County health educators have planned a day of fun and information to help teenagers navigate the twists and turns of daily life — sex, drugs and driving.

“Kick Back at the Cole” will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 26 — the Saturday before school starts — at Cole Auditorium, on the campus of Richmond Community College in Hamlet.

Registration for those 13 to 19 will begin at 11, with speakers and activities to follow. Sheriff James E. Clemmons and new football coach Bryan Till of Richmond Senior High School will speak.

Teens may choose the information sessions they wish to attend. The day will focus on the dangers of smoking, drugs and driving. Participants will be able to drive a vehicle that simulates the experience of driving drunk.

Information on teen pregnancy also will be available. Students in Richmond County receive abstinence-only lessons in schools, but the event will reach beyond the school curriculum, into preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Each attendee will receive a voucher for a free lunch, but food also will be available for purchase. Those registering first each will receive a goodie bag stuffed with candy, a T-shirt and knick-knacks.

A deejay will provide music, and games — including corn hole and basketball tournaments — will allow participants to vie for prizes. Attendees also will be able to play “pretty much every game there is” on a traveling video game truck, said organizer Laine Floyd of the Richmond County Health Department.

Floyd teaches eighth-grade sex education in local schools. She said the event is grant financed, so it can offer more information than teens can receive in school.

According to the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics, 60 births to mothers aged 15 to 19 occurred in Richmond County in 2015, the latest year for which statistics are available. Fourteen of those mothers were 15 to 17 years old; 46 were 18 or 19. The percentage of repeat pregnancies was nearly 32 percent.

All of that makes Richmond County 15th of 100 counties in births to teens.

The number of chlamydia and gonorreah cases for the entire population were 367 and 99, respectively. Both sexually transmitted diseases are most common among those 15 to 24.

Reach reporter Christine Carroll at 910-817-2673.

William R. Toler | Daily Journal “Kick Back at the Cole” will feature information sessions for teens focused on drugs, driving and teen pregnancy.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_rubbers.jpgWilliam R. Toler | Daily Journal “Kick Back at the Cole” will feature information sessions for teens focused on drugs, driving and teen pregnancy.

By Christine S. Carroll

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