Tell Them

On Wednesday, the first Tell Them billboards went up in cities across South Carolina, urging passersby to “protect your rights” by visiting our website and taking action.

These billboards will be up through March, and can be found throughout Charleston and Columbia, with two boards in Clemson. Each board carries 1 of 3 messages:

•      – Birth Control is safe, effective and in serious jeopardy
•      – Some lawmakers want to outlaw birth control
•      – Don’t let contraceptives become contraband

We are urging members across the state to keep an eye out for these boards (not too much – we want you to be safe and watch the road!). You can follow the Tell Them billboard sightings on our FourSquare page.

And if you spot a board, PLEASE send in a picture and the location! We’re trying to track them all and need your help to keep the running tally!

Tell Themis working hard with students on KIB, the South Carolina Youth Council for Policy Change, to organize events, recruit new advocates and spread a message about responsible reproductive health policies. We have been all over the state!

Many campuses in South Carolina have been hosting a play called the Vagina Monologues., and KIB Council members have  been regular attendees. Maria Jackson, of the College of Charleston, and Tim Allen, of University of South Carolina, petitioned at showings of the play at their campuses, and worked to bring awareness about reproductive health abuse to their campus. 

Brittany Pack of Converse College organized a sexual health jeopardy event and Maja Myszkowski of Clemson hosted Clemson’s annual Sex in the 21st Century Series.  Both young ladies got to see what college students really know about sexual health in South Carolina. Many students were shocked that teenagers, ages 15-19, who do not use a contraceptive the first time they have sex are twice as likely to become mothers as teenagers who use a method.

This year let’s celebrate Women’s History Month by working for better reproductive health policies with Tell Them.  Please look out for events planned on your campus to get more involved, and invite our staff to give presentations to your class or group.

Tell Them

 The 10-member council includes students from colleges and universities across the state who will advocate for improvements in sexual health education.

Council members will work in partnership with Tell Them to build a coalition of college and community advocates that support age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education.

Members were selected through an application process and will serve a one-year term. In addition to receiving a monthly stipend, they will benefit from intensive training on leadership development, public speaking, writing, grassroots organizing and government affairs.

The Council’s formation comes at a critical time for South Carolina’s young people who face some alarming statistics: 3 in 10 young women in our state will get pregnant before age 20. One in five new HIV/AIDS cases reported in South Carolina is among people age 25 and under. And, youth ages 15-24 account for almost half of new sexually transmitted infection cases.

Student advocates will be tasked with beginning a dialogue among their peers on these issues. Research shows that frank conversation about personal responsibility, pregnancy prevention and family planning is the best way to reduce unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infection rates, including HIV/AIDS. The Council will be known on campuses as Knowledge Is Best (KIB), a name selected to underscore a core goal of arming students with the information they need to make wise health decisions.

The Council is the result of a recent grant to the Tell Them from the Washington, DC-based Advocates for Youth. Other states including Ohio, North Carolina and Georgia have received similar grants in the past and proven that this kind of youth activism can lead to substantive policy change.

College campuses are already working on making a difference by holding Tell Them events, speaking to campus groups, and holding events that promote awareness of these issues. College faculty and staff are listening and making an effort to stop this cycle by encouraging educational programs and events to talk about sexual health.  I recently attended Clemson’s  Women’s Studies mingle and spoke  with some wonderful professors and excited students about how we can start incorporating advocacy into some programs they are already organizing.  Dr. Elisa Sparks, Director of Women’s Studies at Clemson told me about a highly successful lecture series they host in the Spring called “Sex in the 21st Century”  where students ask candid questions about sex in order to make good healthy decisions.  Students walk away feeling educated, empowered, and in control of their own bodies and health.  This is a great program that Clemson has organized and something other colleges should look at doing on their campus.

Tell Them will continue to travel around the state visiting colleges hoping to find young leaders that can lead the charge on these issues. We can’t effect policy and reduce unintended pregnancy without the cultural knowledge and innovative thinking that college students bring to the table, so I invite you to come and volunteer with us at a local event, meet us for coffee, or host us at one of your events.  Stay tuned into the Buzz because, one of my favorite Tell Them events of the year is coming up: “Trick or Treating” (no, you are not to old!). Hope to be hearing from you soon!

This is getting really exciting! Kelly and I have been traveling around the state giving presentations about the march and meeting fantastic people. We’re trying to get some videos of our adventures up here for you to view, but we’ve been so busy that time is getting away from us.

As we begin the final 6 weeks of the Virtual March registration period (scary!!), Kelly and I are putting together our calenders and making plans, but we want to hear from YOU! Do you want to have Tell Them in your community? Have any ideas for fun videos or games we could offer? Want more information about the legislation or how the march is going?

We want to know, so please email or comment below.

Keep up the good work- forward the Virtual March to your friends and family. Get people to the website and sign up for the March!