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IN FOCUS: ARTICLE |
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TAG's Tips for Preventing Teen Pregnancy
by TAG and Ellen Friedrichs, 05.05.06
"Teens get pregnant because schools aren't teaching us everything we need to know about not getting pregnant." |
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Though the rate of teen pregnancy has been declining since the 1990s, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that the United States still has the highest teen pregnancy rate and teen birth rate in the western industrialized world.
There are many factors that contribute to the high rate of teen pregnancy. One major cause is that many school lack comprehensive sex education. As Joshua explains, "I never learned anything about pregnancy in school. We don't have sex ed or health classes at all, so you can't really be surprised when kids get pregnant," he said.
Melissa thinks teens who are sexually active need to take more responsibility for pregnancy prevention. "A lot of teens just don't bother to go on the pill or use condoms even though they know they should," she says. But many teens feel that access to birth control is a problem. "It's embarrassing to buy condoms and hard to get birth control pills," says Skye, 17.
The TAG Team wanted to hear from other teens about this serious issue, so they hit the streets to talk to their peers. Here's what they heard:
"We can lower the rate by having more awareness programs to spread information to youth and to give out condoms like they do in my school."
— Lisa, 17
"A lot of teens have unprotected sex due to the lack of education. We need to make public displays all over the media about how to prevent pregnancy, like they do for marijuana."
— Rada, 17
"Teens get pregnant because schools aren't teaching us everything we need to know about not getting pregnant. In some places, kids just learn that they shouldn't have sex, but don't get told what to do to be safe if they do have sex. Condoms should be made available for teens everywhere — at school, at home, and at the doctor's."
— Serenity, 18
"Teens think they will never get pregnant because they are young and nothing bad will ever happen to them. The rate can be decreased if they are taught that this isn't true. Education is the only way to stop ignorance."
— Sandy, 17
"Teens need to wait until they are more mature and ready to use condoms before they have sex."
— Ashley, 14
"To lower teen pregnancy, I think we need to emphasize to teenagers the importance of protection."
— Sasha, 17
"How we could try to stop the pregnancy rate from getting higher is by having more sex education classes. One thing we could do is have teens that are going through being pregnant or went through having a child come and talk to young people and tell them about the experience."
— Rainbow Diva, 19
"Teens don't know how to protect themselves. If they aren't learning about protection in school, they can go online or read up about how to protect themselves. Sometimes teens have to take responsibility for learning on their own."
— Li, 17
Comprehensive sex education that teaches about abstinence and birth control can help give teens the information they need to make responsible choices. And better access to condoms and other forms of birth control can give teens the means to reduce their risk of pregnancy if they decide to become sexually active. For more information on how communities, schools, parents, and teens are working to reduce the teen pregnancy rate, visit the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
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What would you like to hear TAG talk about? Send us a Talk Back comment with the subject line "TAG." |
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