In order to:
- Strengthen a culture of personal responsibility regarding sex, getting pregnant, and bringing children into the world, as well as strengthening the practice of always using contraception when you aren’t ready to have a child;
- Support responsible policies that will increase the use of contraception, particularly by those who cannot afford it and by those at greatest risk for having an unplanned pregnancy; and
- Provide more education to teens, parents, and young adults in their 20s that encourages them to take sex and pregnancy seriously, stresses personal responsibility and respectful relationships, and includes extensive information about contraception
We do the following:
- Change the way the public views the problem: We work with policymakers, the news media, state and local leaders, and other influential sectors to underscore the scope of the teen and unplanned pregnancy problem and the very strong connection between preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy and improving overall child and family well-being.
- Develop, produce, and disseminate a wide range of materials—from cutting edge research to posters, postcards, public service announcements and a host of new media activities.
- Encourage careful, consistent use of family planning by all who are sexually active and not seeking pregnancy.
- Encourage responsible, healthy relationships among young adults to help them achieve their future family and career goals.
- Support practical, evidence-based polices that advance our mission.
- Support those working on teen and unplanned pregnancy in states and communities through regularly scheduled communications, personal visits, ongoing technical assistance, topic-specific national conference calls, conference presentations, and access to the latest research and information.
- Help parents: We work with media outlets and others to help convince parents of the critical role they have in helping shape their children’s decisions about sex.
- Educate policymakers: The National Campaign regularly advises national and state policymakers and their staff, and provides testimony on teen and unplanned pregnancy and related issues.
- Partner with the entertainment media: Through over 100 partnerships with top media outlets in television, print, and the Internet, The National Campaign works with media leaders to include prevention messages into the content of their work.
- Work with the press by providing them with the latest information, research, and statistics.
- Engage faith communities to encourage them to address directly the topics of pregnancy, child-bearing, and family formation within the context of their own faith traditions.
- Work directly with young people: More than 7,000 young people participate in our Youth Online Network, nearly 3 million have participated in our online National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, and members of our Youth Leadership Team meet with policymakers, the press, and others; help develop National Campaign materials; and serve as powerful advocates in their own communities.