Girls Inc. Hosts Teen Pregnancy Prevention Carnival

LYNN — Girls Inc. of Boston and Lynn partnered with Teen Health Ambassadors to host a fun and informative teen pregnancy prevention carnival.

Natalie Martinez, CEO of Girls Inc. of Boston and Lynn, said a staff member who runs the nonprofit's Healthy Sexuality program came up with the idea.

“The idea is to host a community event that not only promotes learning about how to prevent pregnancy, as well as STD (sexually transmitted disease) prevention, and to have healthy, positive conversations about interactions with your partners,” Martinez said.

While she is still waiting to receive final data, Martinez said that based on what she and her team have collected from surveys, the number of teen pregnancies has increased in the city since 2022.

“It's really an opportunity to bring the community into the building and, like I said, talk about these really important issues that are kind of plaguing our youth today,” Martinez said. “We know the city has faced this challenge over the years, and this healthy sexuality program has been very closely linked to tackling the number of teenage pregnancies. »

The Tuesday night carnival was open to all the teens in town and featured all the classics: popcorn, cotton candy, bounce houses, water balloons and carnival games.

It also included educational stations, where Girls Inc. staff covered a variety of topics related to teen pregnancy and prevention.

“When you focus the fun on the kids, it helps convey the messages you’re trying to convey to them,” Martinez said. “It’s just a new way to present the material to them.”

Starting in the fall, Martinez said the Healthy Sexuality program will be in every middle and high school in the city.

“It's really good to know that we're going to be in every school to hopefully start to combat that statistic,” Martinez said.