A lesson many parents have wanted to put off till the “right time” has become a front and center issue in many households today – especially in families that include a young daughter. This lesson:

Teen Pregnancy

This is a lesson that parents need to teach their children – boys and girls, but the media has brought the topic into homes a lot sooner than many parents may have hoped. Teen pregnancy is certainly not a new issue, but it is one that has reached new levels of media attention. Case in point:

Britney’s Teen Sister Jamie Lynn Is Pregnant. You have already heard the news and chances are, so has your tween or teen daughter. How have you addressed this in your home?

Of course, this celebrity has the resources to take care of this child with little or no change in her current life style. But, for your daughter, this would be a life-altering event for her and for you as your daughter’s parent and the soon to be baby’s grandparent. Scary to think about now isn’t it?!

And what about the movie Juno that has been out since December and is receiving critical acclaim? This is another example of the topic of teen pregnancy aligning itself in the everyday lives of children through the well accepted medium of the local movie theater. I am not saying that this is a bad movie – I haven’t seen it. I have only watched the trailer, and my opinion is that it actually looks funny and heartwarming. Here is the link for you to review and see if you share the same opinion.

The bottom line is, both of these examples of teenage pregnancy in the media, are distorted glimpses into the realities of teen pregnancy.

A September 2006 report by the Guttmacher Institute compiled teenage pregnancy statistics in the United States gathered state by state in 2000. Based on available data, below are listings of states ranked by pregnancy and birth rates.

States ranked by rates of pregnancy among women age 15-19 (pregnancies per thousand):

1. Nevada (113)
2. Arizona (104)
3. Mississippi (103)
4. New Mexico (103)
5. Texas (101)
6. Florida (97)
7. California (96)
8. Georgia (95)
9. North Carolina (95)
10. Arkansas (93)

States ranked by rates of live births among women age 15-19 (births per thousand):

1. Mississippi (71)
2. Texas (69)
3. Arizona (67)
4. Arkansas (66)
5. New Mexico (66)
6. Georgia (63)
7. Louisiana (62)
8. Nevada (61)
9. Alabama (61)
10. Oklahoma (60)

_{Source:
“U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity”}

These statistics are not likely to represent stories with very happy endings (again, I haven’t yet seen Juno, so I don’t know how it ends.) Sure, children who have babies can be happy – and go on to lead productive lives, but there is no doubt, their lives would be very different if they had not gotten pregnant in the first place.

As parents, you may now have to confront the must talk about topics of sex education and teen pregnancy sooner than you thought. The key is – you must to take this action. You must talk to your daughter and your son to help them before a teen pregnancy occurs. Click this link for upcoming Better Parenting University online parenting seminars chock full of information and expert advice to help you and your family.