I agree -- we all know that teenagers check how the economy is doing before they have sex (ha ha). I don't even think I knew what the "economy" was when I was a teenager!

A more likely explanation could be that GW Bush left office and took his abstinence only mindset with him. Now we have a much more open minded and realistic president. Also, this article doesn't mention anything about race, but I am wondering about the impact of an African American president on the African American population where teenage pregnancy is an issue -- e.g. after the election of Obama did more AA teenagers believe in themselves and believe they could get out of poverty.

As for us still having a higher rate than other developed countries. Reasons for this are that our states and local communities still have a lot of power over school agendas. So, some very religious communities may still be teaching abstinence.

There are millions of unemployed parents that are home now and not at work.

The teens don't have as much unsupervised free time to hook up.

I would be curious to see how much the sales for Plan B have played into these figures. I think we are seeing less pregnancy and less abortion because of this.

Also, it will be interesting to see - amongst non-teens, if after the economy "rebounds" will there be another baby boom.

I think teens are more aware than we give them credit for. If we continue to give them good information about std's and make condoms and other birth control available,they will make the right decisions.

There is a subtle change occurring in the new generations, something I have noticed in my own family. It started with my grandparents, who raised their children with the same Victorian Era ideas on childrearing and gender roles, only to end their marriage in divorce. They had 5 children, who all had kids young and had either illegitimate children (me) or subsequent divorce or both. Fast-forward to my generation and things are vastly different. Of the 14 of us who are adults, only the oldest and most emotionally stable have gotten married and none of us have had unplanned pregnancies, teenage or otherwise.

Another striking difference is the obvious improvement in parenting between these 3 generations, with fathers actually fathering, mothers choosing quality men, etc.

It all makes me very hopeful for the future.

Historically when ever we have an administration that sees value in and funds programs like Planned Parenthood we have less abortions and teen pregnancy. So this makes total sense, Dubya and the abstinence BS are done and we have drops in Teen pregnancy.

sorry, spg, this is just some flawed govt factoid. I work in a hospital and I can tell you there is no drop as far as I can see. The only change is now they don't bother to get a job.

also find it interesting how when it comes to any other problem, it took years to happen so it's all bushes fault. fair enough, but how is it that in only 2 yrs you want to give obama credit for this? oh, right, the koolaid. I forgot.

Yea, I was thinking that if anything the depressed economy would see an increase in teen births... because without any money to spend going out... what is left for the teens to do? So, I am not really buying the relationship between the economy and a reduction in teen birth rate.

Apparently there is a drop, cmon. Your hospital doesn't serve every American after all. BTW - what are the birth rates at your hospital and which hospital is it (if you actually DID keep count)? It's only a few percent so perhaps you didn't even notice.

The utter failure of abstinence only should have gone away years before it did. The statistical evidence was right in everyone's face. Most Americans still fail basic STD and birth control knowledge tests. People like Sarah Palin and the likes of her that supported abstinence only do the citizens of this country a great disservice. All methods should be taught (including absinence!!).

That being said, the removal of this lack of knowledge / blatantly lying program is probably not the only factor in the drop. For example, who (in their right mind) would want to be like a Palin?

cmon - Your feeble opinion, based on a single hospital, means nothing when compared to the actual statistics. So YOU do not see a difference, but the rest of the country has seen a decline. Get off your high horse.

The fact is that abstinence education does not work, has never worked, and will never work. It is a failed policy, still being pushed by a woman who has witnessed the utter failure in her own home. That is the point that spg was making.

I know that teenagers and young adults are becoming more aware of how difficult raising a child is. More children are being raised in single parent households than ever before, and the children see the stress and difficulty on a daily basis. They experience the hardships, from the perspective of the child, and thus become more aware of the reality behind babies. You have no idea how many girls I have met that insist on protection because they "don't want to end up like their mom . . . struggling."

The "sad" thing about this "good" news is that 4% of teenagers, including 7% of Hispanic teenagers are still having babies. And I'd guess that a good number of 15-16 year children having children will be adding more after that.

What percentage of this year's lower percentage are bearing children that are pretty much doomed....as studies have repeatedly shown ? What percentage have responsible adults of any sort around to help ? What percentage of these children having children will then follow the footsteps of their mother ?

This may be "good"news, but it really is pretty bad.

funny how the libbots keep bringing up palin. because she's a... wait, she's just a celebrity, so her pushing whatever is irrelevant. stick to blame bush or your other usual blather.

and I like the view from my high horse.

Obviously no one actually read the article. If you read beyond the headline, you'll find that teenage pregnancy hasn't dropped in relation to the overall birthrate. Instead, the overall birth rate has dropped, and there are therefore fewer teen pregnancies. Not terribly interesting news.

Just goes to show when men don't have jobs or means to pay child support suddenly females remember how to use birth control.

@amswink - actually, the rate did drop more than the population as a whole, as a whole, the birth rate dropped 3%, the teen rate dropped 6%, therefore, by twice as much as the whole.

cmon

I hate some lib policies but am not fully conservative either. Palin is significant because recently she WAS a politician! Also, there is much talk that she WILL AGAIN try to be a politician. She speaks at political rallies and campaigns. There is even a (hopefully astronomically small) chance that she will be president.

Also, Palin, being a celebrity, greatly influences the minds of Americans (unfortunately) far more than politicians do.

So this past, and potential future politician pushing political agendas on her very large fan base is irrelevant? Just what do you consider relevant?

P.S. I do blame Bush for not standing up against a blatantly failing program.

I don't believe cmon actually works in a hospital. I seriously believe people lie about who they are and what they do to make a point. If you look at his post history he always has something negative to say or an insult to hurl. In my opinion he's probably a hateful loner who find pleasure in Trolling.

Sad.

Yes, it could relate to the recession. Mom and Dad might realize that they cannot risk a pregnancy for a daughter or child support for a son and are handing out contraception or keeping a tighter rein on the kids. Also, they probably aren't providing the transportation teens need to easily go somewhere to get into mischief.

Someone needs to note, however, that Hispanic teens (who fuel the increased rate) shun both abortion (which is generally a good thing for them to do), birth control (which is bad for them to do), and that the girls do not generally seek a higher degree of education (which is really bad), and get involved with older men (which is really, really bad). These things are, I'd like to point out, perfectly in line with the beliefs of the farthest of our right-wing, fundamentalist evangelicals.

Perhaps if we stop to consider that abortion, as unfortunate as it is, has reduced the number of unwanted babies who would have grown up to be criminals (the violent crime rate is way down since the 1970s), and that the decrease in teen pregnancy has allowed some groups of women to get a higher degree of education which is important to child development, the far right might reconsider encouraging birth control (not abortion--I am not a fan of that either--but the side effects do reflect well on birth control) among all classes of people instead of encouraging "traditional" roles for women?

Just goes to show when men don't have jobs or means to pay child support suddenly females remember how to use birth control.

I love it!

"Someone needs to note, however, that Hispanic teens (who fuel the increased rate) shun both abortion (which is generally a good thing for them to do), birth control (which is bad for them to do), and that the girls do not generally seek a higher degree of education (which is really bad), and get involved with older men (which is really, really bad). These things are, I'd like to point out, perfectly in line with the beliefs of the farthest of our right-wing, fundamentalist evangelicals."

Yuh and probably witness "wife-beating" as a part of this "traduccion" roles of male and female as far being Hispanic is concerned. But who am I to say that's one thing left out when that among many other less "American" things have taken place in my birth country in South America.

While I'll may never know the reason why my mom had me, even if she was less than a "moderately educated" 18 year old and a pastry street vendor at the time due to being INDIGENOUS and isolated from any form of education therefore not seen by the "Educated" class as some one actually worth their time investing into.

She at least had the brains to know that she could not take care of me and gave me up to parents who were willing and able to. At the risk of getting killed by guerrillas in the rural village-town who were not fond of Americans, to bring me to the US.

I don't like how people are saying now that parents are home its more supervised which led to less teen pregnancys. Truth is teens are going to have sex if you're there or not. My mother in law was home everyday after school for us and we still got pregnant! Not to mention kids have sex in places you wouldnt even imagine! My friend and I went to get on the elevator in school and found kids having sex. Or cars. If they REALLY want to reduce the teen pregnancy rate hand out condoms, birthcontrol and other things in schools. And adults stop lying to yourselves we aren't waiting teach us how to protect ourselves and it will protect you from teen pregnancy.

Hey, maybe these kids remember the hell they went through in a single parent houshold and will avoid pregnancy by any means necessary? Just a thought..

Maybe with the price of gas and vehicle costs maybe the kids are making fewer trips to "park". Or maybe they're trying harder not to get pregnant.

They chose an arbitrary age group to define teen pregnancy. Why 15-19 year-olds? Are births to girls under 15 not a problem?? And aren't 18 and 19-year-olds adults? I mean, most people are 18 when they graduate from high school, and therefore 18 and 19-year-olds most likely have the same level of education as a 20-year-old, and are just as capable of being employed, independent and married.

With this study, we'd see a "drop" in teen pregnancy even if there was a small drop in 18-19 year-old mothers and a huge spike in 14-year-old mothers. But that certainly wouldn't be a good thing! A study that looked at births to all mothers 17 and younger would be more telling.

Birth rate down? Not in CA. Hispanic women get pregnant and give birth like rabbits. Age does not slow them down either. They'll get pregnant and give birth no matter what age they are...and that is between 12 yrs old to 55 yrs old. Yup its disgusting to see a hispanic grandma breast feeding her anchor baby. This is true, go visit CA and you will see.

When reading this article I was shocked at first, too. Then I realized that the article does not claim a reduction in teen "pregnancy" rather merely in "births." There is a BIG difference and takes the wind out of a lot of these arguments. I feel this is more of a sad statistic for our country than an exciting one.

readalittlecloser - yeah just saying "Births" doesn't mean a cut in pregnancy.

I'm a little surprised at this "report." I see young, pregnant girls all over the place here in Pittsburgh. Maybe they aren't all "teens" but just young and unmarried. There is still an unplanned-pregnancy problem in this country.

Friends:

Go Emily, git'm, girl!

This fits in to this conversation, I suggest making your children, (especially your daughters since they are the ones that end up totally ruined), read and comprehend every aspect pertaining to this subject and test them....this may seem like some tough punishment, but nowhere near as tough as the reality of being an unwed, too young mother, without a responsible young man in sight! And don't you think for a second that the school or your church or your government is supposed to handle this, that's one of the most ignorant things that has ever happened in this country!

Good Luck, and keep a leash on the kids, since they will hump anywhere and everywhere if given half a chance, (maybe it's time to invent a low voltage shock devise to be placed in a delicate area, or something that acts like anti-viagra and makes everything soft, we could call it cock-a-doodle don't).

The United States rate of unintended pregnancies is higher than the world average, and much higher than that in other industrialized nations. Almost half (49%) of U.S. pregnancies are unintended, more than 3 million unintended pregnancies per year. Unintended pregnancies result in about 1.3 million abortions/year. 44% of unintended pregnancies resulted in births, and 42% resulted abortion and the rest in miscarriage. The direct medical costs of unintended pregnancies was $5 billion in 2002. It is estimated that more than half of US women have had an unintended pregnancy by age 45. Of the 800,000 teen pregnancies per year, over 80% were unintended in 2001. One-third of teen pregnancies result in abortion. In 2002, about 9% of women at risk for unintended pregnancy were teenagers, but about 20% of the unintended pregnancies in the United States are to teenagers. A somewhat larger proportion of unintended births are reported as mistimed, rather than unwanted, for teens compared to women in general (79% mistimed for teens vs. 69% among all women in 1998).

In the US it is estimated that 52% of unintended pregnancies result from couples not using contracetion in the month the woman got pregnant, and 43% result from inconsistent or incorrect contraceptive use; only 5% result from contraceptive failure, according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute. Contraceptive use saved an estimated $19 billion in direct medical costs from unintended pregnancies in 2002.

Ursula,

Exactly right!

You make access to Birth Control a priority and you get drops in Abortion and teen pregnancy. It is simple, to bad the Republicans still think they should force their false morals down others throats.

spg64

Give up that crap on Republicans = morals. I know plenty of liberals with morals

Have you two been living under a rock? Birth control ans been readily/easily available for many years now but I have a number of friends that got preganant as teens. That was in the 90's! All we ever heard from our parents was COMDOMS, COMDOMS, COMDOMS! And they still got pregnant before they were 18. Not me thank goodness! But to say that birth control has made a difference is not true!

uranidiot:

Birth control ans been readily/easily available for many years = WRONG.

Birth control is still not readily available!! Many stores lock condoms up so you have to ask for them. It takes balls for kids to buy condoms for the first time - especially if they're locked up! Condoms should be available in more public restrooms (unless you like teen pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, and abortion) and perhaps even high school.

Also, how easy is it for teenage girls (pre-18) to get BC without mom and dad's consent? In case you didn't realize, girls (and boys) will have sex regardless of parent's consent much as the parents don't want them too.

Plan B was legally refused recently at pharmacies across the country. Hopefully, that has been fixed by now because that is WRONG!!! The same "moral" pharmacists did not deny excessive oxycotin perscriptions for example.

American adults and teenagers still fail knowledge tests on STDs, pregnancy, and BC. Maybe with the abstinence only BS gone, and the actual truth being taught, this will improve in the future. I remember paying more attention in health class than other classes. Unfortunate that I was taught lies like "condoms only work 80% of the time when used properly." Unf___ingbelievable.

uranidiot - maybe they should have asked for condoms, not COMDOMS!

Birth control is still not readily available!! Many stores lock condoms up so you have to ask for them. It takes balls for kids to buy condoms for the first time - especially if they're locked up! Condoms should be available in more public restrooms (unless you like teen pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, and abortion) and perhaps even high school.

Why aren't the parents making condoms available for their kids use if they are so concerned they might be afraid to buy them? Why do you liberals always think everyone should try to solve everyone's problems? What don't you get? It doesn't work! Start fixing sh** in your own home and we might all be pleasantly surprised how much better things turn out.

Paul,

I'm not liberal or conservative 100% either way. I completely agree that parents should make condoms available as well as BC for girls!! I do think liberals would be more willing to buy condoms for their children and teach other methods than AO, but have read posts from conservatives that agree with you as well. Please stop assuming people are liberals that aren't. We are in agreement here. Parenting is key. It's a damned shame many kids don't have parents as a usable resource, and have to fend for themselves without proper knowledge or access to BC.

HispanicDi,maybe they asked for condominiums. Seriously,if anyone of any political affiliation thinks their kids won't ever have pre-marital sex the majority better crawl out from under the rock.

Ace, that is EXACTLY the reason I explained everything to my kids all during their growing up. (age appropriate). Out of four kids, I still have two grandchildren where my son wasn't married to the woman! Then he got himself fixed. Whew! My daughter just married last August, at age 30. So, imo, the best thing you can do is keep your kids up on that sort of thing. It's more important than some might think.

It could also be the result of fewer births to 18 and 19-year-olds, and more births to 14-year-olds, the way these numbers are reported. It doesn't necessarily represent a decrease in births to minors... just a decrease in births to 15-19 year-old teens specifically.

Ok, just so you know, I am a Mormon, Republican, Conservative, mother of 3 girls. To say that conservatives all push abstinance is wrong. I know human kind. No matter how much you preach to your children about abstinance and birth control, it is still their own free agency that gets them into trouble.

The best thing we can do is teach them from an early age that life is a precious thing, only to be started with two adult parents to watch and protect that new life. In the mean time bring them up knowing that there are ways to protect themselves from the pitfalls of our carnal nature. That means open and frank discussions about birth control, genitalia, and STDs. We as parents cannot be afraid of this. Burying our heads in the sand, believing our babies will do what we want is crazy.

Let your children be involved in the upbringing of their siblings, maybe even be there when/if they have a new birth in the family. Let them see birth for what it is. Nothing glorified, or cute. I promise, the girl will change her mind! My 2 older girls did. Now they both have solid plans for their life and where children will be included in that!

Married for eternity - I am an Athiest, Democratic Moderate, mother of one boy. Even though we are from different camps I totally agree with your approach and intend to follow the same course with my kid(s).

From what I've seen amongst the friends of my two sons, not one the girls who got pregnant as teens even gave 2 seconds of serious thought about the economy, or how the hell they were going to raise a child with not even a high school education.

Absolutely, Suze. Young couples in their 20's probably don't have a realistic grasp of how much it costs and how difficult it really can be.

As a young person in my 20's... I have a college education. I work full time. I have been in a solid relationship for 6 years, and we have a beautiful toddler to show for it. I am well aware of the costs of raising a child. Young does not equal dumb in all cases. I'm not saying that everyone is ready to have kids in their 20's, but for those that are, and that go into it wholeheartedly and willing to give it everything they have, it's kind of disheartening when all you hear all the time is how you're too young to know what you're child needs/wants/costs, and to hear the way people talk to you about the entire situation. If I had questions (I had plenty, because with your first you just don't know a lot of times), I asked my doctor. I read books. I educated myself about what was happening to my baby and my body, and what I could expect in the future (not that plans have much relevance with babies/toddlers!!) I agree that some "younger" people are not ready and/or did not plan to have kids at their age, but to put a negative light on people in their early 20's having kids in general isn't right either. It's not fair to those of us that chose to be parents, and are giving it the best we have.

When the jobless rate is > 10% in many areas of the US, even teens will be jobless and out of work. Many 15-19 yr olds work and I'm guessing their jobless rate is well > 10%. When a teen or their parents don't have as much disposable income, they don't go out as much and probably think a little bit more about where there money goes and what impacts how the money is spent . I also think they see their parents/siblings/neighbors/friends struggling to raise children in this economy and realize your job/income can be gone in a flash but you are still responsible for your child (ren). Consequently, this birds eye view of the struggles are causing them to realize what's at stake when they have unprotected sex.

Teens may not be aware of the state of the nation's economy but they do see firsthand what effect the economy has on their parents, relatives, friends, etc., and ultimately, their lifestyles. Teens generally are careless, risk takers but perhaps their parent's finances have made some of them think a little more about the consequences of their actions. I do think the reality shows have an impact on teens by showing them the difficult realities of being a teen parent.

I believe the birth rates during the great depression also dropped since eating and survival took precedence over sex.

@Suze, good point. Not all teens care that it would be hell raising a child with this economy. Maybe then, teens didn't use any common sense, but that's not suprising. Maybe, just maybe, common sense among teens went up a little bit.

AZGirl - I'm not talking about mature, college educated young women in their 20's, such as yourself. I'm talking about the 15 and 16 year old girls who figure if they have sex and don't get pregnant once, they won't EVER get pregnant. It is that sort of magical thinking that makes them think they are going to keep this baby and do a better job of raising it than her parents did with her...it makes me want to put birth control in the water at the local high school.

You sound like a very responsible woman and a terrific mom! Best of luck to you and yours.

Thank you Suze! I was actually responding to Paul, and I somewhat agree. There is no way to 100% say that in any one age group everyone in that group is going to be an unfit parent. But, at the same time, I'm absolutley positive that there are also people in their 30's and 40's (along with many in their teens and 20's) that should not be having kids either. I agree that if you look at statistics, younger people are generally less mature and not as prepared for babies, but then again I think some people just never get that way... Personal responsibilty needs to come into play here quite a bit too. Teens and young people want to be "independant" and have the freedoms of being a young adult, but then when anything tragic happens, it always goes back to the parents and how they failed. Well, there comes a certain point in your life where you need to take responsibility for your own actions and not blame anyone else for your mistakes. Your mother, no matter how much she worked or nagged you on your homework, did not get you pregnant, and if you want to be seen as a responsib;e adult and treated that way, you need to act that way.

That's the funniest post yet!!!! Thanks for the humor :)

Heh, heh, heh ...

exactly what are the "necessary skills"??? are you afraid to say they need more school/gov't sponsored classes on how to put a condom on a banana? Lord knows we wouldn't want them to actually restrain themselves.

we never were even told about condoms when i was in "home ec" we didnt have a sex ed. we never got to but condoms on bananas! and i'm 17.

learning to kill, instead of love. im not sure this is good news. :-)

So, Mrs. Clinton/Mr. Thompson, kids will emulate what they see in video games always, or maybe most people actually can distinguish reality from fiction.

Tanya, your son is a dork.

HispanicDi,

maybe a dork..but not getting girls pregnant...play on!

Tanya, any teenage boy without an X box addiction is tapping someones little angel. Even the game addicts are pausing long enough to hook up with someone.

Teenage boys pitch tents without being at camp. No game can stop that.

Not only was that funny, Tanya, but it makes me happy to hear that you and your son actually talk about sex. Too many teens and parents are unwilling to have open conversations about sex, and we end up with a lot of misinformation and pregnant teens that way.

Apparently HispanicDi is too busy trying to be banned for personal attacks to find time to breed babies. Way to make a good inpression and support your views. HD. Are you part of the illegal college students who want to over throw our Government for not granting your law breaking butts amnesty?

Based on personal observations this seems to be one accurate reason why the rate has declined among teens. Most teens today are too busy playing Xbox, PS2/3, Nintendo DS, World of Warcraft, or just surfing the Internet and looking at porn... leaving less time to find themselves in actual "real" social situations with members of the opposite sex. And when they "do" find themselves in social situations which lead to possible intercourse they are more likely to use a condom.. because hey... having babies takes away the money needed to buy more video games, as well as the massive amounts of time required to play them.

Then, of course, you have the "morning after" pill, which any girl can walk into a pharmacy and buy so long as they have a 20 in their pocket.

Next up, there has been a massive increase in the amount of oral sex among kids. I think the average age that kids today start giving/receiving oral sex is about 13-14?

There are a lot of reasons why the birth rate has declined, but of all those reasons I think the state of the economy has had the "least" effect out of all those reasons. But I will agree that having unemployed parents at home all day does put a "damper" on the ability to bring others over for a little "playtime".. but then again they don't have to be in their own home to get it on... they can just go over someone else's house, or find somewhere else more private to have sex.

You then, are a traitor!

Personal attack noted and reported again #8.9 You just don't learn do you? Some people consider calling their kids a "dork" a personal attack. Calling someone a bigot is a personal attack.

It is very possible to be Hispanics and a proud American. I live in Texas. We have many 5th and 6th generation Hispanic Americans. They trace their families back to before Texas won its Independence from Mexico in 1836. They are proud of their heritage but do not agree with the kid glove handling and the spoon feeding of the illegals flooding over the border. They also dislike the anchor babies and the drain on our school systems and medical system. Their families have been victimized by illegals. They have had their cars totalled by illegal drivers who carry no insurances or posses a valid driver's licence. They have had family members robbed, raped, their children molestedand killed by illegals who duck back across the border to escape being caught. They have no more use for the illegals then many other Americans of other ethnic back ground.

Your son may be just right. Young men are very busy with gadgets and choose to fiddle with them than the girls who are after all girls are more expensive to date this days. You can not pirate a girl but you can pirate a software.

At the same time you gave me an idea for software development that could make me lots of smackers.

LOL. Tanya. I am a 44 year old mom. I play xbox COD Black OPS. My two boys play but my oldest is more interested in working out at the gym and playing football. That doesn't suggest that some kids aren't doing this but maybe kids are just getting smarter about their life.....................crickets

Lady, doubt it. I had three lovers, all who had an x-box and I got two pregnancies, and I got screwed over by all of them. Boys and Men think the same, "Beer, sex, and video games."

True, She Wolf. Boys are not the controllers in the decision of "yes" or "no". The woman controls that decision. The male is responsible for his actions, but if we were in control of the sex question there would only be "yes"s. This is the power girls/women have in the relationship. Use it wisely and don't listen to the sunshine we pump just to get what we want. Well, some of sincerely mean what we are saying but you won't be able to tell unless you either have been worked over before or you wait till you know them better. We don't ever have the power in the relationship unless you let us.

Actually, the biggest killer of babies was traditionally dehydration brought on by diarrhea, but rising rates of maternal education seem to have changed that. Currently, the top cause of infant mortality is pneumonia, followed by other factors such as manutrition, disease, and infection...

Parents may not like the idea, but teens should have easy access to Condoms in schools. Let them learn and act responsibility about sex.

Also don't be afraid to tell teens about places like Planned Parenthood. Someplace where anyone can go to get advice, education, and condoms privately is a necessity in these times.

Anyone that is truly anti-abortion would be pro birth control. Any thing that can help prevent a pregnancy helps prevent abortion. If you can stop the pregnancy then you have eliminated any reason to get an abortion. Unfortunately the majority of the people that are pro-life put keeping unmarried people from having sex as a higher priority than stopping abortions. Anyone that is against BC being readily available to teens doesn't really care about stopping abortions. The reality is teens have sex, the only way to keep them from also having abortions is to help them learn how to protect themselves from an unwanted pregnancy.

Well abortion is not a killer. It is a medical solution.

You want to avoid abortions, teach about birthcontrol.

Paula I think you're 100% right. That's all I kept thinking as I read this article. I dont think seeing their neighbors loose their jobs or struggling stops kids from having sex or causes them to start thinking about the consequences of their actions - but having dad in the next room kind of puts a damper on the moment. At least it would for me, and I'm 25

I so agree. I wish we could go back to the days of single wage earning homes. But those days are long gone. I am not saying they were perfect. A few of my friends growing up had a parent home all the time. They seemed to have better support systems, help with homework, less chores and more time to actually be a kid. While the rest of us had to watch our siblings, work to support ourselves, and figure out our own problems alone because either both parents worked fulltime or we only had one parent to begin with.

I don't really agree that the Teen Mom show helped out at all... I think in a way it kind of glorified the whole issue... I mean I'm all for girls & boys alike to be aware of the hardships of parenthood, which are definitely shown, but at the same time, its kind of like, ok well at least if I get pregnant at 16 and drop out of school, MTV will back me up and I'll just get a TV show. And yes there are teens out there just naive enough to think that. I've heard some of the lame excuses the ones that want to be pregnant come up with (down to "If I'm pregnant I can get out of PE")

I think you have a point, I am 45 and when we vacationed with my parents, THAT put a damper on fooling around...:~)

The MTV show teen mom is horrible none of those girls are really struggling and now there famous. They have recently grown up and MTV did casting calls and it showed that teen girls were getting pregnant on purpose to be on the show. Absolutely ridiculous. STUPID IDEA

I agree wholeheartedly with point #1. I'll bet hard drug & alcohol use drops as well. This might actually be the only good thing to come out of this recession; parents who now have time to do real parenting.

Ponit #2-You aren't giving teens enough credit. They are probably more media savvy than most adults over 35.

I just checked to see if that statistic corralated, and there's no data on 2009 ...so where are you getting your info? Got a link, share it...otherwise keep your baseline opinions as OPINIONS, not fact.

Fact is fact. I am sorry if you are condemned by your past mistake

I would rather have the abortion rate rise than my taxes paying for all of the welfare to support them after they are born. Don't like living in a place where the 'evil' of abortion is legal....then move, if it means that much to you, move and be done with it, and take your unforgiving God with you.

Times are a changing......you can catch up and join us, or stay back in the Stone Age being stubborn and ignorant.

PT

"Fact is fact" does not validate your point, nor does it do anything to reasonably respond to Jessica. I looked as well (quickly), and found 2006 to be the latest abortion rate data. This data from 2006 also correlates to a rise in teenage pregnancy for the period reviewed! (Thank you abstinence only education)

Makes sense, more pregnancy -> more abortion. Show me something that says abortions are on the rise from 2006-2010. "Fact is fact" does not suffice. Let me try to slow it down for you:

Person A: "If you leave a cookie outside in the cold weather, it will become a television set within seconds"

Person B: "No it won't. It will stay a cookie"

Person A: "Fact is fact."

Person A is kind of stupid, huh?

The attack on Jessica was unnecessary as well.

Don't ask Teabaggers for actual facts, it angers them.

The simple omission of abortion being mentioned shows that Jessica probably has a valid point.

Anyone that is truly anti-abortion would be pro birth control. Any thing that can help prevent a pregnancy helps prevent abortion. If you can stop the pregnancy then you have eliminated any reason to get an abortion. Unfortunately the majority of the people that are pro-life put keeping unmarried people from having sex as a higher priority than stopping abortions. Anyone that is against BC being readily available to teens doesn't really care about stopping abortions. The reality is teens have sex, the only way to keep them from also having abortions is to help them learn how to protect themselves from an unwanted pregnancy.

I do believe PT got the message......lol

to ...- That was hilarious. Good analogy. : )

Thank God. I hope the birthrate stops entirely.

Clickable link for you RN.

http://www.guttmacher.org/sections/abortion.php

Disciple - do you have a link to back up you claim that abortion rates are up? Please site the source of your statement.

I think I've read enough. Why can't we be honest with each other? Nobody likes abortion unless you're a Nazi doctor working for Hitler. Nobody is pro- abortion. Abortion can be compared to amputation. Despite the universal unpopularity of both, it is sometimes necessary. I am not going to carry a mangled or diseased limb around with me if it carries a death sentence regardless of your religious objections. My wife will not carry a fetus to term that will take her life even if it offends your sense of morals. If you wish to die for that dead flesh hanging on the end of your arm or continue with a dangerous pregnancy, do as you please. You have no right to condemn or try to force another to do the same.

Having said that, there must be reasonable and practical limits on society concerning a lot of issues. Suppose there was a mad teen-age craze for young men to have a finger or toe removed to profess his undying love for his sweetheart. We would outlaw such a thing. Yet there are tattoo parlors everywhere to legally and permanently mar his body with her name.

Any woman that has several abortions within a short period of time is obviously using abortion as birth control. That should be outlawed in my opinion. It should have no impact on a single unintended pregnancy, rape or dangerous pregnancy because of moral or religious objections.

Many of us are foolish enough to allow sleazy politicians to use this and other controversial issues as cheap tactics to solicit our vote in order to avoid critical, difficult and unwanted questions about governmental policies. That explains all of the fireworks concerning an issue that can easily be settled with reason and common sense.

If people have sex while responsibly preventing pregnancy and STDs, and they can emotionally handle it and a potential break-up afterward (if dating), who are they REALLY hurting?

Don't forget these people have the freedom of religion in America. They, like me, may not believe your god has anything against a HEALTHY (provided responsible 99.9% prevention of STDs / pregnancy) mental and physical excercise that the world could probably use a lot more of. In fact, you can't prove god doesn't encourage it.

birth control education is good for kids

It is.

Rev C

If you are against BC education for kids then you must be pro-abortion.

Anyone that is truly anti-abortion would be pro birth control. Anything that can help prevent a pregnancy helps prevent abortion. If you can stop the pregnancy then you have eliminated any reason to get an abortion. Unfortunately the majority of the people that are pro-life put keeping unmarried people from having sex as a higher priority than stopping abortions. Anyone that is against BC being readily available to teens doesn't really care about stopping abortions. The reality is teens have sex, the only way to keep them from also having abortions is to help them learn how to protect themselves from an unwanted pregnancy.

So what is more important to you? keeping kids from getting abortions or trying to keep kids from having sex?

I am a liberal and not religious but your post suggests I care more about stopping abortions than you.

Rev C....

Are you saying that sex ed and birth control are bad for our youth?

Yea it's much easier to put a pill in your kids mouth than discuss the reprocussions of an unwanted pregnancy. How are you going to react when the federal health law mandates that you child must be on birth control and you no longer have a choice in the matter? Line Up Sheeple!

Discussing the reprocussions of unwanted pregnancy does not work alone. See the statistics of the unsuccessful abstinence only program. People need discussions on birth control use, abstinence, reprocussions of unwanted pregnancy, and access to birth control if you want lower unwanted pregnancy and abortion rates.

I agree with RN. There is no law mandating your child to take BC, nor will there ever be.

With hundreds of thousands of teens having babies every year, it would appear talking to them about the repercussions and not accepting the fact they will have sex no matter how loudly you yell "NO" to them isn't working out so well.

Proper discussions and proper contraceptive use have to work together or not at all. The more you forbid your teen child to do something, the more likely they will do it out of spite.

All I know is, someone needs to get a lid on this. Just saying NO isn't working and my tax dollars could be used on much better things that supporting a teen mom because their parents refuse to accept the fact that their little angel is actually their little tramp.

Contraceptives are cheaper to fund than an unplanned or unwanted child.

I find it amusing that people keep mentioning the "abstinence only" policy taught during Bush's tenure, as opposed to Obama's more "open-minded" policy. First of all, Obama was sworn into office in January of 2009, school agendas for the year would have already been written. Pregnancies last 9 months, if a student, who is now entering a new school year, under President Obama, does not become pregnant because of this more forward thinking, it would not affect the birth rate until 2010, as school starts in September, only 4 months left of the year.

I also find it amusing that so many people feel it is up to the school to teach your children about sex and the repercussions. When did parents give up all responsibility for raising their kids? I am almost 30, my parents were very open and honest with me and my brothers about sex, on the other hand, our school taught "abstinence only," yet none of us had kids while we were in high school. I am pretty sure it had more to do with our parents being parents and realistic, than anything the school taught us. I had friends/classmates, who were pregnant in high school, they either had very religious parents, who also believed in abstinence only, or non-existent parents who didn't really care what they were doing, so long as they weren't bothering them.

Seriously people, start being parents, you'll be amazed at the things you can teach your children.

natedom,

Agree that parents should teach children more than schools. Unfortunately, with the misinformation of the past (AO), US adults and children alike can't pass knowledge tests on STDs, pregnancy, and birth control use. Therefore, some of us believe schools need to start picking up the slack to combat the underinformed / misinformed since parents on their own have obviously failed.

Also, statistics have shown AO to fail well before anyone heard of Obama. I don't think Obama / no AO helped much (yet), and I don't believe Bush himself directly increased the birth rate in 2006, but it is pretty clear AO hurt (for children over 14). Therefore, I am beyond thrilled to see it go.

Obviously AO is not going to work, if for no reason other than teens have the mindset of, I am going to do the exact opposite of what my parents/teachers tell me to do. Maybe, instead of teaching AO, they should teach, have sex all the time.

But seriously, yes, some parents are uninformed about STD's, honestly, I doubt that I would pass a test based on STD's and what the symptoms of different ones are. But honestly, what does it matter, if you, as a parent, lump them all together and teach your kids the only way to be safe, from STD's and pregnancy alike, is to use a condom, or some other form of BC then it doesn't really matter if they know the specifics. As a parent, provide the BC/condoms. It may not be the most comfortable conversation you have with your kids, but it beats the heck out of having to have one bathroom only for your kid who came home with herpes (yes, I actually know a family who did this).

Natedom...

Teen pregenancy rose during the GW Bush administration...thats fact. There are plenty of sites and statistics to support the idea that AO doesn't work and that it's teachings have back fired and raised the rate of teen pregnancy. When the federal funding was removed for sex ed....so was the reason and logic.

This is more about personal and civil freedoms than sex ed.

Yes! Parents should be the teachers....but what if they are not? Parents are supposed to teach many things of which they fail in doing so and public education picks up....why not sex ed? What makes sex ed anymore or less an important part of a teens education?

This is 2010. Get rid of the shame, guilt and fear of sex and teens having sex. When we empower our youth with the correct information and the power to make an informed decision...we empower our futures.

Sex isn't bad.....ignorance, fear and AO programs are.

Boston, I did not say pregnancy rates didn't raise under GW's presidency, I said I find it amusing that people are crediting a different approach when that different approach would not have affected the year the article is written about.

Do I think AO policies work? Absolutely not. Do I think having a teacher put a condom on a banana or cucumber works? Absolutely not. Regardless of the approach taken, teens are not going to learn about safe sex in school, to them it is nothing more than a joke. This is why parents need to have these discussions with their kids, because the kids are not going to listen when in a group.

A much more effective program for teachers would be to have all kids take the electronic babies for a week, or even just a weekend. Let them actually suffer the possible consequences of their actions. But even this may not work, because there will always be the kids who think, it won't happen to me.

And for the record, I was in high school in the 90's, we were taught "sex ed" and how unsafe it is to have unprotected sex. Something like 25% of the kids in my class were pregnant either by graduation or within the next 4 months.

I totally agree parent should be the ones teaching our teens....but not all of them do. Teachers have agreat arena to put on the sex ed show and get hands on with their students. There is no parent to make the kids feels weird or shamed.

AO teachings do not work. Education does. First step is removing the shame of sex. There is nothing wrong with sex. We are allowed to enjoy sex provided that our youth understands the responsibility of it.

There will always be teen pregnancy.......but just imagine how much more there would be without sex ed.

That is just it though, I don't really think that students are learning much in sex ed at school. I know when I went through it in 10th grade, most of the boys in the class were busy trying to figure out ways to embarrass the teacher, and the girls were busy trying to ignore the stupidity of the boys. Not to mention, if girls are getting pregnant at 15, which is the low age of this story, but lets face it, it is happening younger than that, then sex ed in high school isn't really doing any good, as they are already sexually active at that point.

I understand not all parents are teaching, or rather discussing, sex with their children, but we, as a country, need to start placing some of this blame where it belongs. Which is at the feet of the parents, this is a slippery slope that has led to the first generation to be less ready for the real world than their parents. Students today are entering the world with more education, but less intelligence than ever before, and it is time we start pointing back to the parents as the problems.

I do have to point out though, suggesting teachers be more hands-on with their students, is probably a phrase better left out of this discussion. LOL

It would be an easy fix to mandate parental teachings of such a subject....one could only hope. Blaming parents after the deed is done is a moot point.......but a creative resolution would be to make them responsible for all doctor appointments for the mom to be and the care and upkeep of the baby for the next 18 years! Give us taxpayers a break....after all WE didn't create the problem.

I have 2 teens....and the town where we are starts a comprehensive sex ed class for all 4 years of HS. Including taking a computerized doll for 1 week shared by 2 kids. This doll has chip in it that the teacher downloads and can see what kind of parent they were. Pretty hard core stuff. does it eliminate teen pregenancy.....not completely....but it has to have had an effect on the teens and may have prevented some girls becoming moms way too early.

When all is said and done...we have to have more faith in our youth to make good choices provided that they have proper information.

Obviously you cannot mandate all parents to teach this, as you cannot mandate they teach their children anything. I do think the parents of a minor who has a child should be held financially responsible, at least until the parent is an adult. After all, they would be financially responsible if the kid hadn't gotten pregnant.

I agree that the doll is a great idea. While I don't think it will prevent all teen pregnancies, as many, I would hope even most, are planned and are simply the result of reckless teenagers who believe it won't happen to them. I do think it makes some of those who would get pregnant to "keep the guy" or whatever silly notion they have, to at least think twice about what they are doing.

Teen Health Educator, I truly hope you are not an educator. I doubt you are since you signed up today. I believe to created that account to make your opinion seem more credible. That's just my opinion, but if it's true, that is incredibly sad.

When I was younger, an elder associate told me that a stiff prick has no conscience. It still is true. Teen boys need to think with the head that sits on the shoulders.

I agree, there are also more schools using the "test babies" that actually cry and need attention to teach teens what being a parent is like, as opposed to an egg, balloon, or sack of flour. It is easy to think, hey, I baby sat little kids when I was 12 or 13 and it wasn't so bad, I could be a mom at 17. But when they are giving these robotic dolls that start crying while they are driving, that wake them up at night, that need to be tended to and that cannot be left alone, it leaves an impression.

When I had my first son, I worked with a girl who was about to go through this program, she asked how tough it was to have a baby, I told her that I couldn't really give a valid opinion, because by some miracle, my son only ever woke up once at night, and slept through the night at 6 weeks. Her response was, well that isn't so bad, then she got her doll, it woke up several times a night, had colic, and gave her a taste of what being a momma was all about. This program definitely taught her, and all her friends, how difficult being a parent really is.

which has flatlined for the past decade...in america anyway.

yes the heartbeat of these slaughtered babies has certainly flatlined!

And just exactly what is this "astronomical" abortion rate you are quacking about? Please cite figures, because I would really like to know.

Guttmacher is Planned Parenthood... their founder is Margaret Sanger whose whole objective was to sterilize the "unfit" African American population.

And you think they are non-partisan? ROFLMAO

Villian - Well by all means please cite your source that shows the statistics from Guttmacher to be inaccurate? ..... what's that? you have no credible statistic that shows abortion rates to be up? .... you mean you just stated something as fact because you want to believe it is true? mmmmmm interesting.

PT...

Try to stay on topic here.

The slaughter of cells perhaps....but not babies. Babies are born. That would be murder and is illegal.

Try not to lie.

im trying to chew on the vasectomy idea, but im horribly distracted by the redneck manual on informing teens how best to keep their hands to themselves.

so, just so we are clear...masturbation is a-ok, right? if it's yer's, you can touch...that was the message I got but I could be misunderstanding.

folks

How about we don't (RE)try that? That has been tried. It was called abstinence only. Doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results, is insanity.

The birth rate is down because of a lot of those things.

1. Video Games

2. Internet

3. If the economy is bad, are mom and dad shelling out the $$ so Jr can take his sweetie on dates? Probably not as much.

4. The rise of sports participaion in children. They start BB, VB, FB, Soccer, Dance, etc. in elementary, and continue for a long time.

5. I don't necessarily believe in the condom thing. That's been around for awhile. And for the person who lives in the area where they lock up the condoms....move! It's America, not the Soviet block.

I'm the person that lives in the area where they lock up the condoms (in grocery stores). I have moved (for work), and guess what? They are still locked up. This is not everywhere, just some grocery stores and some gas stations (behind counter). Certain chains (for example Jewel / Ultra foods) probably have them locked everywhere. I've traveled all over US for work as well and this locking is common. I can't blame them I guess, kids will steal them. However, they should be available via vending in restrooms (no theft).

And I LOVED me some Nintendo back in the day, but I would have NEVER chosen Nintendo over a girl!!! I don't know anyone that would choose surfing the net / VGs over sex.

good job!!

You are absolutely correct Andy - the biggest difference between me, who didn't get pregnant before I was ready, and my friends who did, the inability to ask their parents to get on birth control.

Bravo Andy27! That's the way to do it.

This is what this country needs: open lines of communication.

I bet that's how the other developed countries keep their teen pregnancy rates lower. That and a better healthcare system (in developed countries!) that enables teens to discretely go to the doc for birth control if they can't talk to Mom and/or Dad.

Being a foreigner, I was astonished that there are some Americans who consider any type of birth control a means of abortion - I'm talking about teens and people in their twenties. This is very sad in a country that is developed, one of the richest with massive opportunities for education and professional advancement.

Andy..........

You are a "good girl"....your sexual activity doesn't determine your character. That was just the old fashion brainwashing by men to control women by demonizing the ones who chose to be their own person.

I am a mom of a daughter also and I make it very clear to her that sex is ok.....married or not. It's your body, your choice of who and when.....and that you don't need a reason other than it's your choice. The power is in her to rule her choices....I just make sure she is armed with knowledge.

Woah, Boston! Their generation is so empowered already, now you tell them that they don't need a reason to have sex, other then they want to? Do you see a flaw in that logic? Isn't that telling them they don't really need adult supervision? They don't need any type of moral code, or value when it comes to sharing your body? Knowledge is defininitely what they need, but with morals and a sense of pride in their body. Not just loose, but proud of who and what they are. Amazing works of nature, and if you choose, God.

Married,

Boston didn't say how old her daughter is. She may be an adult.

I'm with you, Thinker. That's exactly what we told our boys: I don't care WHAT she says, USE A CONDOM. And we provided the condoms, no questions asked when the box was empty. I think they gave most of the condoms away to their friends, and that was ok with us, too.

The other thing we did was paint a picture of having to remain connected to the mother of any child they should father - for the rest of their lives. Had them imagine being forced to be cordial with an ex-girlfriend that they loathed, paying child support, having to give up weekends and summers and maybe college and time with a woman they will want to stay with the rest of their lives, all because they already had a child with someone. I think this really scared the use of condoms into their young brains more than anything else.

Summer day, the old fashioned way didn't work, that's why so many young mothers were on welfare, they couldn't get jobs. Their children ended up with many problems. The old fashioned way was to NOT prepare teens, to not talk to them. If we don't give teens the information they need to prevent pregnancy, then we are just as much to blame.

I almost agree Summer, but without providing our children all available opportunities for prevention, the blame is more logically on the adults in this nation. Statistical data showing improved (lower pregnancy) rates from better programs was available long before abstinence only went away.

wow. summer sounds like a bitch...

If you think that is where your tax dollars are going then you're an idiot. Have you heard of this poorly named vaccuum the so-called war on terror (which is also taking our childrens' lives!), how about corporate bail outs? Heard of em?Get a clue and aim your bitterness toward the people doling out the cash and the overpaid civil workers who supposedly work for us, but take lavish vacations on our dime while we squander to keep our homes and feed our children. And how dare you make an excuse for the young man who knocked up your "ex" grand-daughter. Aiming your anger at one person who likely needed love and affection is more shameful than you apparently believe her actions to be.