Improved
6112 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3568 Lives0 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
Imagine your daughter and her seven friends came over and you knew that one of them would definitely be pregnant. If your daughter went to Robeson High School in Chicago, this would be the case: of 800 girls, 115 of them are pregnant or have had a child. The one in seven rate is astounding, and there are hundreds of factors that may contribute to the school's pregnancy numbers.
These factors include a lack of access to sexual health education and pregnancy prevention and a lack of access to reproductive health resources. The school's students are largely from poor communities of color where teenage pregnancies can be high. The Principal of Robeson adds that absentee fathers may also be a factor.
At least Robeson is a school in which young women are not being thrown out or transferred to other schools. Principal Morrow notes, "We're looking at how we can get them to the next phase, how can we still get them thinking about graduation?"
So often we may be quick to blame or judge the pregnant girls in the situation, their parents, or other individuals. But Robeson's numbers are a product of a much larger institutional problem - poor reproductive health education in low-income communities. Educational classes and centers need to be set up that normalize and encourage the use of birth control methods and distribute condoms. A teen health center is being built across the street, which is a step in the right direction. But funding needs to be poured into the creation and maintenance of centers such as these so that teenage pregnancy rates go down. The health of young women of color need to be addressed directly so that they aren't struggling to raise children or give birth while trying to graduate from high school.
Add a Comment128 Comments
Hi anonymous,
November 22, 2009 - 11:39amThank you for the suggestion. Do we really know how to stop the problem? Probably not. But certainly, education may be one great suggestion and extremely early too. Thanks for the comment.
This Comment
In Sweden Children have sex education integrated throughout the curriculum from pre school onwards... and funnily enough children in Sweden have sex years later on average than their American counterparts and have a substantially lower rate of teen pregnancy... when will American parents and educators realise that not talking about the problem isn't going to make it go away?
November 22, 2009 - 11:00amThis Comment
How about we let God and Prayer back in school. You take out moral responsiblity to one's self and others and you expect the number to decrease? wake up.
November 4, 2009 - 7:43pmThis Comment
Ever notice how prayer doesn't actually do anything? You really, honestly don't see a pattern there? I was Christian girl who prayed all the time---my boyfriend forced me to have sex with him, and because I hadn't received ANY sexual education (just pray, right?) I didn't realize he was manipulating me until it was too late. God didn't save me from that. So thanks. Your solution totally wins.
January 14, 2010 - 11:49amThis Comment
By the way, because of that incident, I believed I was stuck with this guy. (One sexual partner per lifetime, remember? That's what God wants.) So I married him. I've now been in an abusive relationship for seventeen years and I no longer believe in God. Or humanity, for that matter. Thanks for all the childhood brainwashing; it's been surreal.
January 14, 2010 - 11:55amThis Comment
Amen girl...oh wait...
January 15, 2010 - 11:29amI'm sorry this happened to you, but try not to lose faith in humanity. There are still good people out there that support you and applaud your questioning and resistance to the childhood brainwashing.
This Comment
*A* Christian, sorry
January 14, 2010 - 11:50amThis Comment
Keep your church out of my school and I'll keep my school out of your church. Children can still be taught and follow moral guidelines without praying, and it is often the "good girls" praying and following God that get pregnant because they have no factual information about sex. This isn't about morality, it's about informing women of the natural processes occurring with their body and creating responsibility at the cusp of womanhood. Your comment is like saying that if we only teach the benefits of abstinence and "purity", teens will have less sex, which I think from the past 8 years and our "abstinence-only" programs show this is a gross misjudgment.
December 21, 2009 - 10:23amThis Comment
Sounds good, except in times when religion was more fervently observed, the population wasn't exactly dropping was it? And the farther back we go, the younger women were getting pregnant. So not sure that is a solution to the problem.
November 12, 2009 - 3:30pmThis Comment
When I was in highschool the school nurse would happily give you condoms, no questions asked. I believe for awhile they were in a jar on her desk. I don't think she was supposed to be doing that. I'm sure she didn't approve of highschool students having sex, but figured that if they were going to be doing it they should be using protection.
November 4, 2009 - 12:15pmThis Comment