These are three of the many hard-hitting myths about sex and teen pregnancy that The Women's Fund of Mississippi seeks to dispel with their new campaign of PSAs produced by Synthetic Pictures and director Richard Sears. The spots will start airing on 10/01/2012 in theaters, TV, print and radio throughout Mississippi.
Teen pregnancy is a hot topic in the state of Mississippi. According to Becky Gillette, a staff writer at The Cleveland Current, “One third of all Mississippi births are to teen mothers, and the rate of teen pregnancy in the state continues to increase.” She also notes that roughly 83 percent of teen pregnancies are unintended.
The Women's Fund of Mississippi wants to open a dialogue between teenagers—both male and female—and their parents about the realities of teen pregnancy and how to prevent it. In order to draw the attention of Mississippi's voting populace, The Women's Fund notes that abstinence only programs are ineffective at reducing the number of teen pregnancies per year. Mississippi also has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country; teen pregnancies in the state cost Mississippi taxpayers more than $154.9 million per year according to a study performed by the Mississippi Economic Policy Center (MEPC) in 2009.
The MEPC reported in 2009 that nearly 7,100 infants were born to mothers under 20 years of age. One third of those births were from teenagers under the age of 17. The cost of these unintended pregnancies (mostly due to a lack of proper sexual education) to Mississippi tax payers is astronomical. Mississippi loses taxable revenue due to lower wages, the increased cost of foster care, and public assistance being made available to teenagers who are unable to care for their infant on their own.
Through their PSAs, The Women's Fund of Mississippi hopes to educate teenagers and their parents about the fundamental importance of having well-balanced sex-ed programs which teach both abstinence and how to practice safe sex through the use of various birth control methods. Sex-ed programs should also be taught in a way which educates teenagers about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases such as genital warts and chlamydia. The abstinence-only state of sexual education in Mississippi fails to properly educate teenage students about the prevention and treatment of STDs and STIs.
About The Women's Fund of Mississippi:
The organization is dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls all over Mississippi by promoting social change and economic self-sufficiency through advocacy and strategic grantmaking. For more information, please go to http://www.womensfundms.org/
General Contact Information
Company Name: Women's Fund of Mississippi
Address:
Women’s Fund of Mississippi
120 North Congress Street,
Suite 903
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
Website: http://www.womensfundms.org/
Company Name:
Synthetic Pictures
Address: 1110 N. Hudson Ave.
Phone Number: 323.462.1292
Website: http://www.syntheticpictures.com/
Social Networking Information
Donations: http://www.womensfundms.org/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/
