engage young people and help them to personalize the information • Approaches to teaching and learning that are appropriate to young people's age, experience, and cultural background • Teachers who believe in what they are saying and have access to support, in the form of training or consultation, with other sex educators. Formal programs that contain these elements have been shown not only to increase young people's level of knowledge about sex and sexuality, but also to raise the 3 average age at which they first have sexual relations, thereby decreasing their risk factors (Avert, 2009). In addition, effective relationship education is supported by links to sexual health services and takes into account the message about values and behaviors young people get from other sources, such as friends and the media. There are, in fact, a number of programs and strategies that were developed and implemented at various schools and school districts for use across the nation. However, only a few of these programs and strategies had sufficient evaluation components to provide meaningful data (Elliot & Okwumabua, 1998). Elliot and Okwumabua (1998) evaluated a program called, “Let the Circle Be Unbroken: Rite of Passage.” The program involved an adaptation of socialization processes frequently observed in African cultures, which openly acknowledge the necessity of formally assisting adolescents in the transition from childhood to adulthood. According to Elliot and Okwumabua (1998), the rite of passage from an AfricanAmerican point of view is meant to train the young person for a new stage of life. Training in this context refers to educating teens about teen pregnancy and follows the premise that as teenagers mature, they can become productive and responsible members of society. This process, however, does not include becoming a teen mother on welfare or social programs. The program began with targeting pregnant African-American teens and then moved into social skills and decision-making. The researchers concluded one of the factors that placed teenagers at risk was a lack of involvement, even concern, about their own educational future. This suggests that a program that helps teenagers think about and plan for their future and their education may help them to resist engaging in behaviors, such as inappropriate activity, that may put that future at risk. 4 A later study found even fewer programs have published results on the efficacy of their intervention or have not provided data on behavioral outcomes (Kirby, 2007). Further, many of the approaches that have been utilized do not appear to have considered the impact of race, gender, or socioeconomic status on adolescent pregnancy outcomes (Meyer, 2001). Whether a program is effective may depend greatly on how the message is delivered and perceived by the intended population. Because teenage pregnancy is a serious problem in American society there have been a number of studies regarding the rate of teen pregnancies, their causes or contributing factors, and prevention (D'Angelo, Gilbert, Rochat, Santelli, & Herold, 2004; Focus Adolescent Service, 2008). Although there are various programs throughout the nation designed to address the problem of teen pregnancy, the information changes so rapidly it becomes difficult to have current data. The U.S. has an unacceptably high rate of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Programs funded by the U.S. government are currently addressing these infections. With pregnancy rates rising among American teenagers, specifically African American teenagers, it becomes difficult to determine the success rate of these programs due to the lack of current data ranging from 2009 to 2012. According to Kirby (2007) in a report on new research findings on programs to reduce teen pregnancy and Focus Adolescent Service (2008), there are a number of reasons why teenage girls become pregnant. The more important of these include: • Lack of education on right and wrong birth control methods • Belief this is a way to rebel against parents 5 • Lack of emotional fulfillment at home • Contraceptive failure or human error • Belief that becoming pregnant is a way to exercise control over one’s life • Belief that having inappropriate relations or becoming pregnant will keep a boyfriend from leaving • Cultural values that support early pregnancy. Such factors suggest that communication skills and relationship education might be powerful factors in reducing teen pregnancy. It also indicates that many girls are not educated about methods of birth control and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having premarital relations. In addition, the list shows that pregnant teens may lack awareness of the central facts of sexuality. Research suggests that poor self-esteem may be a factor that places teenage girls at risk of becoming pregnant out of wedlock. For example, pregnant teenage girls have been found to have a lower self-concept in relation to moral, family and social dimensions. One of the causative reasons is that families do not have an influence over the teen (Miller, 1998). This was supported by the findings of Meade, Kershaw, and Ickovics (2008), who conducted a study on girls who became