Statewide Chair Mary McLellan Heritage Community Services Regional Chairs Mariscia Cooper (Pee Dee) Charlie Lybrand (Lowcountry) Lenna Neill (Upstate) Rev. Randy Riddle (Grand Strand) Dr. Roger Rollins (CSRA) Charlotte Valentine-Green (Ace Basin)   Advisory Council Eugene Bacote Darlington School District Dr. Vera Bailey Hilton Head Preg. Care Center Pamela Berry Colleton Fire and Rescue Dr. Vonda Calcutt Lowcountry Ctr. Diabetes Sen. Chip Campsen Charleston/Berkeley Rev. Chuck Coward Charleston Outreach Robin Crosby Colleton County Ligure Ellington Ret.Capt. Charleston City Police Dr. Randy Goings Chiropractic Physician Faye Hill Lowcountry Pregnancy Center & SC Association Pregnancy Care Centers WC Hoecke Fatherhood Practioner Leroy Lewis Upward Bound at Cof C Norman L. Moore, Jr. Colonel, USAFR(Ret) Cyndi Mosteller Comm. for Higher Education Alexia Newman Carolina Pregnancy Center Fred Payne Marriage Savers of Upstate Jerry & Barbara Seymour R& R Marriage Min. Ronald Shoupe Colleton County Dr. A. V. Strong A Better Way, Inc. (Gang Out) Dr. Robert Thomas Pulmonary Medicine Pastor Phil Thrailkill St. Luke UMC Hartsville Kelly Walker Upstate Fatherhood Coalition	August 6, 2010 SC Healthy Family Formation Coalition E-News!     Parent Fears Parents tell us they FEAR the sexualization of girls, the pornification of our culture and its impact on their kids. Yet, many teens are put on auto-pilot with little direction from their parents.   Recent Adolescent Brain Research tells us that young brains are not fully developed until the mid-twenties!   Allowing teens to ‘hang out’ without parental supervision is risky even when they live in ‘good’ neighborhoods.   The current issue of Criminology reports that “Parents are better off assuming that more structure is better for their teens.” In addition, “Communities need both the shared willingness to control adolescent behavior in public space and the capacity to provide adolescents with options other than unsupervised ‘hanging-out’”.   We also know that when teens ‘hang-out’ with sexually active peers, they are more likely to engage in early sexual behavior themselves. (Medical Institute)    Empowering Parents Parents can benefit from support systems or social networks. Research entitled Social Relationships and Mortality Risks found that joining a social network can be healthy and may actually improve the odds of survival by 50%!    Social networking is far more than Facebook and Twitter!  The ‘renewed’ and best social networking takes place face-to-face at public forums, church, work and community events.    “When someone is connected to a group and feels responsibility for other people, that sense of purpose and meaning translates to taking better care of themselves and taking fewer risks.”   Thus, one reason for the popularity of the “Tea Party Movement”. Ordinary, uninvolved citizens are no longer content to sit and fret. They are now getting together to talk about their concerns and how they can to make a difference in their communities.   This month, Heritage Keepers® and SCHFF Coalition are hosting Stakeholder Luncheons in Charleston, Florence and Greenville.  These are social networking opportunities for you to become informed and empowered so that you can personally advocate for Healthy Family Formation initiatives in your area.    Why not become part of the solution?     Follow the SC-HFF Coalition on Twitter! Join the Heritage Keepers® Facebook Cause
	The South Carolina Healthy Family Formation Coalition (SC HFF Coalition) is organized and staffed by Heritage Community Services. The SC HFF Coalition promotes child and family well-being by providing opportunities for statewide communication about such issues as: adolescent pregnancy, unwed childbearing, fatherlessness, sexual exploitation of our youth, dating violence and domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, gang activity and youth violence.    Coalition members support healthy family formation initiatives that integrate character-based life skills, teen pregnancy prevention with an emphasis on abstinence-centered education, and the importance of fidelity-within-marriage.   Together we can impact our culture so that forming healthy families becomes a norm, rather than the exception, for South Carolina. Please, forward this E-News to interested friends, family and colleagues and ask them to consider joining the Coalition. Join/Subscribe Unsubscribe PRIVACY POLICY: Information you share will never be sold, rented, or given to any third party. Contact Mary McLellan , Statewide Chairman (843)654-7740 ext.122