Since 1991, U.S.
teenage pregnancy, abortion and birth rates have declined steadily in every age
and racial/ethnic group. Teenage birth rates declined in every state as well as
in the District of Columbia and the Virgin Island.
Research indicates that sexually active teens are becoming more effective users
of contraception and that more teens are choosing to remain abstinent during
early and middle adolescence.
Nevertheless, the U.S. continues to have higher rates
of pregnancy, birth and abortion than other industrialized nations. Teens aged
18 and 19 account for as much as 66 percent of U.S. teen births. Most teenage
mothers come from socially and/or economically disadvantage background and
adolescent motherhood often compounds this disadvantage.
Federal officials have long warned on the negative
consequences for teen parents and their children. To be more specific, teen
mothers are more likely to drop out school, remain unmarried and live in
poverty; children of teen parents are more likely to grow up poor, have a
single parent, experience abuse or neglect and end up in the child welfare
system; sons of teen mothers are more likely to end up in prison, while the daughters
are more likely to become teen parents themselves; eight of ten fathers do not marry
the mothers of their first children; teen fathers have lower education levels
and suffer earning losses of 10 to 15 percent annually.
May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, a month designated to
raise awareness about teen pregnancy and the need for effective, comprehensive
teen pregnancy prevention programs. The message of this day is as clear as
possible: sex may often result in unwelcome consequences, especially in teens’
case who are not prepared for their sexual lives.
This message is on the front-page of any organization
focusing on preventing teen pregnancy, especially this month. Educations leaders,
businesses, groups representing elected officials, fatherhood and male
involvement groups, teen websites, health sector leaders, media, youth serving
groups, faith-based groups and other prominent national organizations joined
forces to teach teenagers how to prevent pregnancies.
Teens are being asked to go to the National Campaign to
Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy’s new teen web site, www.stayteen.org for
a short online quiz asking youths what they would do in under-pressure
situations, drinking and gossip. The quiz is destined to teens ages 13 and
older.
Sarah Brown, chief officer of the National Campaign to
Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy hopes the quiz will help teens (taking it)
to acknowledge the consequences of unsafe sex and to make them more aware of
the fact that he or she answering the questions could be one of those involved
in the given scenarios.
Several leading entertainment media companies are promoting
the National Campaign’s quiz, including ABC Daytime’s “One Life to Live,” which
teaches teenagers about sex, love, relationships and preventing teen pregnancy,
The Candie’s Foundation, NBC’s “The Baby Borrowers,” Fox Broadcasting Co. and The
N, Nickelodeon's network for teens.
More details you can find on their web sites at: http://blogs.abc.com/kristen;
http://www.candiesfoundation.org;
http://www.nbc.com; http://www.the-n.com; http://www.fox.com.
Among the top websites for teens that are featuring the
National Campaign message are ThinkMtv.com, CWTV.com, Sewenteen.com and
YourProm.com.
Teens can also find out more about Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Month at www.teenpregnancy.org.