PLN-26

Teen pregnancies had been dropping since 1991. However, in recent years, the decline had steadily slowed, and between 2005 and 2006, the rate of teen pregnancies had risen 3%. In Teen births up for first time in 15 years from CNN.com, doctors and other professionals are trying to discover the cause for the increase in teen pregnancies.

This article matters to me because, though I believe in abstinence, many young girls my age don't. The new statistics have been based on age groups of girls between 15 and 19 years old, which I am just on the borderline of. I think it is a little scary that girls my age having sex, and getting pregnant from boys who probably aren't going to be much help when they find out they are going to be a father at 16.

This article relates to the world, because it does, in fact, discuss a problem our nation is having. Many believe that the increase in teen pregnancies is due mainly to the fact that most schools teach abstinence-only health classes, instead of teaching students how to properly use condoms and other birth-control. This thinking came up after a nation wide test showed that schools that have comprehensive sex health classes have smaller rates of teen pregnancy than those states which teach abstinence only.

As I write about in a previous post, I don't think teaching girls about birth-control will solve the problem of teen pregnancy. I believe that, by teaching teens about birth-control, we are only encouraging them to have sex. Condoms and other birth-control only work 90% percent of the time, and I know a woman who got pregnant even after both she and her husband used 2 forms of birth control. By telling teens that they will be protected by birth-control, we are only telling them "Well, you can dink around as much as you want, just don't forget your condom." Abstinence only is important if we want to prevent teen pregnancy. Some teens will be unwilling to learn and listen to their teachers when they talk about how badly having a baby at our age can affect us.

We can talk to some teens all we want about abstinence, but some will never listen. We can't just give up and start teaching them that sex before marriage is okay, as long as you use birth-control. Even though teen pregnancy will always be a problem, I believe it is important that we still teach students to wait until they are married to have sex. Quite honestly, I can't imagine being a mom at my age, can you?