No Sex, Safe Sex Coalition will seek funding

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Less than five months after a community ad hoc group was formed to address teen pregnancy in Worthington, the No Sex, Safe Sex Coalition has identified its mission and is preparing to seek funding for its cause.

Spearheaded by Nobles-Rock Community Health Services, the coalition of 23 members includes representatives of Worthington School District 518, both the Avera and Sanford clinics, agencies that work with pregnant teens, law enforcement and community members.

The mission of the No Sex, Safe Sex Coalition is to reduce the number of teen pregnancies by encouraging abstinence and alternative forms of birth control.

“We’re not abstinence only, but that has to be a piece of the puzzle, combined with comprehensive sex education, which includes contraception,” said Paula Anderson, NRCHS health educator, during a meeting of the coalition on Monday.

The coalition was formed in response to a growing number of teen pregnancies in the Worthington school district. In 2008 alone, 19 teens in the school district have given birth, with at least another 11 teens now pregnant. A 2006 statistic published by the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting showed Nobles County with the second highest rate of pregnancy among teens ages 15 to 19. Mahnomen County ranked first on the list.

“Our top two priorities are to work with the school, to help them get comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum … and to educate the public — parents, youths and community members — to talk early and often about sexuality,” Anderson said.

Those priorities are outlined in the coalition’s vision: for Nobles County youth to be sexually healthy by engaging adults, parents and youth in early and accurate communication about abstinence and safe sex practices.

“Ultimately, (we want) to reduce the number of teen pregnancies in Nobles County,” Anderson said. “We know it’s not going to happen overnight —we have to start from the ground up.”

Anderson said perceptions of sexuality have changed, and she hopes that more parents are not afraid to talk to their children about sex. Talking early to children, such as teaching them the proper names for body parts, will make it easier for them to talk about sex as the children get older.

The coalition has identified several areas of focus to take it through the next two years, including increasing education for parents and youths and securing funding.

NRCHS recently received a $5,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Education for sex education curriculum in the schools, and the coalition will request funding from the Worthington Regional Health Care Foundation in January.

Tags: teen pregnancy, news, teens, teenpregnancy, nosexsafesexcoalition, noblesrockcommunityhealthservices, worthington, district518, averaclinic, sanfordclinic