Following are two stories in the news about teen pregnancy. One is from England, the other from the U.S. Both lament the rise in teen pregnancies seen recently.
Some people blame abstinence education. I would agree with that if the abortion rate had gone up. But it hasn't. It's the BIRTH rate. This proves one thing: Most of these pregnancies were conceived ON PURPOSE.
If you don't believe it, take a gander at this teen pregnancy help site:
http://ehealthforum.com/health/teen_pregnancy.html
Notice how the teens talk about their pregnancies. Also notice how many of these children want to get pregnant, and ask for advice!
Teen pregnancy rates on the rise in England, Wales
The Associated Press
Published: February 26, 2009
LONDON: Teen pregnancy rates in England and Wales are on the rise for the first time since 2002.
Government figures out Thursday show an increase of more than 2 percent in teen pregnancies between 2006 and 2007.
The latest available data said 41.9 out of every thousand teenage girls got pregnant, up from 40.9 per 1,000.
That has policymakers, educators and parents worried. Britain already has Western Europe's highest teen pregnancy rate.
Government officials have introduced plans to bring sex education to the youngest elementary-school students.
war crimes
School districts also have been taking steps. Non-faith secondary schools in the northern English city of Manchester recently began a condom distribution program.
Posted on Wednesday, January 7, 2009
After long decline, U.S. teen birth rates rise again
By Katherine Tandler | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — U.S. teen birth rates rose sharply in 2006, according to figures released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ending a welcome 14-year decline.
While U.S. teen birth rates remained the highest in the industrialized world, the long decline had amounted to a 45 percent reduction since 1991.
According to the figures for 2006, the latest year for which data are available, birth rates for teens aged 15-19 rose by 3.5 percent. This increase marks the largest growth in teen birth rates since 1989-1990.
Analysts at liberal and conservative teen-pregnancy awareness groups had begun to notice the declines leveling off in recent years. Though dismayed, they weren't surprised by the upward spike.
The 2006 increase for teens 15-19 was from 40.5 per 1,000 to 41.9. The increases were greatest through the South and Southwest, and lowest in the Northeast.
Mississippi had the highest birth rate: 68.4 births per 1,000 teens aged 15-19. New Mexico and Texas trailed close behind.
New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts had the lowest birth rates. The only states with declines in teen birth rates from 2005 to 2006 were North Dakota, Rhode Island and New York.
Michael Carrera, the director of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs at the Children's Aid Foundation in New York City, blamed economic stagnation among low-income families, which, he said, led to indifference about contraception.
"It is one thing to know about contraception, but to want to use it, you must also have knowledge of a good life," he said.
Carrera and other teen-welfare specialists who favor sex education and contraception also think that the hundreds of millions of dollars that the Bush administration invested in abstinence-only programs would have been better spent on their approach.
Janice Crouse, the executive director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, an alliance of conservative women, faulted an atmosphere of sexual tolerance, especially on campuses, where teens are "under the influence of peers, and under pressure to drink.
"College counselors see a very close connection between all the sexual activity and alcohol."
"Over the last decade, this whole business of 'hooking up' has been very injurious to our girls," Crouse continued, "not just in terms of pregnancy, but also in terms of STDs" — sexually transmitted diseases — "depression and a very alarming increase in sexual assault among college students."
Crouse blamed American society for "glamorizing teen pregnancy."
"TV shows with pregnant mothers don't show the morning sickness, the swollen feet, the more uncomfortable sides of pregnancy," she said.
Carrera said as well that the declines since 1991 were impressive only by American standards.
"Fourteen years ago, the rates were so high that anything looked down from there," he said.
Read this story:
http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2009/03/12/Features/Not-So.Cheap.Teen.Mom.Rejects.The.Stereotype-3670074-page3.shtml
This is true. I planned my first child at 14 years old. I became pregnant at 15, and gave birth to him at 16. This was 12 years ago and it was very common even then.
Posted by: Nichole | April 10, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Nicole, thank-you for your comment, and especially for the honesty with which it was written.
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Posted by: Cialis Online | November 11, 2009 at 06:25 PM
There are many reasons that teenagers become pregnant. Some of them want to have babies. However, the fact of the matter is that most teen pregnancies are unintentional (80 percent). Additionally, most of them occur to unwed teen mothers. This means that even though most teens do not want to become pregnant, they are still becoming so as a result of sexual activity. While actual force to have sex is rare, many teenage girls (especially those under the age of 15) feel pressured to have sex. And, of course, the more intercourse a teenager has, the more likely it is that a teen pregnancy will eventually result.
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