• What is the Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body campaign?

  • Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body is a statewide teen health responsibility public awareness campaign funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health. It is part of an ongoing effort to increase Illinois adolescents' personal awareness of the risks of AIDS/HIV, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancy. The components of the campaign are designed to empower teens make responsible health decisions and abstain from high risk activities.

• What are the components of the campaign?
  • The main component of Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body is a series of six scenarios that will air as radio ads on select stations across the state. The ads focus on real-life situations that put many teens at risk for AIDS/HIV, STDs and unintended pregnancy. Each ad reveals a common risky situation where characters resolve the situation by making a responsible decision. The radio ads are designed to empower teens with the following messages:
    • It's OK not to have sex. It's not OK to have unprotected sex.
    • You have lots of social pressures on your behavior, but you can make a responsible decision that will keep you safe.
    • Using drugs or alcohol can create situations that put you at risk.
    • You are at risk if you have contact with another person's bodily fluids.
    • Each time you have sex with a new person, you are at risk; serial monogamy doesn't protect you.
    • You can minimize your risk by choosing responsible actions.

  • Supplemental brochures and posters also will be available in public places that are accessible to teens, such as neighborhood centers and runaway shelters. All components of the campaign will be in English and Spanish and will include the IDPH AIDS/HIV and STD Hotline, 1-800-243- 2437, which teens can call for more information. Calls are answered Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trained staff can provide information in English and Spanish. The hearing impaired can call the Department's TTY, 800-547-0466.

• Why was Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body chosen as the campaign theme?

  • Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body was chosen as the theme because it communicates an important message that resonates with teens: adolescents should respect themselves for acting on responsible decisions that protect their bodies from AIDS/HIV, STDs and unintended pregnancy. The words respect and protect empower teens to make responsible choices about their health and to abstain from risky activities.

• Why is the Illinois Department of Public Health focusing on adolescents?
  • Adolescents are constantly faced with situations that put them at risk for AIDS/HIV, STDs and unintended pregnancy. The need for a public awareness campaign addressing the issues of abstinence and prevention in Illinois teens is illustrated by the following statistics:
    • As of June 1998, a total of 5,406 cases of HIV infections have been reported in Illinois residents ages 20 to 29 – a group likely to have contracted the virus as adolescents.
    • In Illinois, 9,498 cases of chlamydia, 4,981 cases of gonorrhea and 106 cases of syphilis were reported last year in adolescents ages 10 to 19.

    • Almost 13 percent of all births in Illinois are to teens.

• What role did Illinois teens play in the development of the campaign?
  • Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body was created through the participation of hundreds of Illinois adolescents between 10 and 18 years of age.
    • A teen advisory panel of 30 Illinois teens between the ages of 10 and 18 played a key role in the development of all campaign materials, including the radio ad scenarios, printed materials and the creative theme. The panel included African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian teens from around the state.
    • More than 200 Illinois teens participated in mall intercept research across the state to test preliminary campaign concepts.
    • Feedback on campaign concepts was received from 100 high-risk adolescents in cooperation with 41 state-funded organizations.

    • Testiing of the radio ads with more than 150 Illinois teens found 91 percent thought the ads were easy to understand; 90 percent thought the situations presented in the ads could happen in real life; and 69 percent said the ads taught them ways to handle sticky situations.

• Where will the campaign be running?
  • Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body is a statewide campaign that will run through September. Campaign materials, including brochures and posters, will be available in public areas across the state such as local parks, malls, community centers and runaway shelters. The radio scenarios will air on stations across the state.

The following fact sheets on HIV/AIDS, STDs and unintended pregnancy are available: African-American Adolescents, Living in a High-risk Population: Hispanic Adolescents, Living in a High-risk Population : Adolescents at Risk, Statistics on HIV/AIDS, STDs and Unintended Pregnancy, Talking to Your Kids about HIV/AIDS, STDs and Unintended Pregnancy