Pregnancy, Parenthood & Playtime

For the first time in a decade, the teen pregnancy numbers are going up, instead of going down like they have been. As an advocate for choice, and an even bigger advocate for education on preventing pregnancy, this is pretty alarming.

But not surprising considering most of these teens were the victim of the abstinence only education programs whose funding was greatly increased under the Bush Administration. Even though these programs have been proven to fail, increase teen pregnancy rates, and STD rates in the groups of teens who did not choose to abstain. It is not rocket science. If teens are not taught HOW to protect themselves through contraception, condoms, and other forms of pregnancy prevention, they will not know.

Sadly today, we cannot depend on parents to teach this. Many believe it is the school’s jobs, and some parents who think it is realistic for all teens to choose abstinence do not teach their children any other options other than, simply don’t do it.

But unfortunately for the teens today, most are not educated on parenting, pregnancy, teen parenting, and really what it takes to be a parent, and support a child.  A recent study that I read published through a CNN article showed the serious lack of education teens have regarding sex. Some of the alarming numbers from this survey :

• 63 percent said they knew little or nothing about birth control pills, and 30 percent said they had scant knowledge about condoms.
• 28 percent of men incorrectly believe they will get extra protection from wearing two condoms at once, a practice that actually leads to condom breakage.
• 18 percent of men wrongly believe that having sex standing up reduces the chance that they will get a female partner pregnant.
• 27 percent of women and 34 percent of men in the survey said serious health problems such as cancer are likely to result from using the pill or other hormonal contraceptives.
• Thirty-two percent said they agreed that “the government is trying to limit blacks and other minority populations by encouraging the use of birth control.
• 4 in 10 respondents said it doesn’t matter whether people use birth control, believing that people get pregnant when it’s their “time.”
• 29 percent of women and 42 percent of men said it is at least slightly likely they will have unprotected sex in the next three months

These are all alarming numbers, especially the amount of teens that THINK birth control will lead to some sort of health problem such as cancer. Yup, birth control now causes cancer, or at least that is the newest rumor on the streets. Even better rumor is that having sex while standing up will not get the girl pregnant.

Who comes up with this stuff?

But some of the reasons we really need to step back and teach our children how to prevent unplanned pregnancies is the statistics regarding teen parents, and teen pregnancy. Some of the more alarming numbers and facts are  :

• Children of adolescents are more likely to be born prematurely and 50% more likely to have a low birth weight.
• Teens often receive less prenatal care.
• Children of teen parents are at a greater risk for developmental delays.
• According to parents’ reports of their children’s health status, 60% of children born to non-teen mothers were rated in “excellent” health,
  compared to 38% for children born to the youngest adolescent mothers.
• Children born to younger teens are more likely to be the victim of child abuse or neglect and also have a greater risk of being placed in Foster Care.
• Children of Teen Mothers are more likely to drop out of school.  Only 77% of children born to adolescent mothers complete high school.
• One researcher looked at the incarceration rates of the sons of young mothers. His findings revealed that 10.3% of those born to mothers age 17 and younger were incarcerated, compared to 3.8% of the sons born to older mothers. That is, the sons of young teen mothers are nearly three times more likely to be incarcerated than those born to adult mothers.
• Children born to teen mothers are more likely to be teen parents.

While being a teen parent is not a sentence of DOOM for the teen, or their child, in many cases like those above, it is. There are success stories, as there are in many cases for many things. But they are not the majority sadly.

I just hope parents actually look at these numbers, and statistics and think twice about talking to their children about really preventing pregnancy until they are older.