Nicole Lanzilli

Emerson Middle School

LanzilliN@mville.edu

“I wonder if anyone will notice. I wonder if my mom will notice. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I thought I was making the right choices. I told him to use protection; I told him that I was scared. But no, he once again got the best of me and my morals. I believed him when he said it would be better without it. I believed him when he said, “Baby, nothing can go wrong. I love you.” How wrong he was. What am I going to do? How am I going to start the 8^th grade pregnant?”

All over the world, there are many teenage girls replaying the same thoughts over and over in their minds. Teen pregnancy is an issue that is becoming more and more apparent over time. Unfortunately, there are girls as young as 14 that are now making the poor decision to have unprotected sexual intercourse. As a student at Emerson Middle School, you are one of about 800. Without even realizing it, you walk throughout the halls amongst young adolescent girls who are struggling to hide the incorrigible effects of one mistake.

Teenage pregnancy is only one of the many effects of unsafe sex practices. Your task is to compose an article for the Emerson newspaper addressing the following questions: How do unsafe sex practices affect the lives of young adolescents and what policies can we develop to prevent this problem? You must use the Public Policy Analyst, PPA, process to complete your article. Remember, your input is both advantageous and valuable. Your awareness and knowledge could be the driving force that saves today’s youth.

To complete your article, you must follow the Public Policy Analyst procedure. The PPA process consists of the following 6 components. Use the information links to read about each step in the procedure. This will assist you in understanding your task.

· Define the problem- Information on Defining the Problem

· Gather evidence- Information on Gathering Evidence

· Identify causes of the problem- Information on Identifying Causes

· Evaluate existing public policies on the problem- Information on Evaluating Existing Policies

· Develop original policy solutions- Information on Developing Solutions

· Choose the best solution- Information on Choosing the Solution

Listed below are websites that contain worksheets for each component of the PPA procedure. Click on the links and complete each worksheet to help you summarize and organize your findings.

1. Define the problem
2. Gather evidence
3. Identify causes of the problem
4. Evaluate a policy
5. Develop solutions
6. Select the best solution

Below you will find selected articles to help get you started with your research. Remember, the four articles are a starting point. They will help you get an idea as to what you should be looking for. Your resources are NOT limited to the four sources. Use any means of information for your newspaper article. (I.e. internet search engines, encyclopedias, newspaper articles, etc)

Sexuality and U – Student Health Centre

Emergency Contraception – Irish Family Planning Association

Sexually Transmitted Diseases – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

STDs – Urology Channel

The following list of search engines will assist you in gathering additional information for your task:

• www.google.com
• www.askjeeves.com
• www.yahoo.com
• www.altavista.com

You will be graded on your use and completion of the PPA procedures and worksheets, and the quality and organization of your newspaper article. Use the following 4 point rubric as your guide:

Rubric

Young Adolescents and Unsafe Sex Practices

Newspaper Article

Ms. Lanzilli

Student Name ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Organization	Information is very organized and follows a newspaper article format.	Information is organized and follows a newspaper article format.	Information is organized, but does not follow a newspaper article format.	The information appears to be disorganized.
Public Policy Analysis	All six steps of the PPA are addressed and all six worksheets are correctly completed.	All six steps of the PPA are addressed and most of the worksheets are completed correctly.	Almost all of the PPA steps are addressed and the worksheets need improvement.	Missing PPA steps and worksheets are incomplete.
Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

Congratulations! Now that you have conducted all of your research, you have successfully completed the 6 steps of the Public Policy Analyst procedure! You are now an expert on the effects of unsafe sex practices on young adolescents and you have also thoroughly investigated ways in which these consequences can be avoided. Don’t stop here. Continue your research and help others become aware of the long and short-term problems surrounding the issue of unsafe sex among middle school students. Feeling more ambitious? Examine other social problems in your surrounding area. Use the PPA procedure when performing and gathering research regarding these social problems. Remember, you too can make a difference.