On Tuesday June 23, ABC aired a special entitled “Primetime Family Secrets: Teen Pregnancy.” The special addressed the effects teen pregnancy has on the lives of teenage mothers and young couple. The program presented three specific stories each addressing one of the variety of issues that teenage mothers face. The first story was that of 14-year-old Mahogany who has the goal of being the first person in her family to graduate from college. Like many teenage mothers, Mahogany has little support from the father of the baby however she is committed to her plans for fulfilling her dream of graduating from college. The second story discusses Hannah; the self-proclaimed all American girl who was shocked to find out she was pregnant. Hannah’s story focused on the issue of the increased risk of medical complications associated with teen pregnancy and the different effects of teen pregnancy on a teen mother’s life style as opposed to that of a teen father. The final story was that of Jeremy who, because of his father’s absence in his life, had a heartfelt goal of being in his young son’s life no matter what. His story addresses how a relationship between teenage parents can quickly be torn apart. Jeremy and the mother of his son faced the realities of a relationship that began as a fairy tale but is quickly tattered by the difficulties of being a teenage parents trying to meet their everyday needs of sustainability that many teenage parents face. The special also addressed the issues of teenage abortion, adoption, and sex education practices in the United States.

Though the program did address several issues that we see among the teen parents at the PARTNRS, I don’t believe that it fully addressed the hardships of the day-to-day life of a being a teenage parent, which include emotional and financial hardships. More particularly, the special did not fully address the hardship of balancing schoolwork, taking care of a child, and being able to financially support a child. The special also did not touch on the treatment of pregnant teens by their peers, particularly after the baby is born. Also, although the program touched on the issue of absentee teen fathers, it did not fully address the fact that many teenage fathers are physically and psychologically divorced from the pregnancy, which typically does not affect their day-to-day lives.

Despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed the special because it brought to light the alarming rate of teen pregnancy in the United States.

Primetime Family Secrets: Teen Pregnancy

~Danielle

I would like to officially welcome Danielle LeePow to the PARTNRS team as our first PARTNRS Summer Internship and Research Training Program participant.  Danielle joins us from Howard University, where she is a rising sophomore pursuing a major in sociology.  In 2008, Danielle competed in the Young Epidemiologist Scholars (YES) Competition, sponsored by the College Board and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She was named a National Finalist, ranking seventh among over 550 applicants, for her work with research regarding self esteem and sexual activity among African American adolescent girls.   

Originally from Atlanta, Danielle has also served a peer educator at an Atlanta AIDS service organization. Dr. Quinn Gentry, an Instructor of Sociology at Emory University and Danielle’s YES competition mentor, describes her work with Danielle when “Danielle was volunteering as an HIV prevention youth advocate at a critical time in HIV/AIDS history when the burden of the disease had disproportionately shifted to her generation. Danielle quickly stood out as a ‘leader among leaders’ as she boldly spread messages of HIV prevention that were practical and realistic for her peers.”

PARTNRS is excited to have Danielle join PARTNRS as a full member of the research team for the summer of 2009.  Danielle will be gaining hands-on experience in community-based public health research, recruiting and interviewing young adolescent couples during their transition to parenthood.  In addition to her work in the field, Danielle will also be boosting her research skills and conducting an investigation of her own, using preliminary findings from PARTNRS baseline interviews with couples. 

Danielle will be lending us insight into her experience as a summer intern as a regular PARTNRS blogger!  Stay posted!

~Anna

I am pleased to announce that PARTNRS recently received American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds from the NIH for a summer internship and training program for students.  Over the next 2 summers, PARTNRS will host both college students and previous PARTNRS participants that are students in a competitive 10 week paid internship and training program designed to provide students with hands-on research experience and the skills to help launch them into scientific research careers.  PARTNRS Principal Investigator, Trace Kershaw, noted that the program “provides both short-term and long-term assistance for students by employing students in the summer, providing immediate economic help among a population in need, and long-term by providing marketable skills that will aid students in pursuing education and future employment.”

Stay tuned to hear about the students that we select for the program and what they are up to this summer!

~Anna