Linda Levin
How Can We Help “At Risk Teens” make healthier choices?
October 5, 2009 - Scottsdale, AZ: Teenagers … every parent, teacher and educator knows that adolescents may experience turbulent times. It’s not easy being a teen. They are at risk by virtue of their age, biological and hormonal changes, and the fact that the frontal lobe (responsible for processing and decision making) is still not fully developed. Adolescence is a challenging time, due to multiple physiological and emotional factors, so every teen is potentially “at risk.” As more families are faced with hardships and more schools lose their budgets to fund programs, more teens may lack the support they need. With current drop-out, teen pregnancy, obesity and addiction risks, can we afford to let our future leaders fall through the cracks? According to Linda Levin, M.A, a teen advocate and family coach, the answer is “absolutely not!” This is why she volunteered her expertise to co-author the “Adolescent Health Promotion and Pregnancy Prevention” manual, pro-bono. Many schools and agencies use the manual and consider the step-by-step curriculum instrumental for teen guidance, nationwide. Unfortunately, there is a growing list of schools and agencies that want the manual, but that cannot afford it at $216.00, due to budget cuts. Linda Levin is on a one-woman crusade to find sponsors to purchase the manual and donate them as a gift. The statistics speak volumes and validate her plight.
• Nationally, nearly one million women under the age of 20 become pregnant every year or 2,800 per day.
• Teen child bearing costs U.S. tax payers $7 billion annually for social services and tax revenue
• 4 in 10 young women become pregnant at least once before the age of 20.
• 1 in 4 sexually active teens become infected with a sexually transmitted disease every year.
• Teen pregnancy is the number one reason girls drop out of school.
• The Unites States has a teen birth rate of 79.8 births per 1000 compared to other non-third world countries, such as France and Germany.
“When we quantify the statistical outcomes, it is easy to see how burdensome these issues and risks can be on the systems and families, across state-lines and federally,” Levin proclaimed.
Levin’s 25 years in the field as an educator, counselor and child-development specialist, and her dedication to family advocacy, have taken her on a nationwide journey to reduce teen pregnancy and help at-risk adolescents make appropriate, healthy choices in their lives. Her collaboration with schools, hospitals agencies and professionals have allowed Linda to help institute various approaches and help facilitate healthier outcomes for teens and their families.
The “Adolescent Health Promotion and Pregnancy Prevention” guide as featured at www.teenhealthmanual.com, outlines more than 350 educational lessons for middle and high-school students. The manual focuses on teen challenges and preventative strategies to address issues and create healthy, productive dialogues between adults and teens.
Linda just returned from Washington DC where she promoted the program to several national organizations. She considers her outreach a public service and duty because it helps her fulfill a personal mission - to extend her reach and help more teens, families and communities.
Here is a list of several organizations in need: Child HELP U.S.A, Healthy Start programs, Schools in many districts and charter schools. Donations would help get the manuals into the right hands and help navigate teens in the right directions. In addition, donors will receive a tax deduction for their contribution.
“This material is relevant not only to health and educational institutions - but to parents and peers. It is my hope and personal mission to touch the lives that will benefit from this program and my expertise,” Linda stated. “I just would like to facilitate getting the manuals and curriculum into the hands of the professionals that need it and can implement it, she said”
Please contact Linda Levin at linlevin@cox.net or 602-615-6180 to purchase and donate a manual.
