Parents can further assist Nevada's teen pregnancy prevention efforts by providing information and testimony to elected officials, especially during the 1997 Legislative Session. Parents can be effective advocates for teen health programs, providing articulate and compelling testimony. Their first-hand experiences should be made available to policy makers. Studies indicate that while the majority of Americans support programs that strive to improve adolescent health, they do not express their support. Americans, especially parents, need to begin to vocalize their support of adolescent health initiatives such as teen pregnancy prevention.
Parents embody the past, the present, and through their children, the future.
All parents have experienced adolescence and are empathetic to the pressures faced by their children. The input of parents is important to the development of effective, abstinence-based, teen pregnancy prevention strategies. The strategy should be age-appropriate and culturally sensitive. Parental responsibility and involvement in the education of children regarding sexuality, abstinence, and postponement of sexual involvement should not be lessened through the initiative. Rather than pushing parents away, Action Teams need to embrace and encourage parental involvement.