had sex for the first time.
5. A Power to Decide survey released in 2018 showed that more than one-third (34%) of respondents said that as teens they learned about sex from pornography.

Parents and champions are the primary resource young people look to for information on sex, love and relationships, yet these conversations are challenging to have. Below are helpful tips to help spark the conversation and support a young person’s power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child:

1. Make note of your values, beliefs and understandings about sex, love and relationships.
2. Use “teachable moments” to start the conversation.
3. Define and discuss the meaning of love and what indicates a healthy relationship.
4. Share a story.

For more information about Let’s Talk Month, go here.

Power to Decide is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to ensure all people—no matter who they are, where they live or what their economic status might be—have the power to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child. Please visit us at www.PowerToDecide.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.