INTERN: NYC Dept of Heath and Mental Hygiene

>
>
> New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported in
> 2006 that there were over 8,500 live births to teenagers ages
> fifteen to nineteen. In response to this, New York City Human
> Resources Administration Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE)
> is launching No Kidding: Straight Talk from Teen Parents. In this
> teen pregnancy prevention peer education program, teen parents
> share with high school students the challenges and responsibilities
> involved in being a young parent. The program discourages teen
> pregnancies by emphasizing the financial and emotional commitment
> needed to be a parent.
>
> To build on No Kidding OCSE wants to expand its teen pregnancy
> prevention efforts by leveraging technology, such as social
> networks (e.g. MySpace, FaceBook and YouTube). A study by the
> MacArthur Foundation reports that on a typical day, 60% of
> teenagers use the internet. Another study by the Pew Internet &
> American Life Project found that 91% of people under the age of 29
> use the internet, and that over half of online teens use social
> networks. We believe that we will be able to reach a far greater
> number of teens via the internet in social networks.
>
> What OCSE seeks assistance in developing and implementing a
> citywide strategy on how to engage teens on the issue of pregnancy
> prevention through social networks. This will require
> understanding what appeals to teen (content and which network), how
> to present information to them (games, surveys, trivia questions,
> videos, etc.), and designing and building the site.
>
> For more information contact:
>
> Udai Tambar
> Assistant Deputy Commissioner