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Planned Parenthood

December 18, 2011 by · Comments Off on Planned Parenthood 

Planned Parenthood, I have always loved the premise behind not teaching sex education in school – parents should be doing the educating at home. Going to their parents is not at the top of the list when teens have questions about sex. There’s a creep factor to having one’s mother explain how babies are made – you know, the “eewww, you and Daddy?” factor.

So, too many kids learn about sex from their friends, or from watching movies which tend to distort the event. Planned Parenthood has a better idea.

On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood launched a text-messaging service called “In Case You’re Curious.” ICYC. All a teen needs is a cell phone.

Alison Macklin, director of community education for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, explained the service. “We always encourage youth to have conversations with their parents, but we also recognize that not everyone has that ability. We’re not trying to take the place of those conversations, of them providing firsthand knowledge, but rather we’re providing a way to help answer questions.”

ICYC is part of the Denver Teen Pregnancy Prevention Partnership, which was stared in the Denver Public Schools in 2007. It was taken over by Planned Parenthood last year. In the program, teens text their questions, the Planned Parenthood staff answers those questions, in 160 characters or less, within 24 hours. Since Planned Parenthood took over the program, they have fielded 500 questions. They hope to double that next year.

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