Without a doubt, the influence of our popular culture, America's biggest export product, has had a negative impact on our society. It seems that nobody has the courage to say that something is wrong. I know it's cliche to use the term political correctness run amuck, but things have gone too far.

Angry people going into schools and places of work or even churches and killing as many people as possible is becoming commmon place.

I don't pretend to have any answers, but it seems like we need to start asking ourselves a lot more questions.

No wonder the muslims want to destroy our society

Birth control for the poor is the ONE freebie I agree with. Send them to Haiti while we're at it...

These mothers will become less educated and less likely to work, while MORE likely to live off the taxpayers. All bad.

Implant birth control should be MANDATORY for any single mother taking government assistance.

And yes, adoption should be encouraged but PAYING these girls would merely make them into baby factories.

If the government would stop making freebies available, and in fact cut off all FURTHER assistance if they don't either agree to implanted birth control and/or give them up for adoption, some may take "advantage" of their chance at a better life.

And TV is certainly no help.

Nor the "political correctness: that you speak of in the school system.

I may sound like an uncaring SOB but in fact it is just the opposite. I care about the too often hard life for BOTH the children, young and "old".

I completely agree..How can we discourage teen pregnancy when we also have shows like Teen Mom, who are giving them a chance to be on TV during their pregnancy. That is the American Dream these days, "to be a Star". It's ridiculous!..These girls on this show are obviously not hurting for money either, one of them has braces on her teeth, the other sits around drinking Starbucks while on her laptop. What average pregnant teen do you know who can afford things like that? So they are obviously paying them well to participate on the show. Most teens who are pregnant are sitting in Medicaid and WIC offices because they afford apartments of their own or have the ability to survive without assistance. So let's give them a show that doesn't depict the average teen pregnancy so teen girls can have a chance to be a Star.

Its not going away soon. As a matter of fact it is going to get a lot worse. Sexuality is deeply embedded in our culture. From music, to movies, everything. Doesn't matter how much abstinence or birth control you throw at someone they are still going to have sex protected or unprotected. Its part of nature. If you are h%#ny you ARE going to have sex. Period. Unless you ban free speech in the media, perform female genital mutilation like they do in radical Islam, and pretty much ban anything thats immoral, then maybe it would come to a halt. I guess there are plenty of people that wouldnt mind imposing Taliban like rule here in the US. But like anything else, it starts with the parents taking responsibility to teach their kids instead of leaving it up to the schools.

If a group that has higher teen pregnancy rates increases as a percentage of the population, voila, the teen pregnancy rate goes up. The face of America is changing, and that face looks very different on paper than the one that preceded it.

The media may try to attribute changes to various social factors, as if behavior really is changing. I would say the various groups have not changed significantly for the better or worse, just their proportions relative to one another. And because they ARE different in various social measures, it changes the overall average.

But like anything else, it starts with the parents taking responsibility to teach their kids instead of leaving it up to the schools.

Snake,

your point is well taken, but the above comment isn't going to happen. They're mostly kids having kids, and usually these teenage moms come to the reality they have to work. They have very poor marketable skills so they work long hours, sometime two jobs and are never with their children to teach, then they get stuck in the endless cycle of government handouts and on and on...

But again, your point is good, as long as we, as a culture "glorify" this behavior it will continue to rise, I wish there was an easy answer. When my wife and I had kids we made the decision to fore go the second car, the bigger house, the yearly expensive vacations but, and this is a big but there was two of us to make that decision, single moms on the whole just don't have a chance...

If parents bothered to use a library card as much as they do the TV remote, I guarantee you that their children will too.

Agreed Sonia!

Who is going to feed all these kids, most of them will be on welfare. Have free abortions for them, it will be cheaper in the long run.

Until our young women acquire self esteem... that they are more than the sum of their body parts, this horrible, self defeating, sucking from society, epidemic will continue.
The celebrity culture has taught young women how to release their inner sluts (older women are pathetically tapping into this stupidity at alarming rates.)
All girls and boys know by the time their 9 in this sexually saturated country how babies are made, yet there's such a void in their lives they have to procreate?

I would point out that Bristol Palin is hard at work attempting to decrease the romance of teen pregnancy. Jamie Spears is living on her entertainment made fortune.

"The rate remained highest for blacks but increased for all racial groups. Among blacks, the rate increased from 122.7 per 1,000 in 2005 to 126.3. For Hispanics the rate rose from 124.9 per 1,000 women to 126.6."

It's interesting that the author makes a statement and then immediately refutes it. It's apparently higher for Hispanics than Blacks.

Teen pregnancies are a drain on public resources, and I can't help but think that if we had more teens give up their babies for adoption instead of struggling to raise them in poverty, reliance on infertility treatments would be reduced as well.

Okay, just because a teenager has a baby doesn't automatically mean they're going to be raised struggling in poverty...I knew several girls growing up who had babies while they were teens an their families were able to help them provide until they could figure out how to make ends meet on their own. And while adopting a child is all well and good, I know there's some women out there that are still going to want to have their own child with their own body. (I would adopt if i had trouble conceiving.)
Don't pull the tv shows that "glorify" teen pregnancy because it's bringing to light that it does in fact happen in every day society. But USE it as an example for your kids! Watch the show with them, the news report, whatever it may be, tell them what it was like for you to be pregnant with them, even if you weren't pregnant as a teen. discuss with them all the changes your body went through, the hormone fluxuations, EVERYTHING, how hard it is on anyone to go through that, regardless of what age they are, and how much time and work it is to take care of a newborn baby, knowing they're going to have to take care of it for the rest of their lives. And while I'd tell my kids all the pros and cons of having babies and why I would want them to wait, at the same time I know that teens are going to have sex...and I'd rather teach them to make sure they're being protected and to come from a source that's actually going to care and worry about them, not some class where they're going to be afraid to raise their hand and ask a question because they teacher is telling them, "Just don't even do it. It's wrong."

Brings to mind an old Chinese proverb that goes something like:

Change in society begins in the family.

Folks:

It takes two to tango....how about some real enforcement of fathering laws, and improvement, or creation of such laws to shackle the young men to the children with high fees for the pleasure of being a parent....probably would cause a renewed interest in condoms, which are the easiest way to prevent so many things that can cause negative redirection of the lives of our young.

This should be set up to take the place of welfare and take the cost of children having children off the back of the taxpayers.

Just a thought....talk to your kids every @#$#@% day about this!

Good Luck!

Just two cents from and Independent female, This has been going on really since the 60's when the goverment got involved. They help destroy the family system in the minoritites by telling them we will take care of you if you do not marry(from Michigan saw both state and federal people say this). This is why most young minority children do not have a father figure in their lives. 2nd there is just no excuse other than being lazy and responsible. When I decided to have sex I went to the local health dept. who provided contraceptives without my parents knowledge or consent. This was the mid 70's. I respected myself than as I do not to be intelligent and responsiibilty and not act just like an animal. I certainly did not want the STDs of that time frame, I cannot imagine now you not only end up pregnant but you could put your life in the balance by such recklessness. Some of my co workers talk about their daughters'friends and how open most are to how many partners they have had before they graduate from High School. It is not one, two or three as it was in my time frame, it is 10,15, and twenty. I have met some of these young ladies and ask them why the 1st words out of their mouth is because than can and second it is to make sure they do not miss anything. Lastly and probably most important is most think that that is never going to happen to them because of youth invincibility and know it all attitude.

this is just the just say no bunch's BS coming home

Marty wrote: "No wonder the muslims want to destroy our society"

No Marty, the source of Muslim hatred and intolerance for the Western culture lies in the intolerant and perverted religious ideology of Islam; blaming ourselves for the hatred and bigotry of some Muslims is just asinine. Even a cursory examination of the tenants of Islam will illustrate that religion's capacity for the hatred and subjugation of women, non-believers, and liberty of thought. There is no room in Islam (or any religion for that matter) for the non-conformist. Those who do not believe or who leave their faith are subject to death; the warrant for such being found in the Hadith and the Koran.

If you want to blame yourself for being the target of terrorism and brutality that is rooted in the bigotry and intolerance of another's religious ideology, be my guest. But you are not at liberty to include others who see the man-made nature of religion being both the cause and culprit of the disease.

Irresponsiblie did not catch that in the above

Bev, I think you are making an unfair over-generalization. Your sister works at a continuation school, so she is seeing only the kids who are already having troubles -- she isn't seeing a representative sample.

At my children's public elementary school, half of the children come from Spanish speaking homes. Most of the Latino parents are long-time married couples. Most have only two children, or maybe three (like my own family). These parents work hard to provide a good life for their families.

I won't deny that there are young people who are making poor choices with their lives -- both of Mexican descent and other races -- but you shouldn't deny that the greater majority are doing their best to be responsible individuals and parents.

Cal chi - It's a FACT that Mexi's have more than double the number of children as other groups in America.

My sister transferred to the alternative school after working in the Greeley area, mostly illegal immigrant children.

She got tired of being threatened by, not only the poorly performing students, but by the parents as well.

Working with 200 pregnant, mostly Mexican, teens was a big improvement.

Her first observation wa the pride they take in being a Mexican (not American) and the pride in being a teen parent.

It's cultural, unfortunately.

Sonia Kermaz "Following our radical lead, they put off what they couldn't handle until they could handle themselves. No unprotected sex, ever! They are now young successful professionals, one married, both still childless by choice....because in our self-absorbed family culture, responsibility to one's self is the foundation for responsible parenting and marriage!"

Sounds like you taught them well they are afraid to have kids in case they lose a buck. sounds like you resented parenting them. Your loss though grand kids are fun you can play with them and give them back when they get tired and cranky.

Teenagers are rebellious! Tell them what not to do and some will do it just on that fact alone! They are no more puppets as the rest of the public.

Quit trying to tell people how to live. Educating them solely based on facts and not propaganda is the only way. Keep it real! They know when your full of poop and when your being literal. Stretching the truth is lying, and they know it.

Schools need to stop being a social club. They are there to work and learn. Make schools harder not easier. Truth is some will excel and others will not. Don't dumb down the smart ones so others can float.

We need to start helping those who help themselves. Quit making it so easy to do nothing. Nothing comes from nothing.

I wonder why in Europe, where society is much more liberal, these problems do not exist in quantity?

JK - Your comment is just another example of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" - what if Sonia's kids decide not to have children at all, so what? The only damage is to society, in that yet again, the intelligent and educated members are having less children. I tell any teen that will listen to "wait until you are 30, live your life". While I think perhaps everyone should have at least one child, if they truly don't want kids - so what? Sounds like Sonia's adult kids won't be a drain on society, what a novel idea these days.

Wow - abstaining from sex until marriage? really? Does anybody think that is a valid option for anyone but their own children? How about parents encouraging them to wait until they are ready for sex and then wait until they are ready for kids (2 different things).
I think educational instruction is important as well. People also need a working knowledge of how to prevent pregnancy (before AND after marriage) along with other health habits such as nutrition, hygiene, and exercise. It appears many adults don't quite understand these things, but it might help if we taught them to teenagers in school.

ik in la

They are smarter in Europe, they don't even know how to use the metric system here.

Couldn't agree more, in fact the girls having babies are not only status symbols among their peers, they gain a new respect at home from their mothers who think its the greatest thing that could occur. My gynecologist left private practice to work in a clinic and he has 13 year old patients, momma thrilled. Go figure, one more reason America's glory days are gone. Girls 's bodies are not ready at this age but should anything go wrong doctor gets a lawsuit.

Countries that have strong sex ed programs (and teach birth control) have lower teen preganancy rates than those that don't. Period, end of story.

You think Europe and Canada and Australia don't have sex on TV and in their culture? So how can you blame that for our abysmal teen pregnancy rates in comparison to theirs? Face the facts, folks - many teens are not going to wait until marriage (average age now almost 28 for men and 26 for women) to have sex!

Frankly, it's not only unrealistic but probably not psychologically or societally healthy to encourage such a thing. The best time for them to get factual sex health, STD and birth control information is at puberty (along with age-appropriate information beforehand) and then they can choose to use it when they decide to based on ALL the FACTS!

ListenMissy wrote "Teen pregnancies are a drain on public resources, and I can't help but think that if we had more teens give up their babies for adoption instead of struggling to raise them in poverty, reliance on infertility treatments would be reduced as well."

Teenage mothers are no longer forced to drop out of school to enforce the expectation that children complete grades K-12. Now, one school in each district provides free child daycare while the mother sits in classes. If these children were instead forced to rely on the support of their families, abortion would have been the choice.

While some blame movies for glorifying teen pregnancy, consider the movies that glorify science and academics are just as common. Instead, we see a large scale condemnation of husbands and fatherhood when school systems support unmarried mothers with glee and governments provide a slew of benefits including free housing. The USA encourages single motherhood and thus, teenage pregnancy.

So real American first you want your 14 15 16 year old daughter to get The pill on demand without you knowing it at school and an abortion if they so choose without your knowledge. They can't even bring in their own prescription drugs to class. They have to give it to a nurse. You have to tell the nurse it is O.K. to give them a Tylenol. Most parents would love to know their kids are sexually active to give them such advice. Take them to a dr. they trust. How about the nurse saying if you can't tell your parents you shouldn't be having sex?

Don't be a fool! Vulcanize your tool!

Baby booms always occur in times of crisis, especially with the young. This was predicted years ago when the "war on terror" and the intentional economic collapse began. Fear makes people breed.

Nothing is being done to curb teenage pregnancy. The schools are teaching sex and handing out condoms so the kids can have 'safe' sex...and then 'safe' babies!!!! Cut out the Department of Education sex promotion programs (actually we can just eliminate the Dept of Education) and bring GOD/religion back into our schools, then maybe our next generation of teenagers can grow up and THEN raise their children!

Good Luck-1524703
Baby booms always occur in times of crisis, especially with the young. This was predicted years ago when the "war on terror" and the intentional economic collapse began. Fear makes people breed.

You crack me up.

I don't believe this article at all.

There is always a certain amount of teen pregnancies. Although recently, I did hear that many girls or women are not using Planned Parenthood anymore. They are in trouble for the lack of people needing or using their services.

This article claims hysteria over the fact teen pregnancies are on the rise.

There are many women who can't have babies, married or unmarried, too old,, and are using Fertility clinics to have children. That is another subject. There are more single women today, not by their own choice..

The US Military is seeing a high rise in pregnancies for women who are on Military duty. Off subject, but fact.

lk in la.

Why is it in Europe smaller cars are more popular? Why is it in Europe people work closer to where they live and often don't need to commute much at all? Why is it in Europe the gas prices are higher? Why is it in Europe there is a VAT? Why is it a European car company didn't understand how to run an American car company? Why, why, why? Things are different in Euorpe.

Why are you here rather than in Europe? If it's so perfect there, than go.

Sonia, I too happen to be one of those wacko liberals who believe in planned parenthood, gay marriage supporting, gun control( but not prohibited) people who have been married 23 years consistently to the same fella, 2 daughters in college who have made the decision to wait for sex until they feel they are ready for that responsibility. I never preached that they had to stay virgins, my husband and I express how we felt and left the decision to them. We talked A LOT over the years about sex, and love and responsibility. Just the other day my oldest, 20, and I were talking and she said she and her 2 year committed boyfriend had discussed moving into together but had decided that neither of them were ready for that step. I was extremely proud of her!! We have always been active in our girls lives. My husband even turned down promotions at work because of the demand of time and time away they would have created. Our goal was to be parents first, successful in our careers 2nd!!!!!!!!

Not to pick on Sarah Palin, but THAT is why I don't like her. She put her needs and ambitions before her family. Her family was/is clearly in crisis. new baby with down syndrome and a daughter who herself was pregnant. Running for the highest office in the land should have been any GOOD mother's last thought. However, she drug her family on to the world stag and made everything they were going through a "public" issue! It is no wonder Bristol ended up preggers!! The parents in the family clearly put themselves first, Sarah with her career and Todd with his "playing".

Being a parent means sacrificing to bring up good citizens of the world, unfortunately, most people nowadays have forgotten that responsibility!! They have kids because it is what is expected, almost a status symbol. Parenting is anything but! When our society focuses more on the success of the person rather than the success of the family, it's not any wonder teen pregnancy is on the rise!! Kids need love, guidance, boundaries, and PARENTS! you can't parent if your not there both physically and emotionally.

It's interesting. Out of this group of teenagers:

What percentage of Hispanics are married?

What percentage of Blacks are married?

What percentage of whites are married ?

Enough pussyfooting around it. If the welfare was cut off, it would stop alot of it. We are encouraging it with the present system. We have people who are 4th and 5th generations living off government handouts, and the more they reproduce, the more money we shove at them. Stop that and the birth rates will decrease, it's that easy.

Make no mistake, culture is making big money centering themes of TV shows, movies and music around sex. Many kids are born to second and third generation multiple-sperm/egg partner donating families. The list can drag on and on about the cultural impact. It all plays a part. You can knock the 'just say no' stuff, but free condoms in school isn't working either. Ask yourself this:

What kid in the heat of the moment, assuming they've allowed it to get there, is going to stop and say, "I must put on my school provided, tax-payer funded, free condom to prevent the possible spread of STD's and reduce the risk of your getting pregnant"? C'mon, people, that would buzz kill the moment in a heartbeat. A kid that will think that straight, at that point in time, is probably one who would likely stop before getting to that point. Teaching them that sex at the right time and right place in their life IS part of the equation. Self restraint is a necessary training - good gosh, look at our freakin' government - as well as protecting yourself. Teach the financial ramifications along with all the physical and social - make them do the math and see how to make ends meet on minimum living at home, much less on their own. 'Dads' and their parents MUST be held accountable in the whole mess as well instead of being able to walk - let's educate kids on the legal channels available to pursue sperm-donors who try to walk. Problem is we've been trying to teach at two extremes, when we really need to meet in the middle. Neither Planned Parenthood nor Just Say No have a corner on the market, so both need to get over themselves. Both ditches are still ditches, let's get in the middle of the road where we can actually go somewhere.

Hey, driving is a great thing, but none of you would (I hope) put your five year old behind the wheel. Same thing with sex. It's not dirty, it's not wrong and that is part of the problem with current teaching trends. Call it what it is and lay it all out there with good solid education which includes the good and bad. Also quit enabling those that do the stupid thing with social programs that 'give' them everything; put those suckers to work and schooling with incremental/milestone requirements to stay on the tax-payers funding and let them deal if they don't. That would be a huge step to help bring up kids who will make good choices.

I don't know, just makes a little more sense to me than the things that are out there now. I'm just a guy who has over twenty years working with teens and college-agers in a classroom and outside the classroom. I have my particular opinion on things, but I don't let that overshadow making good decisions on helping a myriad of teenagers from many different walks of life with many different life situations to deal with. Too bad it's governmental entities who are driven by big bucks and good-ole-boy networks typically making policy, because it's our kids who are suffering as a result of ****-poor planning.

I think the problem stems from the complacency with which American culture views premarital sex....especially teen sex. Sex is primary topic many shows like "90210" "Gossip Girl" "Secret Life of the American Teenager".....and on MTV the girls on the "Hills" and "Jersey Shore" are always having sex with someone! American culture is perpetuating teen sex,,,

The math is wrong in this article.

71.5 per 1,000 women... Equals 7.15%

69.5 per 1,000 women... Equals 6.95%

This is not a 3% increase. This is a .2% increase

This is not enough difference to even discuss. Don't waste your time with this article until someone does a better job verifying what the hell they are talking about.

In Part:

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/Briefly_PolicyBrief_RacialEthnicDisparities.pdf

communications@thenc.org
www.TheNationalCampaign.org
www.TeenPregnancy.org
www.StayTeen.org
July 2008
(202) 478-8500 PAGE 2
• Fully 16 percent of all teen girls will have a baby by age 20. As
Figure 1 shows, the likelihood is higher in most communities of
color. 4
• The overall teen birth rate increased 3 percent between 2005 and
2006, the first increase in 15 years. The overall increase includes
increases among most minority groups. For example, between
2005 and 2006 the teen birth rate increased five percent for
African Americans, four percent for Native Americans and two
percent for Latinas.5
• The overall teen birth rate also increased in five states in the most
recent year for which state data are available (2004 -2005).6
• The most recent national teen pregnancy data available are from
2004. The teen pregnancy rate decreased for teens overall and
for most racial/ethnic groups between 2003 and 2004. However, the teen pregnancy rate increased slightly for Latina teens.
For the first time, Latina teens now have the highest rates of both teen pregnancies and births.7
Teen Sexual Behavior and Contraceptive Use
• Sexual experience differs significantly by race/ethnicity. In 2007, black high school students (67%) were more likely than Hispanic
students (52%) and white students (44%) to report having ever had sex.8
• Twice as many white students (21%) as black (9%) and Hispanic (9%) students reported using birth control pills before the
last time they had sex. There are also racial/ethnic differences in the proportion of high school students who say they used a
condom the last time they had sex—60% of whites, 67% of blacks, and 61% of Hispanic students.9
For more information about the most recent data on teen pregnancy, births, sexual behavior and contraceptive use, please visit
http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/additional-resources.aspx.
Legislative Background

uvuvu...there is a lot in what you say about the "sexual revolution" of the 1960's and it's been downhill from there. The bar keeps getting lower and lower. Every sit-com practically, revolves around sex....Cougar Town, Old Christine, Accidentally on Purpose, Two and Half Men, to name just a few, even the dramas are saturated with bed hopping, and as someone said earlier, the music, particularly rap is just sex, sex, sex. Then there's Brad and Angelina, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel, until just recently Susan Sarandon, and Tim ?. And many, many more. These are the shows and the celebrities that our young people are watching, and they are all oh, so glamorous. There is no shame, no guilt anymore. I love how people try to blame it on the Palins, because they support abstinence first. That is the ONLY 100% way to prevent pregnancy. And Bristol has made it clear that the consequences of teen pregnancy are very difficult, and while she loves her son, she wishes she had waited, and is working to convince other teen girls to take a lesson from her situation and regrets. Also kills me when people say that, if not wait for marriage, kids should wait until they are "ready" to have sex. Ready? Kids think they're "ready" the first time someone blows in their ear. It is no longer about morals. What the heck, Paris Hilton became famous after her sex tape was outed. And Kim Kardashian, what exactly is her talent, besides having big boobs and a big a s s, and a sex tape. Hollywood, with all it's liberal p.c. do-gooder ranting, is the most guilty of any industry in exploiting women.

Oh and I couldn't resist including this snippet from the above website:

Congress has an opportunity to help address racial and ethnic disparities in teen pregnancy by investing in research to better under
these disparities and supporting a range of strategies to address them in a culturally competent manner.
The Communities of Color Teen Pregnancy Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R.468/S.1790) was introduced by Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA)
and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to address the disproportionately higher rate of teen pregnancy among young women in communities
of color. The bill authorizes grants for community-based interventions, school-based projects, and multimedia campaigns to educate
youth and families on the consequences of teen pregnancy; supports research on the incidence and prevalence of teen pregnancy in
communities of color; and establishes a national clearinghouse to provide information and assistance to states, tribes, and communities
working to develop content and messages for teen pregnancy prevention targeting such communities.
There are also several legislative proposals both as stand-alone bills and in larger legislative vehicles that give priority to projects
in communities with above average teen pregnancy rates, which would include certain communities of color. These provisions are
included within: the Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act (H.R.1074), the Prevention First Act (S.21/
H.R.819), and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Responsibility, and Opportunity Act (S.1137/H.R.2097).
The National Campaign believes these provisions would help ensure that vulnerable youth in communities with high rates of early
pregnancy and parenthood have the necessary tools to make wise decisions about their future that will promote the well-being of
this generation and the next.
Figure 1. Proportion of Girls Who Have
a Birth by Age 20, 2005
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Non-Hispanic
White
Native
American
Asian Latina
American
African
American
24%
7%
32%
21%
11%
Source: National Campaign analysis of Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Sutton, P.D., Ventura, S.J.., Menacker, F., Kirmeyer, S., &

Teen pregnany and welfare: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/pdf/child_welfare.pdf

What's being done to discourage teen pregnancy? We glorify it through movies

I suggest you watch The Pregnancy Pact on the Lifetime channel. Also, quit blaming the media, if parents are too lazy to talk to their kids about sex then oh well. We need to abolish abstinence-only education and start talking to kids about condoms and birth control pills. Sex being such a taboo subject is what's contributing to teen pregnancy, not the media. If sex weren't so taboo, there wouldn't be so many teen pregnancies.

It is not difficult to figure out. When our government takes OUR tax dollars and give OUR money to "people" who have kids they can not afford, the kids are a pay check to them! They don't have the stress of going to work. They stay home and watch TV all day and have more kids. We (tax payers) pay them a monthly amount, which increases based on the number of kids they have. We pay for their food, rent, utilities, school lunches............. Not bad, rather than going out and getting a job like the rest of us! THAT IS EXACTLY WHY THE RATE HAS INCREASED!!

Why not pay teens or young adults to Not have babies?

Couldn't agree more, in fact the girls having babies are not only status symbols among their peers, they gain a new respect at home from their mothers who think its the greatest thing that could occur.

This brings up something that's a real sore point for me. Too many teenage girls that get pregnant are keeping their babies because their mothers have agreed to take charge of raising the baby. The girls are allowed to go on with their lives without having to deal with the reality of being a parent. I'm not saying that Grandma can't help out once in awhile - say, by babysitting while the daughter goes to her senior prom. However, the mother of the baby shouldn't be allowed to spend all her time hanging out with her friends, etc. She should be required to come home from school and take care of her child. If young women knew that they were going to have to sacrifice 99% of their leisure time to take care of a child, they might think twice about getting pregnant in the first place - and they might give more serious consideration to giving up the child for adoption if they did get pregnant.

Scott....learn some math before you speak. You measure percentage increased by finding the difference first and then dividing it by the original percentage. In this case (7.15-6.95)/6.95 = 2.877%; rounded is 3%. No wonder why teen pregnancy is on the increase in this country. We can't even teach simple math to the general public anymore.

In addition to talking about birth control, kids should also be educated about what you, as a person, will feel like after you've had sex whether you've had it too early, if it was non-consensual, or if you did have it when you were ready but it wasn't what you expected or if it was what you expected and so forth. Sex on TV and after is not what it is in real life and kids need to know that. They live too much in fantasy as do the adults around them as well - two separate fantasies.

Free speech and the growth of the internet, making material available which used to only be available in specialized shops has degraded the sexual norms and standards.

Free speech has it's disadvantages as well as it benefits, especially on the internet. Family values died when free speech and degraded values under the guise of free speech grew at the same pace with the internet.

One of those disadvantages is teenagers whose sexual curiosity is spurred by the internet creating unplanned pregnancies. Condoms don't work all the time. And the pill doesn't prevent diseases. The only solution is something that many people don't want to mention in a civilized modern society. Faith. When you have people misrepresenting faith like Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, and Oral Roberts who wants to hear about faith.

The issue is free money. They don't have to be shunned or told they can't go to school, but if there was no benefit to having the children, they would not do it! They have birth control and sex education and that is not working. But these girls get money, health care and other benefits, so why work??? They even pay the girls to go to school and learn English, computer skills, etc. And guess what they go to a class just to have the instructor sign off and they take the paper to their case worker to prove they are trying to get of the system, and guess what, they have another baby, so they can't go to work! Also, the person who wrote asking about the father of the baby, well, that is another scam. They don't name the father on the Birth Certificate therefore the state cannot try to find him and make him pay. So, does the government want the answer?? It is very simple-no benefits, no money, no help, no healthcare, nothing and just watch the rate drop.

This has been a major concern of mine and I have been studying this phenomenon. A study out of Sweden rated industrialized nations according to the percentage that called themselves religious against societal health parameters such as teenage pregnancies, percent of population incarcerated, number of murders per capita, etc. The findings were quite revealing. Those countries that had the highest percentage of religious citizens had the lowest societal health (i. e. more teenage pregnancies, etc). With the US data (US having the highest religious citizen proportion) the correlation was 0.97. Without the US data the correlation was still 0.79. This, I thought was biased because it was conducted from a fairly liberal country - Sweden; but, a similar study was conducted in the US between the 50 states and those states that had the highest religious citizenry had the highest teenage birth rate (mostly in the southeast) while those states with the least religious citizenry had the lowest teenage birth rates (mostly the northeast).

The cause seem extremely evident!

As a side line please note that one of the nations that has the lowest teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates is the Netherlands where prostitution is legal.

give birth control to all white people and forget about send it to Haiti and poor countries, who the hell are you racist people to determine who lives and who dies or who's race survives. The raise is teen pregnancies is to blamed on the media who put Sarah Palin's daughter in the spotlight and treated her like a celebrity and the same for Britney Spear's younger sister who 17 at the time she got pregnant and how come the father was not charged? She was underage. you all act as if white teens don't get pregnant. White teen have more abortions than any race. fact!

blame the rise in teen pregancy on Bristol Palin and Britney Spears's younger sister. They are the role models. Way to Sarah. Can't blame this one on Obama!

By all means spend money on a program that was a failure and led to an increase in teen pregnancy. Safe sex using condoms should be taught in every health class and every biology class. Condoms should be available from a nurse for free.

This post is for Sonia K. You are such an idiot mess! People like you and your dumbass uninformed concervative attitudes make me want to vomit. Your family is obviously well off you idiot and not poor like millions of americans. Have yoiu ever been poor? Do you know what it is like to grow up from a baby on in a very poor enviorment with parents that have never been taught good parenting skills? Not to say that there aren't excellent mothers and fathers who are poor. But have you ever grown up in an enviorment where you have low sewlf esteem from the neglect and abuse as a child? This low self esteem of our female children is the real problem. Lets introduce classes in our schools to promote the self esteem of our youth. You will probably be against this also since you are obviously against everything! You are a bigot! And you may think you are going to heaven but your not! Love you neighbor. But you don't. Your estreme attitudes make me sick!

danvass:

We can blame the extreme woes of this country on the inexperienced, love thyself Obama.

Our US government (Obama) is worried about them having jobs. Yup, they need factories immediately, to get the people working. Some Haitians returned to their jobs at 1 US owned factory. Crazy?

Teaching abstinence to teen age-rs ( their hormones are going crazy), is like teaching a tiger, not to eat meat, it ain't going to happen; teach how to prevent getting pregnant, and tell the religious right to get out of the class rooms.

Hawaii2 wrote "There are more single women today, not by their own choice.."

Our culture does not support marriage. Just ask any American woman for her opinion on divorce, and it will include a statement about happiness. That's right. Modern American marriage is expected to be a vehicle for female emotional fulfillment.

With 70% of the divorces initiated by women, men are responding by avoiding marriage. The courts do not support fathers in child custody and payment proceedings, largely voting away their visitation and cohabitation rights while anchoring them with decades of child support, which is also alimony in disguise.

Abolish welfare AND birthright citizenship, it's a MAJOR part of the problem!

Danvass, Who cares which 'race' aborts? That's a separate issue. Drop in on any welfare office and see all the 'brown' people who are sucking off the system, without shame. Never having paid any tax dollars before...

shouldn't we be celebrating the empowerment of women and the ability to do whatever it takes for these young women to show the world that they are powerful, independent and can make decisions for themselves? That's what feminist groups have been preaching for years! Also, these young women have the right to express themselves in any way they wish!! Let's celebrate with a "Welcome to Poverty in Perpetuity Party" or "Express your Individualism and Independence thru Welfare". How about if they teach a class on "How to Get what you want and screw up the rest of your life along with your babies". Poverty, crime, abuse of all kinds and no one willing to say "no" to these stupid brats is what is causing this.

Everyone knows what's happening is wrong and in no one's best interest...not the mother, the child & not for the rest of society since we're paying the note.

Thanks a lot to the left-wing liberals for making this acceptable behavior.

Vincent & Bev...

You are correct and I would get the "bigot" label sewn onto my shirt also. The nation will rue the day the immigration floodgates began to open. Population experts have been saying that by around 2040 this country will have a majority Hispanic population. In the sands of time, 30 years is just a few grains. If it is "bigoted" to say so, too bad. And yes it is unfortunate but true that birth rates among teenage Hispanic girls are growing and are quite acceptable within their culture. Both legal and illegal immigration have brought more young girls into our country at a fast rate. And they are reproducing young, while still young themselves.

There are those blaming teen pregnancy on abstinence only programs in the schools. Crapola...that's just a way to try to blame George Bush, like is done with every other problem in America.

Fifteen and sixteen year old girls who quit school and begin launching babies most likely didn't pay any more attention to the teacher in the abstinence only class than they did in any other classes. And learned nothing in any of them.

This also speaks to the fallacy that school systems can alter social abnormalities. School systems can do some things quite well...let's not be deceived into thinking the schools can solve every problem out there. How many of these immigrant children get pregnant because they listened too well in an abstinance only class ??? If they didn't listen at all, then they only ended up doing what they were going to do anyway.

Make no mistake...there is no stopping this. Mathematics is mathematics. We are just supposed to once again reach into our pockets and pay for others living lives that we cannot comprehend living.

An article in the weekend news in my state had an article about a single mother of an infant, two year old, and three year old. Of course...no dad in the picture. The article was about her and other girls in similar situations who were losing their school financial aid for not attending class enough or failing to maintain minimum grades. The above mentioned mom said that she had been getting to class and getting good grades...until she got pregnant for the third time and both her attendence and grades started to fall. Her financial aid was stopped.

She was quoted "If I knew it was going to end up like this, I wouldn't have signed up for the program in the first place".

Is it "bigoted" to ask "How about not having 3 babies by yourself...in the first, second, and third place" ???

The increasing and alarming prevalence of internet porn being easily available for teens to access these days doesn't help the situation either. It leads to the wrong notions of love, affection, sex, etc. among teenagers. Nothing wrong with pornography in and of itself, but on the screens of teens who don't understand that its simply entertainment and not education, its dangerous.

FOR ALL YOUR CONCERNS AND IDEOLOGIES THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES!

Let me tell you a little story.

When I was a first year medical resident over 25 years ago my first rotation was in obstetrics. We had to run the free clinic every Thursday from 4-9 pm. This was basically a community outreach program. We provided free OB and GYN care to women, mostly inner city and low income women.

As a first year resident in my second rotation I was full of enthusiasm and was ready to conquer the world of disease, pestilence and social inadequacy. We were told that we had to see quite a few patients so we had to be as efficient with our time as possible. Well, as a first year resident I was very "book smart" but very "patient care" ignorant.

My first patient was a 14 year old girl in her first trimester of pregnancy that was there with her guardian. Guardians were appointed adults that could bring them to the clinic if mom was too busy. After her history and exam I found out this was her THIRD pregnancy!!! She had a "miscarriage" (read abortion) at 13 and got pregnant again 2 months later and had a healthy baby girl. Now she was back 10 weeks into her 3rd pregnancy.

I decided I was going to make a difference in this poor uninformed girls life. I talked to her for about 20 minutes about the problems of being a single mother at her age, the responsibilities, the consequences regarding school, society and life in general. I explained and gave her literature about our contraceptive program, Wellness programs, Family Planning, Planned Parenthood, birthing clinics, Lamaze classes, social services and anything else I could think about.

Now, she was a very pretty, polite and seemingly smart 14 yo girl. As I talked to her, as most 14 year olds are, she was a little shy, a little introverted, but she appeared at least interested in my information. She sat there very calmly as I and the nurse discussed all this with a warm smile on her face seemingly involved. When I was done I asked her if she thought any of this information, that we gave her, we made sure her guardian received also, was helpful. She politely answered "I guess so". Then I asked her a question and she gave me the answer I will never forget.

I asked her if she thought anything we told her would help her try not to get pregnant again? She looked at me straight in the eye, as she patted her belly, and said,,,,

"Doctor, this is a raise".

A RAISE!

I'll leave you all with your thoughts on this.

I knew you were Dr. BooHoo.

There are a thousand different contributing factors for this issue. Cultural, financial, Education and lack of it, influence of pop culture. On and on I could go. Just as the "Godless Liberal and her elitist Husband (her words not mine) said, they had two daughters and they are now professional and successful. The same can be said for many. Both those who are Conservative or Liberal. Spiritual of agnostic. Where the difference is made is in the home. The way we teach kids in the home is where the battle can best be won. It is no guarantee, but its the best bet.

I also agree with the one person who said this should not be all about the girls. We are sending such a mixed message as a society its crazy. Boys are supposed to go chase women and those women are supposed to be celebate. That is like saying I'm gonna buy a Ferrari and drive the speed limit all the time. Young men should be taught that bedding every female in their school is not the best thing to do.

I have been a teenager just like everyone else. And, we all know what it was like. But, it is MUCH different now. Teenagers are not just acting like adults, they honestly believe they know more and enough that adults should just stay out of their face. I look into some young peoples eyes, particularly young men. And I see a blank, lifeless look in many of them. There has been a desensitisation in the minds of young people. Look at Murder among youth. Look at assaults and all manor of crime. Sex is just a extension of the attitudes of today's youth. Take a few minutes and watch MTV and their shows that have teens living together in the same home... it is nothing more then a sex show of who does who and how often. Sex sells. Violence sells.

Until we as a society take 100% responsibility for our kids, meaning... if they screw up... WE are held just as responsible as them. NOTHING will change. That is the way it used to be. If a mans son attacks another and he was still in his fathers home... that father suffered the consequences along with the son. Not very good for the legal system but I guarantee it would cause parents to pay more close attention to what is going on with their rotten kids?...? If you are a parent... YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for what your kid does. Even if the Law lets you off the hook. If your son or daughter lives in YOUR home under YOUR supervision... whatever they do is YOUR PROBLEM. Start acting like that parents... and stop your self-centered pursuit of personal happiness while your rotten ass kids go buc wild. Start giving enough of a damn and things may change. Otherwise... do as some of us have chosen to do who do not feel parenting is our best suite... don't have kids. And... don't marry a woman who wants kids if you do not. Do the world and YOUR offspring a favor and be honest with yourself and them and just refrain from having kids. If you plan and want kids... act like it. Don't pretend life goes on as usual while your kids are out getting pregnant and impregnating. Gang banging and hurting others while you slide through life like its all yours to take. The only way ANY of this will change starts in the home. Everything else is a fart in a hurricane.

You are 100% right with your comments. Thanks.

As a mother of a 15 year old daughter, I'm not surprised that the rate has increased. My daughter's boyfriend just broke up with her because she wouldn't have sex with him. What they are teaching in the classroom is not enough. TV shows and movies that make a teen pregnacy seem normal are lying to our children and are irresponsible.

Susan...

It is also "irresponsible" for others to always have to force us to fund their own irresponsibility.

scott - an increase of .2 (6.95 to 7.15) 2.8% increase.

what do we expect when children are being raised by TV? this is a result of poor influence and a lack of discipline. guess what, it starts in the home. this is a reflection of bad parental control of kids. irresponsible people do irresponsible things and when they breed they pass the same irresponsibility on to the next generation. if we really wanted to curb this behavior we would stop encouraging it by providing more aid for more kids. i have seen so many cases of this abuse of the system it makes me sick. i was against eugenics at first, but now with more educated eyes, maybe these people should be sterilized. haha, just an extreme joke!

Now, make no mistake, I do find the levels of sex and its glamorization in the media to be disgusting. However, a family friend who is British and thus is familiar with their culture has told me time and again that their censors are far more liberal than ours, making us look like the medieval Vatican in comparison. And yet, we are the society with more issues. I personally think that it's the issues of repression and rebellion, for as a teenager myself (though this is from observation, not personal experience) I know that when you tell most kids no without a reason that is clear to them, that's more of an incentive to do it. If you're open enough to the issue without glamorizing it, they will be more conducive to listening.

Remember there were certain High Schools in the US where the teenage girls students all got together, made a pact, and planned to get pregnant at the same time, without planning to have a partner? It seemed to be a pattern.

Why?---Is it still happening?.

My above statements still stand. Is this why the rate is going up. Hard for me to believe there is an increase.

But the good news is

Obama wants to pay to kill all the babies he can. Let the little kids play and we will then kill their babies for them

Hobo:

O doesn't want to punish his daughters or destroy their own futures if they should so get pregnant. Abortion is ok.

Danvass, that is right, in white households girls are more often counseled to get abortions than in other ethnic households. That does not make it wrong. If people of the other cultures in America are going to celebrate their teen pregnancies than they don't have the right to complain when their daughter's don't go as far in school or earn as much over their life times as the girls who went on and got their careers going. that is not prejudice, that is a fact. If we want America to continue to be a influential nation in the future than we have to see to it that our young women get a good education.

am currently a 17 year old and in school, but I would just like to comment on this issue. People are saying there is a stigma on people that have had sex, well that from my observations is not the case. In fact, if you have not had sex, in the public school system you are probably going to get paid out. The lifestyles people adopt now are calling for teenagers to have sex, don't worry about responsibility and self control because either your parents, grandparents or your government will help you. Forget sex education, all that does is allow the kids to make fun of the word "boobies" or "penis" and give the teacher a hell of a time.

Blaming abstinence only or birth control only teaching methods etc is a waste of time as neither make a difference for the majority. Teens aren't having sex to have children most of the time, they are just careless with it and don't bother with birth control. If it is not on them at the time they will do it anyway and just hope all is well.

It is the lifestyle that we grow up with. We live in an over-sexualised society, that is for sure. As teenagers, we can't handle problematic situations involving emotions in an optimum manner. Many of my friends, they will go to under -18 parties, take pills, hook up with strangers, then finish the night off with sex with a stranger. I know a two people who did it when they were 12! I mean it is disgusting what a society we are now. I don't put all the blame on my generation as we grow up spoon fed with pornography and expectations to dress like hookers.

I see it in my other friends, extremely modest girls who won't give underage sex a thought, dress in clothes that send the message "we are available".

It has nothing to do with all this Liberal/Republican BS. It just comes down to the lifestyle and environment we grow up with.

Society is raising the bar with what is acceptable. It is too late now, money practically controls the world and if anything is absolute it is that sex sells.

Maturity, self control and responsibility are all key in maintaining a positive society. Too bad we grow up without these anymore.

Sex is not a bad thing, but when it is thrown around like a rag doll and not respected, well there is a problem.

It is all downhill from here anyway, a big thanks to Hollywood and the porn industry while I'm at it.

amusedreader

Spot on.

I think you have a point to some degree but my question is, where are the parents? We need to teach our kids about sex and pregnancy and birth control. If you are not talking to your 10 year old about sex I garauntee her friends are talking to her and the tv and magazines are talking to her. Who do you want educating your kids about sex, you, their freinds, or MTV? I believe too many kids are seeing and hearing about sex from everyone but their parents. After all parents are working 40 and 60 hour weeks to put food on the table and how many families sit down and eat dinner together every night? Not many people take the time to teach their kids about sex and as a result kids look for answers else where. Todays preteen and teen has a lot more unsupervised time during the day than any other past generation and that is why there is a spike in teen pregnancy.

thank you, mel, exactly what I was trying to say...i think you hit the nail on the head a bit better.

whjy should the schools and taxpayer be funding camps and after school activities for your kids, you chose to have the child you entertain it, sorry but schools are they to provide an education, the rest is up to you as a P A R E N T

One focus I see missing here is that less than 100 years ago young girls were ready for marriage at 15 and 16. Times and attitudes change but the hormone process does not for young teens. We do need to educate them as parents and begin at a very early age. From 0-12 children learn the basics they need to develop into productive entities of society. If they've been in communication all of this time with parents and engaged in actively learning at home they do quite well.

For reasons not completely agreed upon by research, modern girls seem to reach puberty/adolescence earlier than a hundred years ago - when people did marry young as a rule. Of course, life expectancy was shorter then.

Mel has good points regarding what "should" be happening as regards parents teaching their kids, and regarding the "reality" of what is NOT getting done to further that education. What to do? Mandated parenting classes? I can only dream. (I would have enjoyed more such classes beyond what the hospital offered to new parents - very helpful, and various programs I attended over the years also were helpful.)

My daughter knows of 3 pregnant girls in her high school at this date (all white, for those who care), pretty sad. She and I have caught some of that show "Pregnant and 16" on MTv (I think that's the name of it), and those girls are miserable for the most part, with the stat being 90% of the "fathers" (sperm donors) NOT marrying the girls, only one gave the child up for adoption. That teen father is being mature about the adoption descision, however his jail-bird father, "grandpa", never there for his own son, is laying a guilt trip on his teen kid. I'd write him off as "white trash", but gramps is just a loser and jackass, lower than low.

Welcome to socialism.

I have worked years in schools, it is the attitude, babies are cool school is not cool. The group that shares this mentaility is growing and is surpassing the college bound kids.

mel2877 wrote "I think you have a point to some degree but my question is, where are the parents?"

More like, where is the mother? America has the highest divorce rate in the world. The father has been cut out of the picture at every level by the courts, government benefits and society at large equating low-income fathers with nothing.

The father has been cut out of the picture at every level by the courts

Cry me a river Ian. Guess you have been divorced and didn't get what you wanted. Bitter much?

whjy should the schools and taxpayer be funding camps and after school activities for your kids, you chose to have the child you entertain it, sorry but schools are they to provide an education, the rest is up to you as a P A R E N T

That's all well and good to say, but what about single parents who have to work to support their child(ren)? When the children are younger, you can have them in daycare or have someone you know watching them; but when they become teenagers, they want to be able to take care of themselves. If teens are involved in after-school activities, they're not coming home to spend hours in an empty house until the parent gets home from work. They're not getting in trouble because they're bored, and they're not being tempted by that empty house to have the boyfriend/girlfriend come over. Yes, I know that teens that want to have sex are going to manage to do it - but it helps to give them less of an opportunity.

As a side note, above and beyond the teen sex issue - studies have shown that children and teens that are involved in arts programs in the schools are better students and better decision makers.

I see Ian's point though, a low income father is treated as a liability. A mother can only get financial assistance if she gets rid of him. Fathers have more to offer than financial support. It's a sad state of affairs.

Divorced or never married mothers also believe that they can substitute several boyfriends over the course of ten years as stand-in father figures. What does this do to a child? Modern mothers spend about as much time with a child (after pregnancy and a few months of leave) as modern fathers. Would a child mind if it is passed from mother to mother? It's clear that no one suggests that foster homes are equivalent to homes with two biological parents. So, why does modern American culture believe that the father is disposable while the mother is essential?

This is easy to overlook until an inspection of the family backgrounds of criminals reveal that most had no actual father. Feminist scholars are eager to point to elements they consider violence conditioning such as contact sports, including dodgeball, and spanking as seeds for the "cycle of violence." They often forget that there are no biological fathers and husbands present, and that discipline is dished out by mothers.

Extracurriculars and parents talking are great, but that wont stop teens from having sex if they want to. Although I do think they help, teens will do what they want.

I don't think trying to keep teens from having sex is a good idea.It would just cause them to hide things from you which makes communication that much harder.
I have always tried to give my girls the guidance to help them keep from being taken advantage of or getting in too deep before they are ready.In all kinds of situations because I wish I'd had that kind of guidance myself. They have all waited longer to have sex than I did, and of course they know how to not get pregnant until they want to.

Guess you want to avoid natural instincts and give the kids a bible. Then maybe your one of those abstenence proponents. Unfortunately nature always gets in the way.

Your a square, and very ignorant of the facts here.

Funny comming from a bible thumper.

The bible is not a good prophylactic.

The more you educate kids to stay away from something, in this case, "sex", they are more inclined to do it more. That is just human nature of being curious. Kids of certain age have always been able to do things with or without parents permission. I don't see what the harm is to educate kids about having "safe" sex. By not talking or encouraging of not having sex, who is to know what kids do behind doors.

only morals stop teen sex, whether its religion or just good parenting.

some things kids shouldnt be taught, they cant wrap their minds around it. and what they discover on their own will not traumatize them.

Teen pregancy rates annually dropped after sex-ed was instituted in schools, it was only when abstinence only education became instituted that the trends began to reverse. Sex-education works.

I'm not sure what sex-education entails where you live, but in most places it is pretty similar to what you describe teaching your children. It's a clinical explanation of the possible consequences of sex, description of STD's, and an explanation of contraceptives and how they work. If you've got a beef with the sex-education corriculum in your area join the PTA and do something about it, don't complain that the evil liberals are ruining education.

Nevada (113) Arizona (104) Mississippi (103) New Mexico (103) Texas (101) Florida (97) California (96) Georgia (95) North Carolina (95) Arkansas (93)

Above are the top ten states with the highest pregnancy rates. I believe that some states are more active in providing pregnancy information than in others.

There are many aspects in why teens in some areas are more likely to become pregnant than in others. While sex education is very important teaching abstinence is probably the worst route to take as Fuha mentioned. I believe most conscientious parents talk to their teens about what to do if they happen to have sex and get this in line before they experiment. I believe it is wrong to assume your teen will abstain just because you ask them to refrain from the activity. When parents prepare their teenagers for the inevitable they have prepared their teen and can hope for the best. In these cases of pre-preparedness teens are less likely to engage in sexual activity or at least take the precautions taught to them.

The glitch here is that some families absolutely refuse to talk about sex, birth control or anything connected with the activity except to say it is nasty, wrong, bad, or if your teen participates they are less than all others. This contradiction is the downfall. You cannot convince a teen that sex is bad before marriage and good after, as it doesn't make sense to them. Of course, other factors are involved such as child abuse, poverty and the absence of education that plays a part. Teen girls who feel loved and secure normally have no reason to seek it through a boyfriend, which can lead to sexual activities. Those who are abused neglected and lonely might do otherwise.

hampster...I don't know what wheel you've been spinning in, but public schools teach sexuality, pregnancy, std's, aids prevention, alternative life styles etc... And if you think children,in this day and age don't know that when penis meets vagina without protection all sorts of things can occur, than you need to get out of your cage.
Teaching abstinance as well as birth control ie: pregnancy prevention in all its forms, has not raised the rate of pregnancy, that is a complete fallacy and a stupid argument.
Teaching a group of children alternatives...you can choose to have sex with different types of birth control available, and this is how they're used etc... or you can chose to postpone sex. Yeah, that's a recipe for disaster.
Remeber, in public school, no religion or ethical choices are introduced, so quit the bible thumping crappola.
It's about hopelesseness, lonliness and depression for young women, lack of direction, lack of mentors, pressure from our celebrity culture to look and act a certain way, not enough pride in being, smart, athletic or civically minded...and lack of respect from men.
To all of you men who are posting, if you have a daughter, sister, neice, or friend, teach her to be goal oriented and have to strength to be forward thinking. It will help all of us.

Kids don't have sex because they're immoral, lonely, have parents who ignore them or because they're "bad". They do it because they're bored, because everyone else is, because it's portrayed as the cool thing to do and everyone does it. My gosh, haven't you people ever been teens? Seriously?

I'm in my 30's and I still remember it SO well! I was raised with morals, in church, was even a proud member of a little self-formed group called the "Virgin Society". Of course I was the last one standing in THAT group. They all had sex within six months of forming the group. My friends with similarly loving and involved parents all started having sex at 14-15. I waited til I was 18 and THAT was a HUGE deal, I tell you what! I was among the last of my friends that had sex, and unfortunately, as smart as I was (honors student, AP classes, multiple extra-curricular activities, sports, after-school job at a daycare, and church youth group) I had sex because of desire and peer pressure, not because of love and commitment.

There's no guarantee, guys. Kids from broken homes stay virgins til marriage. Kids from happy "religious" homes get pregnant at 16. There's no sure-fire method here.

No body said anything about teens being bad.
Statiscally, teens from two parent home are less likely to have sex or I should say, unprotected sex, (because that is what we're taliking about) than single parent homes.
Teens that are goal oriented and are thinking about their future are less likely to engage in self defeating behaviors.
Of course there's no black and white but there are things like mentoring, communication, love, keeping your teens busy and goal oriented that can help.

Jaime, Of course teens have sex out of curiosity. We're talking about protecting teens from early pregnancy. The other above stated reasons are a part not all reasons for accidentally pregnancy.

lilymoo:

Go here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Europe

It took me "Results 1 - 10 of about 15,600,000 for sex education in europe. (0.34 seconds)" that long to find a website that talks about the various countries in Europe that have MANDATORY sex education.

Don't try and state something as fact when you haven't heard it in the news. Try being proactive and seeking answers out on your own.

I'm not trying to be catty, but it just seems like a great way to look far less biased in the long-term.

whitneymak - thank you. America is woefully behind.

The problem is too much sex education in school. America is the only country that teach sex education in school and we have the highest teenage pregnancy in the world. Add that to MTV and all the sex programs on TV, and guess what you have. Welfare recipients.

False information. That is just totally untrue.

hampster wrote "Try sex education in schools and offer teens in school free pregnency perventive (the pill, prophylactics). Keep the religious zealots swinging their bibles away from schools and preventing children from leaning about sex before it is to late."

Sex education and low-cost if not free birth control has been readily available foir thirty years. Perhaps we should give bible-thumpers a chance. Single mothers certainly aren't effective.

Not to mention highest percentages in conservative morals and "pro family" pro-life values.

The biggest problem with the American system of education is RELIGION always gets in the way. If religion could be keep out of the American school system then American children would not be so far down on the dumb list.

I wonder HOW kids CANNOT know about "safe sex". It is all over the papers, magazines, TV, you name it, taught in schools. And I think it is a good thing to know. BUT, there is a starting place to learn about morals, and that is at HOME. Call it "bible thumping" if you like, but it is simply a case of letting your children know that you treasure them, and expect them to respect themselves, and that abstinence is best. It's start off place. Parents should teach all aspects of sex, safe sex, and MORALS. I certainly wouldn't want my daughters to be known as "easy", would you? Give them some ammunition besides only rubbers, pills, sponges, whatever. Give them a good moral base.

And, where have you been? Religion and even the word "God" is not permitted in public school curriculums. Maybe that's the problem.

A just say no attitude would probably push anyone with rebellious natures to do the opposite. Rather than flat out telling someone not to do it, parents should explain the consequences and burdens on finances and social lives an unplanned pregnancy can bring. An understanding of the precautions to limit the possibilities of pregnancy and sti'sare important and can't be ignored. I think they should always be followed up with noting that abstinence is the only way to guarantee no pregnancy, but that is mainly for kids who already don't plan to have sex at a young age.

Yeah, I'd hate to mess up my youngsters' plans.

Whether teaching abstinence or not is a not the problem.

1) Lack of self esteem

1a) certain gang initiations offer identity (false self-esteem) if girls submit to sex.

2) If you don't abstain, Add free prophylactics (not 100% fool-proof) - promoting a false sense of security.

3) Abortion if you don't abstain, don't use protection, the protection fails, abortion is legal and in many states the parents don't even have to know.

Seems to me the prescription for the problem IS PART of the problem.

The problem is that abstinence only does not work. Period. As for the self esteem issue, I thought you conservatives deride that stuff.

And most parents DON'T teach their kids what they need to know. Just a fact. They may think they are, but most kids feel differently, and end up finding out from their peers. You do kids a disservice by not fully educating them.

smp65 "teach her to be goal oriented and to have strength that will be best.

Yes that is good, but what I want to know is what are we teaching our young men and boys?

No Susie. The article is referring to the rate or percentage of increase and not the final number. Either way it's a sad indictment. It's the responsibility of the parents to teach their children values, and not the job of the school system.

It is unfortunate that some families refuse to educate and refuse to allow others to educate. These families cause the biggest rift in that their refusal is confusing and frustrating to the teen. Responsible parents take the time to truly have a thorough conversation with their teens or find someone to assist them in this educational task. It also has a lot to do with the parent's attitude about sex as this can sway a teen as much as anything.

For all the stupid liberals saying the us bible thumpers are the ignorants ones, guess what? Whose more ingnorant, the one who is so base that they follow their animal urges or the person who tried to rise above it and be a responsible person?! Answer is definitely not the person who cannot control themselves!!! And every thinking person realizes that the left's philosophy of "no one is responsible for their own behavior" is EXACTLY what got our society into the mess it's in!!! Back when we at least had a majority of us dumb Bible thumpers, there were ALOT less unwed pregnancies, less divorce, less abuse of every kind, and less murder too. Now when we follow the left's dictates, we see sexually transmitted diseases sky-rocketing, people so self absorbed they kill others just because they were disappointed for once in their lives, etc.

I take a Bible thumper any day over an open minded liberal who is so open minded that his brains fell out. Common sense will tell you liberal ideas will fail. You cannot have "free" love without consequences. Drugs are not a victimless crime, etc. Most of our ills is society today come from lack of morals of any kind.

its showing

blacks 3.6 per 1000 increase

hispanics 1.7 per 1000 increase

whites .7 per 1000 increase

and above someone showed its the southern states with the highs..........

OaklahomaMom, I'm not even sure where to begin... It's astounding to me that people place this in the political arena. This isn't a political issue, it's a parenting issue. If you think this didn't go on when the country had more 'bible thumpers' (not sure when that was, exactly), you're wrong. The only reason it appears worse now is that we have global media. We never got information like this before the internet. Do you ever remember national news covering this in the 80's? I don't. It isn't that it didn't go on, its that you didn't hear about it.

And as far as taking a bible thumper over a liberal any day, I'm reminded of something I got to watch first hand when I was younger. The 14 year old granddaughter of one of the most popular bible thumping preachers of our time got pregnant. You know what they did to protect the empire? They sent her away to some home for unwed mothers. They covered it up. Bible thumpers aren't immune to this either and if you believe holding a bible makes people moral, think again.

Oklahoma mom and I seem to define "responsible" differently. I'd argue that someone who acknowledges that humans (including teens) have sex, and who takes precautions (sex ed, contraceptives, etc.) is the responsible one. And that someone who likes to pretend that people don't have sex is being pretty unrealistic.

I'd so much rather teens be completely informed about sex by parents and teachers than for us to just hope that they won't make poor judgement calls. If we don't give them all of the facts, we can't possibly expect them to make sound decisions.

Oklahoma Mom wrote: "Back when we at least had a majority of us dumb Bible thumpers, there were ALOT less unwed pregnancies..."

There were a lot fewer unwed births back then, but there were still many unmarried couples who had accidental pregnancies. Social pressures caused many couples to quickly marry because they "had to" because the girl got pregnant. There were some positives to this (the children were raised in a home with two parents), but there were some definite negatives. Just in my own family, I know a lot of the 50+ year old couples rushed to marry after the girl got pregnant. Unfortunately, they were not happy marriages. They stayed together for decades out of a sense of obligation. Some of these gray haired couples finally divorced after 30+ years of marriage and they are now much happier in their new independent lives or new relationships.

So keep in mind that for the people living a generation or two ago, it was not some ideal golden age. People did still have sex out of wedlock then, there were unwanted pregnancies, and they had to deal with the consequences in ways that were often difficult.

oklahoma mom, very hateful....I understand the name calling offends you however, generalizing and being so hateful in your words does not allow anyone to embrace religion.....I am sorry you are very judgmental; however from a public policy perspective this is an issue that must be address thoroughly and realistically.

Not all bible thumpers are ignorant. The problem with the bible is that it is black and white. You can't have premarital sex, using birth control is a sin and you can't have an abortion. The world is not black and white, there are many shades of gray. Unfortunately with people who have lived in poverty for generations there are many children that don't have the parental support that is required, so in many cases it is the school or the governments responsibility to educate these individuals. As it is stated in the article the government for the past decade has only been funding abstinence only programs.

Oklahoma mom: Back when we at least had a majority of us dumb Bible thumpers, there were ALOT less unwed pregnancies, less divorce, less abuse of every kind, and less murder too. Now when we follow the left's dictates, we see sexually transmitted diseases sky-rocketing, people so self absorbed they kill others just because they were disappointed for once in their lives, etc.

That cracked me up! There were plenty of untimely pregnancies among all of society. Divorce didn't happen, as women had no rights! Abuse was rampant but men were allowed to abuse their women and daughters without circumstance. As far as murder, well it was only lower due to smaller populations. Diseases were spread with no thought to the partner. I think in your hatred and skewed thoughts you haven't really researched the material or simply forgot what was going on. The good old days were not that good. Today you can rank on the libs all you want but the libs get it and know just what you are saying and doing...trying to distract everyone from your guilty conscience for refusing to open your mind a bit.

js445607 -- well said.

Ah yes, the good ol' 'better' days, here's what I remember: a school chum sent away in disgrace for getting pregnant and having her baby in secret; my own mother getting an illegal, dangerous and lonely abortion because my dad didn't want the baby, the routine abuse both verbal and physical by husbands of their wives in the town, routine sexual harassment of myself and others at our jobs ("hey, you've got a sense of humor, don't you?) Sex was somethng boys 'did' to girls in the back seat.None of this was ever challenged or punished, you just put up with it. And so on.

Good old days, my arse. They were great if you were male, white and staight. I'd rather have the troubles we have now than go back to that dreary time.

My point exactly, wodressesyou, and you said it perfectly. Sexual harassment was the constant theme. Bosses could coerce women employees to have sex with them. Old geezers were hitting on young girls without consequence. Fathers, brothers and uncles were having sex with the underage girls in the family. Girls being raped were told they asked for it and any sexual activity by a girl got them called ugly names.

building codes? It was a cultural thing but it is gradually changing. Sure, anywhere you find a population isolated and trapped within it's own barriers you'll find more teen pregnancies. I was from a small town with lots of teen pregnancies and these babies went on to have babies as teens and on and on. However, this is spread over an entire population. In the case where I lived it were all whites no other races.

Minority communities do not tolerate or encourage teenage girls to have kids, as you may want to believe. That is false, a fact, minority teens are encouraged not to have abortions. It is a fact that abortions are more prevalent in some communities, hence a lower statistic rate of teenage pregnancies reported. A major fact is that we have a serious problem of teenage pregnancies in this country no matter where these kids are from.

The only reason it appears worse now is that we have global media. We never got information like this before the internet. Do you ever remember national news covering this in the 80's? I don't. It isn't that it didn't go on, its that you didn't hear about it.

Absolutely true, but there is also the fact that teen pregnancy wasn't as openly acknowledged in the community many years ago as it is now. It used to be that if a teenager got pregnant, she "disappeared" for a few months until the baby was born - either to a relative that lived at a distance, or to a home for unwed mothers. The same situation existed with young adult women that got pregnant - they either went elsewhere to have the baby (and often lied about their marital status) or married the father and did some fudging of dates. I think baby boomers would be very surprised to find out how many of their mothers were pregnant when they got married!

Oklahoma mom: you said "Back when we at least had a majority of us dumb Bible thumpers, there were ALOT less unwed pregnancies, less divorce, less abuse of every kind," Well depending on how far "Back when" you are talking about . . .My mother and her mother were abused. "Back then" it was taboo to talk about it. No one talked about anything. "Back then" women were treated like property. Maybe you would like to go "Back when".

cwithurmind, That was back in my day, too. Anything a woman did that displeased her husband or clergy was disaster for her. Thanks for you comment.

The reason why it doesn't work is because we don't practice what we preach. Kids see its O.K. to live with someone without marriage. Dad and Mom bring home their girlfriends and boyfriends to sleep over night. Don't fool your self if you only allow that when their at the other parents house they know thanks to all the movies and shows we allow them to watch. All the sex education classes they are given. They know its O.K. for you and not O.k. for them. They get mixed messages for no one is saying it is wrong for the adults.

France and the Netherlands certainly have as sexual a culture as the U.S., but their teen pregnancy rates are 5 and 9 per 1000 respectively comparted to 53 per 1000 in the U.S. Teenagers have sex all over the world, teenagers in the U.S. are just more irresponsible about it.

JK - you are so right! We must value and respect ourselves. Then, we must raise our young daughters to value and respect themselves. We must impress on them the sanctitiy of motherhood, and that every child deserves a loving intact home, and that every woman deserves a man who will treasure her.We must speak frankly to them, regarding the predatory nature of many young men and their sexual urges. In turn, we must impress on our sons the sanctity of fatherhood, and that every child deserves a loving intact home, and that he must not take advantage of young girls with dreams of their prince in their heads.They must also beware of silly young girls who think having a baby will just be so much fun! Each man deserves a woman who will treasure him, and should carefully nurture a loving, life long relationship with her.

JK, Good points and I've experienced this with several friends from my past. All had girls and all were very promiscuous where the girls never knew who mommy would drag home next. All were pregnant as teens. Another had an abusive mother who cared about two younger children and scolded and admonished the teen. She, too, became pregnant as a teen. There are plenty of factors but I believe the main issue is education and the ability of parents paying attention to their teens activities, attitudes, moods and outlook.

don, glad your approach worked on your girl but I would totally disagree with your maneuver. I don't think girls believe babies equal money and believe the lack of acceptance and belonging is where teen pregnancies come from. Your strategy worked for you and I'm happy about this but I don't think it would work for everyone.

I told my teens that if they made a mistake and a pregnancy occurred I wanted to know immediately so we could work out a plan that was good for everyone. None of my three were all that sexually active as teens and I'm sure they experimented. However, they were completely armed with information and it was a running dialogue in our household.

So Andrew its O.K. that the people of France an Netherlands 12-18 year olds to have sex as long as they is no consequences. That's a model you want to emulate? Don't teach the kids at all to have self control and be responsible? I know Adults who know all about birth control and still got pregnant. One at 45 years of age and 4 girls of her own the 5th at age 45 she aboted. She had her 1st at 16 and oldest had abortions her 2nd oldest had a child at 16. You think they didn't know about birth control?

You're assuming teenagers are capable of self control and responsible behavior. Many adults have difficulty with this, so we can't expect kids to have more self control than adults do.

Obviously, we want to teach kids to be responsible and that actions have consequences. However, we have to understand the part of the brain that controls impulses isn't fully developed until adulthood. This means that while we may teach responsibility and they may understand it, in many cases they simply do not have the capacity to fully control their own behavior.

Parents need to get their heads out of the sand and arm their kids with information so they don't end up pregnant or having STD's.

JK, how do you know that they are being responsible and not having sex. The numbers don't tell you that. All we know is that the kids are taught sex education that is not abstinence only.

I wonder how anyone got toilet-trained if self-control is so hard?

lk in la - Perfect point. It's all about self-control. Kids today are bombarded with VERY suggestive musical lyrics, TV programs, etc. Parents, WHERE ARE YOU?? What kind of example do you set yourselves with what you watch on TV and listen to??? Kids normally absorb what surroundings they are in. What kind of lifestyle are your kids subjected to???

Media is also a reflection of popular culture, and probably does little to create it.

You guys can blame the media all you want, but sex sells. So instead of complaining about the impossible (making sure that all adults are responsible and set a good example to children) just educate them about consequences and what to do to prevent them. Treat the kids with respect and they will respect you for it.

Religion also says to sacrifice animals when women go on their periods (old testament). Morals are subjunctive too. Just teach them about consequences, prevention, and give them respect and trust.

In comment to mikegparty... We no longer have to sacrifice animals since the birth of Jesus Christ, The New Testament actually teaches all about morals, consequences, prevention, respect and yes even trust.

May I suggest reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, again and again until you understand what The Holy Bible really teaches. When you finish another suggestion would be to read Revelation.

If more people would follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and teach their loved ones to do the same, our world would not be in the fix it is in.

Oh... and about the world... Revelation will clue you right in.

God Bless

maybe people will be more open to options like abortion and birth control.....I am sure no one wants to be a young mom..its not fun. I was a young mom however, I was successful because I worked hard in college and got a good job. Marriage at a young age was the biggest mistake of my life...so marriage is not always the answer....I was in poverty when I was married at a young age opposed to now, I am doing great so all these judgments about whose fault and whose shouldn't and who should, need to stop. Its not very christian to judge others.

There was just an article on this same website that said the children got $250K for an appearance on a UK show, and it didn't report what 'octomom' herself got. She's off the public dole. While I don't condone any of her decisions, you need to update your information BEFORE you post.

Government benefits are designed to support the children, not the mother. If you limited the benefits to the first child, then every time a woman in poverty has a second child out of wedlock, the problems are just compounded -- less for the first child because there is another mouth to feed, etc. Will this stop girls from getting pregnant? I don't know, but it certainly will make them more dependent on the kindness of strangers and less able to afford contraception.

Equally import, when talking about the actions of teenagers you are discussing people who aren't fully mature and who's ability to understand and react to the potential consequences of some actions is limited. The are going to make mistakes (we all do), and sex is an easy are to make a mistake. But rather than get into a froth over a one-year increase in the illegitimacy rate, let's see if it continues before deciding that the sky is falling.

So Zach and lilymoo--

I can see your point from those women that take the baby mama drama route, however I know lots of unwed couples with kids, that are in better relationships and less drama than taxpayers that are married and miserable. How would you account for those circumstances? Teens model their behavior based on their environment, and if I had kids, I'd rather be where I am now, with a good partner, no kids, than a horrible marriage, with kids.

She may be 'off the public dole', but she didn't pay the taxpayers back for her folly in the first place, did she?

I read all this public dole yap and how we don't want to really help anyone yet pay zillions of dollars to keep our prisoners fed sheltered and entertained. Something just doesn't sound right.

Their're going to have sex whether you like it or not.

That's just like saying they will do drugs so you don't have to tell them its wrong. Teens know about birth control. So don't adults. You can't go 5 minutes on T.V. without birth control advertisements yet their are still unwanted pregnancies. I know 45 year old unwed mother of 4 girls who just aborted her fifth babie. Believe me she and her daughters know about birth control they just don't care they either try to trap the father.

Sorry, should have been "They're".

I recommend turning off the tv.

There's going to be murder whether you like it or not too...what a stupid argument.
Teens know how to prevent pregnancy...especially the teens whose parents try to teach them to postpone sex. (btw, all parents should want their teens to postpone sex, right?) They're the teens who would most likely strive to use birth control because they don't want to anger or disappoint their parents.
It's the homes where unwed motherhood is generational or homes where the parent(s) know their daughter is sexually active, they provide birth control...and wow, the teen still gets pregnant.
I've seen it too many times.

This is such a funny statement here I can't stop laughing. Please don't make blanket statements that have no basis in truth!

The girl in my college dorm was from a nice Christian home. She was an honor student and smart as a whip - we thought. Got pregnant in her second semester there because no one taught her about birth control at home, and she thought she couldn't get pregnant her first time. Seriously. She thought that. Because no one taught her otherwise.

You can NOT make blanket statements about teenage pregnancy or single parents or Christians, etc. Trust me, those good Christian girls are just as sexually active as the heathens you know. Some are just better at hiding it than others. For every "good abstinent Christian" you know, I know a "good sexually active Christian". For every pregnant teenager there's a teenager from the same background who either practices safe sex or practices abstinence. We've all got stories to prove our point.

Jamie I wasn't saying birth control is bad but it doesn't solve the problem alone. You have to morally educate kids as well. You think it is funny because the woman you mentioned didn't know you can't get pregnant the first time. Why is that so funny to you? Because most know don't they? Most people and kids know about birth control. They just don't use it. Its all over the T.V. And in the stores. Don't say it is because of their religious beliefs because they all so teach not to have sex with out marriage. Its kind of funny to say I can't use birth control because the church preaches that but I will ignore the no sex before marriage rule. You have to teach girls that if a boy is saying you don't love me because you won't have sex with me he isn't really the one to be with. If your having sex to keep a boy then you shouldn't be having it with that boy. That's all I am saying.

Blanket statements? I just read post 3.9 from you. It's the 'snuggie' of all blanket statements.
I never mentioned Christians, you did...or religion at all. The Bible thumping comments were introduced from other posters with an agenda other than this topic.
You have an issue as well. I mentioned all alternatives should be explored, birth control, or postponing sex...without morality being introduced. Teaching young women self esteem, scholastics, being civically minded and goal oriented can help prevent unwanted pregnancy. Having strong mentors and a Father around is helpful as well.
Now back up on your posts, take a breath, read them throughly and engage your brain before you attack someone to further your very apparent bias.

BTW, The elephant in the room is the generational, inner city, unwed mothers...who are lonely and hopeless. But it's sexier and more provacative to bring in the Christian angle.
You're boring, grow up.

"Trust me, those good Christian girls are just as sexually active as the heathens you know"

Actually a very true statement from where I sit. When I was a teenager, the easiest girls were the ones I met at church. Sad, but that's just how it was.

Again...why are the words Christian or Heathen introduced? This was a topic on teen pregnancy but posters with an agenda (anger towards Christians) are the first to bring this up.
I wouldn't play poker if I were you,,you show your hands too quick.

You think it is funny because the woman you mentioned didn't know you can't get pregnant the first time. Why is that so funny to you? Because most know don't they?

Actually, it's astounding how much misinformation is out there among teens. What we take for granted they don't necessarily know. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/15/sex.report/index.html?iref=allsearch is an article that shows a recently published study about the subject:

For instance, 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. At the same time, 18 percent of men wrongly believe that having sex standing up reduces the chance that they will get a female partner pregnant.

Absolutely not. It's just that people need to do a better job of teaching kids about the consequences and showing them what they will miss out on if they have sex too young.

People just tell the kids not to do it. But they don't explain why not. They give them reasons that are meaningless to them, like "Because it's a sin against GOD". They don't say to them, "Oh if you have sex now, you'll end up pregnant or getting someone pregnant, and then you won't be able to play sports anymore or go to that concert, hang out friends, hit the bars when you're 21, travel to fun places, buy your own stuff, place to live, car, attain financial independence and control over your own destiny etc." These are reasons that kids can actually understand.

They don't emphasize the horrors of not knowing how they will get by or have any quality of life while they are young. Teenagers are accustomed to having someone else think about how to pay bills, put food on the table etc. Parents need to start getting kids to think about that when they are 8 and 10 years old. They also need to instill shame into them. Shame about having sex too young, shame about getting pregnant, shame about going on public assistance. Teen pregnancy is glorified by the media. Parents needs to tell their kids not to believe what they see on TV or the internet.

They need to drill it into their kids that having kids isn't fun. It's hard work and sacrifice. Kids already know that being a kid means that someone else is in control of their lives. What parents need to tell them is that being a parent also means that someone else is in control of their lives. What kids want most when they are teenagers is to feel in control of their own lives and to have people respect them as adults. So they need to know that the only way to make that happen is to delay sex or at least use protection so they don't become parents before they are ready to handle the responsibility of handing over their lives to someone else. Stress how important it is to live independently away from parents and kids so they can figure out if having kids is really what they want for the long term. They need to understand that being a parent is for life and that you can't change your mind about it once it happens. However, if they delay, they can always have kids when they're older, like when they're 25 years old.

sunshinelady, that was beautifully stated. We do need to be talking to our children about the realities of having children. Not only do we need to let our daughters know what they will be sacrificing if they get pregnant - we also need to let our sons know that if they get girls pregnant, they will have to work to provide support for their children and will also be tied to the mother of their child for at least 18 years. The bottom line is, we need to be TALKING to our children - and we need to do it when they're young. If your child is old enough to be asking questions about sex, he or she is old enough to be getting honest answers. Because I worked with an AIDS prevention agency, my son became aware of condoms at a VERY young age - and when he asked about them, I gave him age-appropriate answers. You don't have to give a six year old ALL of the information - but do address their questions without giving them the old "we'll talk about that when you're older" line.

Side note: teenagers aren't the only ones who don't have a good idea of what being a parent entails. Many years ago, a friend of mine who was turning 30 started talking about wanting to have a baby, no matter whether there was a man in her life or not. My own child was about a year old, and I told her to think long and hard about having a baby because it was more work than she could possibly imagine, even WITH a partner. Her response? "Oh, I know what it's like - I've had my nieces and nephews for entire weekends." It was all I could do to not laugh in her face!

It isn't the states fault these kids are having sex. It is the child's fault they are having sex. It is the culture we live in today. Kids see and hear too much. If these kids had the "Family Values" your disdaining perhaps they wouldn't be so likely to get in trouble. They see its O.K. for adults to do the things we are telling them not to do so why should they listen? We don't teach our kids values and responsibilities. You say that we should give them birth control as if it is O.K. for kids 12-17 to have sex as long as their are no unwanted babies. Parents take their kids to CCD but don't take them to Church why should the kids go to Church or take CCD sereouslly when the adults don't? I get excuses that my child has to play football Hockey excetera at that time so they can't come to CCD. So where are the parents priority? With a sport apparentlly. And I am not saying going to church will stop Teen pregnancy but at least you try and give them a moral compass. As for Birth control being the answer then why are their so many abortions and teen pregnancies or even unwanted adult pregnancies? I know a lot of 4 adults 20 -45 years old that are, have or had unwanted pregnancies. I see birth control all over the airwaves and every store I go in I see condems. Don't tell me these kids don't know about it. If adults are having unwanted kids birth control to me doesn't help. If your 12 to 15 year olds are getting pregnant your obviously not supervising them enough (in this busy world its no wonder you can't). They don't have cars to get them places like 16 -18 year olds.

As some one who is also involved in education of some kids on HIV and STDs I can say every thing you posted is 100 percent correct when you add in what I am doing. Thank You.

I work in a very conservative area of North Florida.

Do you really think it is the culture today?
Come on, it has ALWAYS been this way. The only difference is that today there are few 'shotgun' weddings and today we have the means (birth control) that actually work...if we would use them.

In the 50's when I was in elementary school 11 year olds were experimenting with sex. I was so grossed out when I found this out as an 11-year-old. I had a neighbor that gave birth at 13. Teen sex hasn't changed all that much over the years. My high school graduating class lost a lot of girls due to pregnancy. In those days a marriage was arranged and some kids were getting married at 14-15 years of age. Fast forward to the 60's and it remained the same. There will always be teen pregnancies and all we can do is hope for the best. States need to get on the bandwagon and help our a bit more if they want a reversal to this situation.

I don't think anyone teaching birth control expects or wants their teen to be sexually active. However, what choice do you want birth control used properly or a teen with a baby?

One of the issues seldom mentioned, teen sexual experimentation and teen pregnancy has always been with us. It is just that no one gets married anymore. At a glance around my community there seems to be just as many young women who are not teens that become single mothers 1, 2, or 3 times, work low paying jobs, etc., as there are teens. My mother who was a Depression baby went to a small country school, and it was going on even then in the late 1940's. One huge difference, if you got pregnant you got married and faced responsibility, or you gave up your child. In some cases, parents raised the child as a sibling to the others in the house , in large families. Also, I have noticed in my community, that teen pregnancies occur across racial, social and income lines, and even educated, prosperous families are having teens bearing children. One other thing that I haven't seen mentioned by posters, is the fact that Americans are wrapped up in the ideal of romantic love, which fuels the romantic desire for sexual union as portrayed in the movies, etc. Young girls often have sex with their "first love", and often mistakenly think that they are goint to be together foreverer and pregnancy just speeds up the togetherness, only to find out that their lover had other ideas when faced with resposibilites that are life altering. There is no simple answer. Europeans are more pragmatic in their appoaches to sex, love, and marriage. They have always known that often sex has a lot to do with human desires and needs, but often little to do with love, and that marriage is not based entirely on romantic love and sexual desire. The teaching must be full circle and broad spectrum.

when it becomes a public health and safety issue is when the state steps in...the role of the government is to fill in the gaps of the private and non profit systems.

I think my parents had a pretty effective way. You get pregnant, you can't live here and you are on your own. Of course this was before goverment assistance, so you really would have been - on your own. Back then (I am 54), I didn't know there was such a thing as government assistance.

what we need to do is end government assistance for these situations, getting pregnant should not equal welfare, housing, food, wic etc etc. government assistance should be for the disabled, elderly and unemployed actively looking for work, anything else you have brought on yourself and should not be supported by the taxpayer. if thats to harsh then plan b is that anyone going on welfare must be on mandatory coil or shot birth control since no one should be allowed to have more kids whilst claiming taxpayer money.

Hitler made the undesirables get mandatory birth control shots as well.

Actually, L murphy, he surgically neutered or killed them

There might be a relation, but I don't think it's necessarily that. Even in the last thirty years, boys had access to daddy's Playboy stash, but it doesn't mean they were getting girls pregnant a few years down the road in high school.

I do think it has to do more with the fact that kids are becoming sexually mature at a certain point, but for some reason are not showing maturity in other areas (mental maturity, having a sense of reality, taking responsibility and being held accountable for their actions/understanding consequence, etc).

So. Someone else mentioned "boredom" as a cause. Would teenagers be more responsible and/or mature if we had them out working earlier? As in the old "idle mind is the devil's playshop adage"... give them enough stuff to do, and there's at least less boredom for them to fill up with the funnest thing they can think of? I guess the question is, how do we do what you suggest, kuskus (or others).

That is why I beleive the last year of high school should be permanently eliminated. The last year does them little if any good unless they are in intramural sports programs. Kids could already go to work or college, and it would save the states alot of money.

Sure, let's eliminate the last year of high school (which is when most kids begin to be EMOTIONALLY mature) and send them off to college - where they're even MORE likely to be having sex. That should solve the problem.

The only reason the family stayed together in the past was because, once married, people were forced to stay in bad marriages. Now, they can escape.

Sure, some marriages should never have happened, but that was always the case. Now at least they can end.

Let them stay in "bad" marriages. What is a bad marriage? Women and children are much safer in cohabitation with their husband and biological father. Search for statistics on domestic violence during pregnancy. You'll find that women are 4x more likely to be beaten by a boyfriend than a husband. The great majority of the child molestation cases involve men that are not the biological fathers, although that is not the impression left by thriller movies and police dramas.

You'll find that women are 4x more likely to be beaten by a boyfriend than a husband.

That only applies to REPORTED cases of abuse. Married women are much less likely to report spousal abuse because they have too much invested in the marriage. How often do we hear stories of women who finally left their abusive husbands, and even those who knew them best were stunned to find out about the abuse?

So, we should take your guess based on no research over collected statistics?

Yes, we hear too many *stories* of women leaving their husbands. Stories. TV shows. Movies. And more stories. It's better to rely on facts. If you really want to believe unreported numbers on spousal abuse, go ahead and turn on the TV during women's prime time hour and wallow in sitcoms featuring bumbling husbands in the kitchen and rape crime dramas.

Hello everyone,

I think vjcole's point was that reported cases can be baised. It may or may not be true that women with abusive husbands are as likely to report abuse as women with abusive boyfriends. Even if it women are less likely to experience spousal abuse than abuse from a boyfriend, spousal abuse still exists and is a serious people. So, if one defines a "bad" marriage as a marriage where spousal abuse occurs, then staying in a "bad" marriage is not a good idea. Also, there may be many factors behind the statistics. It is possible that women are less likely to marry their abusive boyfriends than not doing so or abusive boyfriends are less likely to marry their girlfriend than not doing so. So, encouraging women to marry just to be safe from abuse may not be a good idea.

Teenage pregnancy has become endemic in our society.

Strange, this happened when?

After abstinence only education.

Celebrities don't help the "baby daddy", "baby mama" issue either. Look at all the celebrities in movies, sports, etc. with baby daddies and baby mamas.

More proof that people in professinal positions do not necessarily know much.

They have a chance with all the help their parents get. It is a slim one but if they choose to anyone can better themselves. Its just getting them to take the hard road not the easy.

True.

LOL you are hysterical! Really.

Matt... did you proofread what you wrote? This has not a thing to do with illegals, other than the spewing of illegals getting so many benefits from this great country. How about going back to when the system was set up.. the WELFARE SYSTEM... who was the main race group then and how many years ago? This is about hand-outs period. Girls want babies.. they have baby dolls.. they have this fantasy about life and want to hurry up and get it. This culture alone is disgusting with all that is in the media. I'm embarrassed to watch MUCH of it with my grown children, let alone grandchildren. Sex has gone on since the invention of man.. just like animals.. it just is what it is.. In days past.. either shot-gun weddings or the girls were sent away to those 'good unwed mother' places until the babies were born, then given up for adoption. We are talking children here!!! And children succumbing to what is a natural feeling. Sure, it is up to the parents to be very open telling the children what is normal about their bodies, wise decisions and such. However, we do not live in a perfect world with perfect parents.. no more shot-gun weddings and forced to give the babies up. Our society needs to look to the media, what it is shoving down people's throats.. sensationalizing everything. I for one can not stand those sorry erectile dysfunction commercials. These children have that and then some as a guide to how they are supposed to be. BIRTH CONTROL PERIOD!! In whatever form that may take. It is no longer a morally bad thing that BASTARDS and I say that in yesteryear language to exist. We're dealing with children here. They need the protection of all forms of birth control. They will not stop at masturbation, not this day and age.. shoot.. neither did yesteryear. It's only the way folks now have opinions about it. If the system would stop rewarding GENERATIONAL WELFARE.. begin giving out information, birth control and yes.. opportunities for SAFE abortions. Women of yesteryear knew about things like Pennyroyal and other herbs that eliminated unwanted pregnancies. Men will be men. They will wooo any female of any age into.. oh yeah baby... I've got what you want.. I see the roosters in my yard do it all the time. Watch any nature program and what? oh yeah baby! The lies and promises that males make!!!! Humans are animals period! They are going to answer that natural call no matter what! This day and age just makes this mess that we have come to be in sooo much easier and acceptable!

I guess one way to look at it is if you're not working you have to keep yourself busy somehow!!!!

So why talk to kids about anything hearing the way you think they don't listen to a thing you say anyway. They will do what they want anyway. Don't try to teach them right and wrong and take responsibility for your actions. Don't teach a boy that if you get a girl pregnant you have to man up and take care of the girl and baby. Don't teach a girl that you can say no to a boy and if they dump you they weren't worth keeping anyway. Drug and Alcohol programs all stress "Abstinence" yet a lot of kids don't do drug and alcohol because of it. If it saves a few then why not try? Birth control is known to adults as well yet their is this 45 year old un-wed woman I know who had an abortion. She has 4 girls of her own only 2 were from a marriage. She had her first at 16. Believe me she knows about birth control. What she doesn't know is self control and what is right and wrong.

I am a Grandma and I have to disagree that the doll thing has any effect at all. I have two grandchildren that are middle school age and had to make a carrier and take care of an egg for a weekend. I must admit I thought this was an exercise in futility. That egg did not keep them up at night,cause them to have astronomical dental and Doctor bill, change their whole outlook on life because you can never again be an"I" you will turn into a "we". No decision will ever be made that doesn't put that child first. If we are going to throw money once again at the problem then tell the boys and girls the truth. You as a teen are more than likely going to work the rest of your life at low skill jobs to offer this child minimum care.Your parents life will be changed as they will be obligated to help and all their dreams will be curtailed as well. Children are a blessing but they need to arrive when you are no longer a child and are willing and able to take on the responsibility. We need to tell them that it not OK and they have no right to bring a child into the world that they can not care for.This is not something that you can teach in one semester at school. It needs to be addressed as they are growing up over many years.

The article says it. Hispanics (it could be any race though) in first, Blacks in second and Whites in third. Asians were not included.

I must've missed it. That doesn't surprise me. Maybe the answer is deportation, that wouldn't solve it completely but significantly reduce it.

Whites are aborting the kids more thats all.

Hispanics tend to be Catholic, and their religion would frown on an abortion. However, the educated and middle class "Latin" Americans that I have known, of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican descent - were not strongly Catholic, and typically had one or 2 kids.

Asians, from a non-Christian country, would not be happy about an abortion, but they do not have the strong taboo against it.

Statistics from some asian countries have shown a pattern of aborting only female fetuses.

Ik - yep - but that's China and India. China would not go there except for the "1 baby" rule in the cities. (Farm folk can get an allowance for more.)

Keep having those babies. Maybe Mexico can take back their territory in another 40 - 50 years, if the crazy so-called Amerikans don't blow the world up. Too late for the natives, you've killed most of them off.

Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, etc. are all part of America (i.e. South ,Central, & North), the US does not own the term. That's why I put a "K" when discribing you, I could add 2 more K's, but that would be too obvious.

maybe we need a program that trains teenagers how to take bible pages and fold them into condoms??

No they can keep their Bible, just teach the some birth control.

And what programs is Obama using??

Pepster, I believe there is an executive order dealing with it, as well as a section in the Health Care Reform Bill.....hopefully the part dealing with sex education will make its way into law along with the parts everybody agrees with anyway.

thanks for the tag.

You are a good man, John.

My father was 21 when I was born in the 1980's, my mother was 23. They were already married, my father was attending college and my mother worked full time to support us. We were never wealthy, but my sister and I were always fed, clothed and cared for.

Hearing the story of how my parents struggled with a planned pregnancy at that age was enough for me, despite my very religious upbringing, to ask my gynecologist for birth control at the age of 17. To keep this off of my parent's insurance, I even paid for it myself every month. My boyfriend of 2 years started to chip in for half of it when we started thinking about having sex. I am really thankful I had this doctor, who answered my questions honestly and told me how to pay for my own birth control. All I had learned in school was that condoms failed all the time, birth control pills killed babies and a woman who has sex, even once, with a man who was not her husband was forever rendered FILTHY and UNLOVABLE.

I went through a few relationships after that one, some were good, some were not so good. I had some heartache and I grew. I feel taking responsibility for my decisions, and truly thinking about the consequences of my choices made me grow as an individual.

What is the harm in educating children of both the consequences and precautions they can take?

You did your best, that is all you can ask for, and be proud of yourself.

I would guess it has a lot to do with whether or not there is a father in the home. It is a fact that FATHERS reduce teen pregnancy. Sounds funny when I read it but I am sure you get my point.

A big difference between being a Father and fathering a child. One takes a few minutes the other takes a lifetime.

It's not bigotry if it's fact. They know the routine, free food and support from our horse$hit administration for those who want a free ride.