About one-third of teen girls become pregnant at least once by age 20 and fully half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.
Not too good.
By posting some intemperate thoughts about sex, love, relationships, pregnancy, childbearing, the media, public policy, our dogs, and other topics, we hope to spark, engender, provoke, stimulate--take your pick--a two-way discussion about the high level of fertility chaos in the United States. We hope to discover innovative ideas on how best to bring down the high rates of teen and unplanned pregnancy in this country. We hope to further develop a national movement on these issues. Who knows, from time to time, we might even offer up a few cogent thoughts that will be helpful.
This blog is written by those of us who toil happily at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. (We know, it's a long name for an organization, but at least no one is confused about what we do for a living.) For those few who might want to know the full story about our happy band, it all began at a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California...
Actually, the National Campaign began in 1996 as the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. As you might guess from our name, we woke up every day for ten years worried about only one thing--preventing teen pregnancy. Over the past 18 months or so we have begun to worry about, and work on, reducing unplanned pregnancy among single, young adults. Why the expanded mission and organizational name? Again, as noted above, half (!) of all pregnancies are unplanned and the rate is considerably higher among single young adults in the 20s.
Not too good.
Onward!
I direct a teen moms ministry and I'm right on board with you! Right now we're trying to prevent 2nd and third pregnancies with these girls! We keep trying new things, reading more books, and most of all...becoming more involved in their lives. I'm anxious to see the ideas on the blog. Thanks!
You go, girl! I'm with you!
I am a former high school teacher turned teen pregnancy presentor. Started a program 6.5 years ago talking to teens about the 3 options they face if they are in an unplanned pregnancy. Use this site quite a lot for facts, ideas, etc. Would like to know why adoption doesn't get much of a mention here?
Have you heard of this new reality show on NBC called BABY BORROWERS? I'm not sure what to make of it yet, but it skims the surface of the young parent issue.... would you loan your child out to a teen couple who thought they were capable of handling it?
Nice Site!
http://google.com
Just as this website has a goal to reduce teen pregnancy, there are two well known organizations in child development who are working diligently to reduce social-emotional harm to young children Zero to Three (www.zerotothree.org) and The Program for Infant and Toddler Care (www.pitc.org). These organizations provide information about brain development, attachment, and transitions for children,, and more concerning working with children under 36 months.
I ask that you research these organization's view of Baby Borrowers and support their hard work. They are campaigning against such experiments as Baby Borrowers. Ask the experts in this area by contacting them for feedback please.
I am a 23 year old mother of four, my first child was born when I was 17 years old. I did not have anyone around to tell me what would happen if I got pregnant. When I got pregnant the babies father was around for a few months then he decided that he did not believe that he was the father. So we did the paternity test and when it came back that he was the father, he and his mother took me to court and had him taken away from me. He did not want him he just did not want me to have him. Since I was underage and he was considered to be an adult (19), the courts awarded him custody. I now have no parental rights and do not get to see my son, who is now five years old. After this all happened I had another child, and another and another. I am now a 23 year old mother of four. I do not regret having any of my children, they are what keep me going everyday. What I do regret is not waiting. I have thought about teaching a teen pregnancy prevention class... who would be more qualified to teach about teen pregnancy than a former teen mother! It wasn't easy for me and I do not want anyone to have to go through what I did.
I would like to say that i love your blog blog.thenationalcampaign.org a lot
now.. back on topic lol
I cant say that fully agree with what you typed up... care to explain more?
I am a 17 year old mother of a 2 year old daughter.I was 13 when i got pregnant and 14 when i gave birth there is not a day that goes by that i regret my daughter but i do regret not waiting.The father of my daughter left us when she was only 6 months old and even though i put him on child support he still doesn't pay so i work alot and struggle sometimes to buy the things that my daughter needs.I want to help by talking to teens and letting them know how it really is and how hard it is.
Dear Editor,
I have check out your web site and really found it very educating for parents. It is a fact that teenage pregnancies are increasing each year. I have to admit I am surrounded by teenage mothers and I do not like it I feel like children raising children so I thought I should write a letter to emphasize in my terms why teens really have sex at early age and what parents can do to prevent it.
Preventing Teens from Having Sex
Despite recent decreases in adolescent pregnancy rates, the age at which United States teenagers, especially minority youth, begin having sex has decreased. The overwhelming majority of American youth engage in sexual intercourse as teenagers and fewer than half remain sexually inexperienced by age 18. These facts made me ask why teens get involved in sexual activities at a very early age. I started to look for answers. I came up with these answers; families do not give enough information to their children about the meaning of sex. The programs and the movies that teens watch are not monitored. Finally yet important, teens do not want to wait for sex because of peer pressure.
First of all every parent should inform their children about sexually transmitted diseases, STDs, and the use of condoms; otherwise, teen pregnancy and the transmitting of STDs will not decreased; it will increased. We call them children but many sexually active teens are starting to raise babies, which makes me ask myself what these children can offer a child. They are still developing physically, mentally, and emotionally. Furthermore, they are too young and inexperienced about everything but sex, to understand the needs and responsibilities of raising a child.
At an early age, parents should be clear about their moral values with their children, make sure they understand them, and set an example for their children. Parents also have to supervise and monitor their children’s whereabouts. They should know their children’s friends and their friends’ families. They should discourage early and frequent dating by insisting and making sure their children only go out in groups. Early dating introduces teens to sexual activities because it provides opportunity and allows for peer pressure from the partner. Most teens are not strong enough or independent enough to say no to peer pressure; this pressure could force teens into saying yes to sex even when sex is not what they want. Teens may say yes to prevent hurting their partner’s feelings or they feel pressured to prove their feelings for their partner by saying yes.
“Minors who have sex in their parents’ homes, even when their parents object to it, have a right to privacy that supersedes Mom and Dad’s authority, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.” I found this on the internet and I was shocked to discover that teens have sexual privacy rights at age 16 in their parent’s home and that was ruled by the court. So how can parents prevent teens from having sex? Parents need to be supported by the law, the media, and the school system. When parents get the support that they need from these places they can better to do their jobs as parents.
Parents should monitor the TV watching habits of their children. Teens are introduced to many things from watching TV that parents do not want them to know. In order to protect them, parents must monitor and lock out sexually explicit and violence oriented programming, especially with cable. The parents should also screen the books and magazines that their children read. They want them the get first-hand information about sex from their parents. Sex is usually depicted pornographically on TV and has nothing to do with emotions. Parents do not want their children to think about sex as pornography or believe it should be done without love and with no regards of the consequences. Parents want their children to respect and love themselves, their bodies, and to understand that sex is not the only way of sharing love.
I am a female but not yet a mother; however, when I am ready, I plan to become a mother. I am going to do everything in my power to protect my child from harm and I believe most people feel the same about keeping their children from harm. Harm does not always mean that they will be hit by a car, beat up, or hurt. Teens do not have to bleed for us to realize that they need more information from us, more attention, love, care and understanding. We should always watch them closely, be their support, their confidant from birth and their role model so we may be able to protect them. If we do these things, maybe we will be able prevent them from being introduced to sexual activities at an early age, which may result in pregnancy.