A UNIQUE APPROACH TO IMPACT

RISKY TEEN BEHAVIORRecommendations made from the latest research on how parents and youth can

thrive throughout the teen years.

Shoulder to Shoulder Collaboration:

Dakota County Public HealthMinneapolis Department of Health and Family Support

Hennepin County Community Health Department St. Paul – Ramsey County

Department of Public HealthBloomington Health Division, City of Bloomington

Washington County Dept. of Public Health & Environment University of Minnesota Extension Service

Minnesota Institute of Public Health

Objectives Look at the research on parenting practices and ways to

support positive parenting of teens. Demonstrate how we integrated the learnings from Raising

Healthy Teens, a study conducted by QED Consulting and Multicultural Issues.

To provide the information about the Shoulder to Shoulder parent information/social marketing campaign.

Funding provided by:

Youth Risk Behavior (YRB) Grant & YRB/TANF Grant.

What Is Social Marketing?

A way to change social behaviors of target groups that benefits them personally and benefits society as a whole

Requires understanding of the unique needs of the target group

Borrows strategies from commercial marketing to sell ideas, attitudes or behavior

Relies on research to determine how messages are formed and delivered

Think Lifelong Health

THE CHALLENGES COME FROM RISKY BEHAVIORS SUCH AS:

Tobacco Use Drinking Alcohol Drug Abuse Sexual Activity Poor Nutrition

When parents and other adults help teens avoid these risks, When parents and other adults help teens avoid these risks, they are setting the stage for lifelong health.they are setting the stage for lifelong health.

The teen years are some of the healthiest years of human life.

Violence (physical fighting, use of weapons or dating violence)

Unintentional accidents (car or motorcycle crashes, sports injuries, or bicycle accidents)

Teens will live up to our expectations Positive or Negative...

WHAT WE KNOW NOW Problem behavior, family conflict,

and psychological problems are no more common in adolescence than in any other time

Parents who have strong connections with their teens really do have influence on their teens, peer pressure is overrated

Parenting style matters – Positive Parenting works best

WHAT WE USED TO BELIEVE ABOUT ADOLESCENCE

The teen years are full of conflict and rebellious behavior

Peers are more influential than parents

Parents need to crack down or give up in order to survive

Positive Parents...

NURTURENURTURE by being supportive, warm and encouraging

DISCIPLINEDISCIPLINE by teaching how to behave, set and enforce limits, and monitor behavior

RESPECTRESPECT by encouraging teens to develop their own opinions and beliefs, model civility and allow privacy

DisciplineDisciplineNurtureNurture

RespectRespect

POSITIVE PARENTINGis warm, supportive and encouraging while being firm, consistent and clear with limits and boundaries.

HIGH Nurturance HIGH Expectations HIGH Respect

DOMINATING PARENTING is harsh, punitive and rigid.

LOW Nurturance HIGH Expectations LOW Respect

PERMISSIVE PARENTING is inconsistent enforcement of rules, or no rules at all and a need to be a pal, more than a parent.

HIGH Nurturance LOW Expectations MODERATE Respect

UNENGAGED PARENTING is inconsistent presence in a child’s life - teens raise themselves.

LOW Nurturance LOW Expectations LOW Respect

Positive Parenting is Ideal

“I really want to enjoy parenting my teen. It’s important for them to fit in and have what they want, and not have too many rules. We

get along better that way.”

“It’s time to let go now that my child’s grown up. It’s

time to get my needs met. He can take care of himself.”

“I’m important in my teen’s life. We have some good times and some bad times, but I’m

there for the long run.”

“I need to really clamp down now that he’s a teen..

If you give him an inch, he’ll take a mile”

Positive Parents Provide LIMITS, Give clear RULES & BOUNDARIES while

ENCOURAGING INDEPENDENCE...

RESEARCH SAYS:

Teens raised by POSITIVE parents: Do better in school Have lower rates of

depression and stress Are less likely to engage

in risky behavior

Positive parenting has been shown to be the most effective parenting style. Positive parenting has been shown to be the most effective parenting style. This is true across different cultural, racial and economic groups.This is true across different cultural, racial and economic groups.

Have better social skills Are more respectful Deal better with conflict

What we learned Parents know what they need to do, but don’t feel

competent and supported in parenting teens Parents want to connect with other parents of

teens – we need to help make this happen Transition times – such as the move from

elementary school to middle school - are prime opportunities to reach parents

Keep the information simple, keep it real and have it available when they need it.

Remind parents over and over that they really do make a difference it their teen’s life

Key messages for parents

Most teens navigate the teen years quite well – often these years are harder on parents

Communication between parents and teens is key to success

Parents need to connect with other parents to create a community of support and to agree on similar rules for teens.

Parents are the biggest protective factor when they parent with love, limits and respect.

Campaign Objectives

Raise awareness of the Shoulder to Shoulder campaign and its available resources, with key audiences: parents and caregivers.

Educate – and ultimately influence – parents and caregivers about positive parenting techniques.

Establish a relationship between Shoulder to Shoulder and community partners to extend the life of the campaign beyond initial funding.

Developing the

Campaign

Forming the Campaign

Hired Weber Shandwick/Campbell Mithun to develop a social marketing campaign

based on: Research from the focus groups Research on adolescent development and

health

There is no best way to share messages with parents

Different messages in different communities Culturally specific messages in communities

of color Use ethnic media and members of the

community in design and delivery Traditional and non-traditional

Parents as Experts

A Paradigm Shift Parents value each other over experts Experts as facilitators and coaches Experts should build natural parent leaders

A Grassroots Approach

Build parent support networks – making use of natural leaders

Build community alliances to test and deliver a social marketing campaign

Campaign Tools Web Site – www.shouldertoshoulderminnesota.org Parent Booklet – Raising Teens Together (in English and

Spanish) Posters One page handouts Thriving With Your Teen PowerPoint Wallet Cards, Magnets INFO-U Messages in four languages (English, Hmong,

Somali, Spanish) Put copies of Helping Youth Succeed (in Hmong) in libraries

and agencies for use with parents

Campaign Activities• Host meetings to introduce Shoulder to Shoulder • Distributed 58,000 Raising Teens Together booklets

to schools and agencies. Distributed 72,000 booklets to parents through direct mail.

• Promote First Call for Help/211 as the Shoulder to Shoulder contact number.

• Used the media to promote Shoulder to Shoulder messages

• Used the web site to promote parent education opportunities

• Distributed Flash e-mail about parenting teens.

Tools for Organizations

Parent Booklet in English and Spanish Community Outreach Guide Campaign posters “Thriving with Your Teen” Power Point

All these resources are available on www.shouldertoshoulderminnesota.org

Be a partner in the Shoulder to Shoulder campaign!

Here’s How: Link to our web site Put our fact sheets and ads in your newsletters Offer the parent booklet to families you work with Offer opportunities for parents to gather and learn – promote on

the events section of our web site Encourage parents to sign up on the Shoulder to Shoulder e-mail

list to receive parenting tips and news about events Use the Thriving With Your Teen PowerPoint as a parent

education tool Display posters in your community

Discussion

How do you support parents in raising teens?

How can you get these messages out to the parents you work with?

FOR MORE INFORMATION…

Visit our web site:

www.shouldertoshoulderminnesota.org

Call: 1-800-543-7709 or 211

and ask for Shoulder to Shoulder

Questions