To ensure you’re receiving the most up-to-date and accurate information, please choose the correct agency from the homepage. The DHEC website is no longer being updated and will be permanently unavailable Dec. 31, 2024.
Sexuality
- Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices About Sex (CDC)
- Teen Health is an interactive website for teens and parents . It provides information on a wide variety of topics affecting adolescents. Some of the content under For Teens includes Your Body, Your Mind, Food and Fitness, Staying Safe, How Can I Quit Smoking?, Drugs and Alcohol , and others.
- Girl's Health covers many of the above topics, but just for girls.
- The South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was founded in 1994 to respond to concerns in SC and across the country about high rates of teen pregnancy. Since that time, the Campaign has been the only organization in SC that works in all 46 counties, exclusively focused on the reduction of teen pregnancy.
- Bright Futures is a national promotion dedicated to the principle that every child deserves to be healthy. This is their Adolescence Tip Sheet for parents.
- Carolina Teen Health provides accurate and reliable sexual reproductive health information for SC teens.
- SC DHEC Teen Services lists services provided at local health departments.
- How Pregnancy Happens/ Reproductive Anatomy/ Abstinence/ Contraceptive Methods (DHEC) [ Spanish ]
- Your Family Planning Visit (DHEC)
- Know the Facts and Protect Yourself Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases (DHEC)
Tobacco, Drugs, Alcohol
E-cigarettes/vaping/JUUL
Smokeless Tobacco/Chew/Dip
Quitting
- Smokefree Teen
- SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW)
Education
Preventing Accidents, Injuries
- Safe Kids is dedicated to ending preventable childhood injuries, the leading causing of death and disability for children and teens. The website provides information and resources for parents and professionals. Check out the 13 local Safe Kids coalitions located across SC.
- Together We Can Prevent Injuries (DHEC)
- Vital Visibility Cycling Safely (DHEC)
- Children's Safety Network has a National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center. This is their fact sheet for unintentional injury and violence in SC.
- SC Status of Injury Data Report
- SC Injury County Profile Report
Runaways
- National Runaway Switchboard provides information for runaway youth and those concerned about them.
Parents, make sure to view the Tips Page on how to handle certain situations with your teen.
Bullying
- StopBullying.gov provides information for teens, parents, and communities on how to prevent or stop bullying.
Online Safety
- On Guard Online helps parents and teens learn why and how to be safe online.
- CDC's Adolescent Health Publications and Resources An extensive list of resources related to Adolescent Health issues.
- National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth develops articles, publications, podcasts, and other tools that focus on youth and family issues.
- Konopka Institute is inspired by the pioneering work of Dr. Gisela Konopka. The Institute's goal is to get reliable information into the hands of everyone who is in a position to help adolescents.
- The National Network of State Adolescent Health Coordinators (NNSAHC) is an organization that unites Title V State Adolescent Health Coordinators who are responsible for coordinating an Adolescent Health program/policy direction.
Obesity, General Health
Vaccines
Poverty, Homelessness
- Campaign to End Child Homelessness was launched by The National Center on Family Homelessness in 2009. This website shows South Carolina's Report Card regarding our homeless youth.
- National Center for Children in Poverty produced this Adolescent Profile for SC as part of their Improving the Odds for Adolescents project. They also have Fact Sheets available.
Youth Surveillance Data for SC
- Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has published the South Carolina 2009 and United States 2009 results of the High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
- Kids Count Data Center website provides data access to hundreds of measures of child well-being.