Why do girls need Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy (PAP)?

In recent years, great strides have been made in reducing teen pregnancy rates. Unfortunately, less attention has been given to other risks associated with early and risky sexual behavior, namely infection of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

In the United States, 8,000 teens contract a new STD daily and 61% of young people 13-19 infected with HIV are women. Even more startling is the increase in the Human Papillomavirus (HPS) in recent years. HPV is 5 times more common than all other STDs and studies show that 46% of teenage girls contract HPV during their first sexual encounter. These statistics serve as proof that something must be done.

Educational programs for young women are a must, but they have to have a comprehensive approach to truly be effective. Most teens do not consider oral sex to be “sex” and nearly 1 in 4 female youth believe that they are not at significant risk of contracting an STD until they have been with more than 20 partners.

Special Thanks to our Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy (PAP) Sponsors

Our Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy (PAP) program educates girls not only on the risks and pitfalls of pregnancy, but also the dangers of early sexual activity, high risk behaviors and the realities of STD contraction through oral sex. If teens make up only 10% of the population in the United States, but acquire 25% of all STDs, something is horribly wrong.

Our PAP program is designed to help reduce the number of Metro Atlanta’s girls affected by this growing epidemic.

The Statistics

50% of all high school students have had sex by the time they graduate and between 12-20% have had 4 or more sexual partners.

In a national survey, 1 in 5 teens reported that oral sex is safe sex.

If a girl starts having sex before the age of 16, there is a 58% chance that she’ll have more than 5 partners.

HPV is directly linked to 99.7% of all cervical cancers.

Among young women who have had intercourse, 33% have never had a conversation about STDs with a partner.

Due to the vulnerability of the cervix during puberty, young women are more susceptible to STDs than young men. Because females are less likely to have detectable symptoms of STDs, and are less likely to be diagnosed early, they are more likely to experience long-term complications of STDs.

Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy (PAP)

The PAP program is broken down into four age-appropriate curricula:

• Growing Together (9-11 yrs.),
• Will Power/Won't Power (12-14 yrs.),
• Taking Care of Business (15-18yrs.); and
• Health Bridges (12-18 yrs).

Growing Together brings daughters and their parents together to candidly discuss anatomy, physiology, puberty, menstruation, feminine health and hygiene, reproduction, STDs, HIV/AIDS, parenthood, pregnancy, contraception and protection.

Will Power/Won't Power concentrates on the social and peer pressures that lead young women into early sexual activity and focuses on building skills to enable adolescents to confront these issues. Information, assertiveness training, and specifically saying "no" when pressured to have sex are features of this program.

Taking Care of Business is a curriculum of thought-provoking exercises that challenge teenage girls to think about their futures and develop skills needed for decision-making, values clarification, goal setting, self-evaluation, family planning, career research, and examining the reality of childbearing and STD contraction as a deterrent to achieving an independent, productive life in adulthood.

Health Bridges was added to give girls the opportunity to learn about whom they can talk to when they need help, specifically which types of doctors and agencies to turn to for information. Girls are helped to feel more comfortable about community-based health services, including testing and care, throughout their teenage years.