The Canton Repository recently reported that 65 out of the 490 female students attending an Ohio public high school are pregnant—a jaw-dropping 13 percent. Officials expect the number of pregnant students in the district to rise to 99 in grades 7 through 12 once school is in session.
Local health statistics are equally abysmal. According to the Canton Health Department, 104 out of 586 babies born in July to residents belong to mothers between the ages of 11 and 19.
The Timkin High School statistics run counter to the general trend in America’s teen birth rate, which has gone down over the past two decades—largely because of the widespread availability and knowledge of contraceptives and the increase in non-pregnancy-causing sexual activity. But they are consistent with the fact that more teenagers are having sex than ever before—a trend evidenced by the explosive spread of stds among youths.
Timkin High is implementing a program to address pregnancy, prevention and parenting. Yet these types of programs don’t deal with the problem’s root causes.
Some news agencies blame movies, tv and the like. Though such factors definitely contribute to the increase in teenage sexual activity, the real problem comes down to a lack of right education—particularly at home. And that goes beyond education about birth control.
Teenagers in this permissive society who don’t know God’s purpose for sex will most likely indulge in harmful sexual activity—destroying any chance of a happy family life in the future. What is needed is this right knowledge—and parents who are willing to teach it.
For more on this subject and the solutions, read “The New Teen Sex Epidemic” in our June 2002 issue.