Teen pregnancy seems to be getting quite the PR boost these days with former Republican VP candidate Palin's daughter giving birth to Root or Trapper Keeper or whatever she called her redneck-to-be spawn, as well as the birth last year of the next generation of Spears' ala Britney's little sister.And today, the CDC has released the latest breakdown on the numbers for teen pregnancy. You may or may not remember that for the first time in 15 years teen pregnancy rates went up last year. Yeah abstinence only education! The latest info gives a state by state breakdown, showing that in 26 of our nation's 50 states, teen pregnancy rates were on the increase. Which youngin's are going at it hardest, and apparently without wearing their raincoat, you may ask? Yep, the South and Southwest. See we always told you the South would rise again, if through no other means than sheer numbers.
I don't give two hoots what your religious beliefs are, all kids, at some point, get curious about the horizontal mambo. Please, that is just human nature. What keeps them from potentially destroying their lives by this curiosity is twofold in my opinion: a family that is there for them and honest about the birds and bees; and real information, advice and instruction from their educational system.
God knows we load our teachers up with too many responsibilities in terms of parenting our children, but I don't think we need to start lightening that load by asking them to cut out sex ed. For some kids, those videos of Captain Condom and the horrifying demonstrations with a banana may be the only honest talk they here about sex and its ramifications. I just hope that our government and our educators start to see the light on this subject, before they are bemoaning a higher drop out rate as well, as these young people leave school for the "real world" of parenting and all the responsibilities that come with that.
UPDATE: Salon (via Amy Benfer) has remarked on this and the spate of news coverage saying teen pregnancy has been glamorized by the likes of Jamie Lynn Spears, the movie Juno, etc. That wasn't my point at all. I don't think the media has anything to do with this. I highly doubt some 15 year old in Oxford, Mississippi is saying to herself "Gosh if it is good enough for Jamie Lynn Spears, its good enough for me!" and going out and finding a willing boy to procreate with.
