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Mary Atkinson
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
17 April 2016
Reducing Teen Pregnancy
Teen pregnancy is a significant problem in the United States; this country has more teen
pregnancies than most other countries. Using government statistics The Differences In Teenage
Pregnancy Rates Among Five Developed Countries: The Roles of Sexual Activity and
Contraceptive Use, displays unsettling high numbers in the United States. Adolescent
childbearing is more common in the United States (22% of women reported having had a child
before age 20) than in Great Britain (15%), Canada (11%), France (6%) and Sweden (4%);
differences are even greater for births to younger teenagers(Differences In). Television shows
exploiting sexual behavior, and pornographic images in advertising, and the lack of sexual
education are all causing teens to be sexually active and increasing the rate of teen pregnancy.
Texas has a unsettling high number when it pertains to teen pregnancy. Lets Talk was an
article published in Texas Monthly to make Texas voters aware that the Abstinence-only taught
in the public school system has unfortunate effects on the students. More than 80,000 Texas
teenagers become pregnant every year(Lets Talk). Becoming a pregnant teen makes it very
hard to finish high school further more decreasing the opportunity to continue on to college
without the worry of having a child too young. USA Today published an article Sex Ed Can
Actually Work proving talking about sex is a good way to teach teen to practice safe sex. A
growing number of sex education programs that support abstinence and the use of contraception
for sexually active teens have shown positive effects in delaying first intercourse, improving

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contraceptive use, and preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases(Sex Ed). If
schools were required to introduce sex education, students would be informed at an earlier age
with appropriate information that will make them less likely to have unprotected sex; the number
of teen having unprotected sex would decline, and so will the number of teen pregnancies.
Parents need to teach their children about sex, and their own beliefs, but not enough
families are doing that. Some Americans believe sex conversations should only be initiated by
parents or family members. They believe parents have the right to talk to their children about
what they choose to tell teens about sex, or to teach them what their beliefs are on the subject.
Often parents want to teach abstinence, some want to protect them and teach safe sex, while
others do not ever discuss sex at all. Surveys showed that more than half of Texas students were
losing their virginity in high school and a startling number werent using condoms. They also
showed that few parents were talking to their kids about sex(Lets Talk). Sex can be an
awkward subject to bring up, especially if parents wait until their child is older and already
discussed sex with peers. Being curious about sex is a part of life, children as young as two
years old discover their privet parts. Between the age of nine to twelve years kids have learned
about sex from friends, television, or songs on the radio(Talking To). Parents have a
responsibility to inform their children early on the truth about sex and the significant impact
having sex will have on the teens life, however not enough parent are doing so. Time to Talk
by Trubo was published in 1993, and still has valuable information for parents for how to discuss
sex at home with teens. Time to Talk was launched in Houston, Texas, in 1992. The initial
workshops were conducted at local hospitals and consisted of one hundred fifty minute sessions
attended by parents and their children. The work shop was developed because, although
teenagers consider their parents their most valuable source of sex information, only one-third of

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US children surveyed had discussed birth control with their parents(Trubo). All parents should
work with public schools to inform students about sex education and help prevent teen
pregnancy. Without parental guidance, young teens become pregnant or acquire sexually
transmitted diseases(Trubo). Teens will learn about sex it is an inevitable subject, however
parents need to make talking to their kids about sex a priority to protect them from becoming
teen parents.
Public schools should require students to take a course on sexual education for credit
hours. The course would be taught by an experienced science teacher to ensure the students are
getting informed from a health perspective. Educational Archives gives reports about the
education system in Texas public schools. Texas is failing families and students when it comes
to sexuality education. Classrooms are perpetuating a conspiracy of silence that robs young
people of the reliable information they need to make responsible life decisions. Even worse, the
information students do receive about sexuality and health is often grossly distorted or simply
wrong( Education Archives). Better courses about sex education would increase the students
knowledge, and encourage them to protect themselves from becoming a parent or contraction a
sexually transmitted disease. Sex education would be required to have a minimum of two public
speakers a year that inform the students on the repercussions of having unprotected sex. Having
outside speakers would encourage the students to ask questions, and this would make sex less
awkward for the students to discuss. A few examples the class would have for a speaker would
be a labor and delivery nurse and teen parent. The nurse could inform students on the dangers
and the struggles young mothers go through from the time she becomes pregnant until the teen
gives birth. A teen mother and father would come in and talk about the struggles they have gone
through because of having unprotected sex so young. This course would not be condoning sex in

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any way, but educating the students of the changes the human body goes through during puberty,
while ensuring a trusted adult will give students accurate information. The United States is
lacking in sexual education in public schools. Other developed countries openly talk about sex,
leading to a substantially less amount of teen pregnancies than the United States. Sex Education
courses would not be created to take away any beliefs from the parents, it would be created to
help parents to educate students on sexual facts. Parents would be able to follow the curriculum
to know what is being covered making sex easier to bring up and discuss at home with family.
Texas has foolishly led the way in teaching abstinence-only to the youth of America, and
the numbers of teen parents show that this approach is hurting the youth of Americans. Texas
public schools and health providers need to make contraceptives easily available for teens that
are sexually active for little or no coast. Abstinence-only curricula are funded in Texas with $18
million in federal funds, so districts opting to teach abstinence-only can present material for
little, if any, money, whereas a district choosing a comprehensive or abstinence-plus plan would
have to pay out of pocket(Lets Talk). If Texas is spending that kind of money on teaching
abstinence-only and yet 80,000 girls become teenage mothers something needs to change.
Making contraceptives available has proven to lower the number of teen pregnancies, and Texas
needs this kind of program to ensure not only the safety of teens that are sexually active, but to
protect them from becoming a parent before they are ready. Culp-Ressler is an author in the
national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancies that provides data on
teen birth rate by comparing stated in America.U.S. teen birth rates have dropped to a record
low, down nearly 50 percent since 1991, according to the most recent data from the National
Center for Health Statistics. There was only a slight decline in the number of teens having sex,
suggesting that more adolescents are preventing pregnancy by practicing safer sex(Culp-

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Ressler). Every public school should have condoms in the nurses office for the students at no
charge, and girls should be able to get over the counter birth control at a very low cost. Money
spent on contraceptives for youth would decrease the enormous amount of young parents that
have to go on welfare to support their child, and the number of families living in poverty because
unplanned pregnancies.
While the statistics show teen pregnancy goes down with making contraceptive available
to sexually active teens, conversely some feel like this will condone a younger population to
have sex. The truth is that making birth control available does not increase the number of teens
having sex; it only protects them from a life changing circumstances. It is not against any laws in
Texas for a minor to buy over the counter contraceptives, yet the state will not fund them either.
If a teenager wanted to buy condoms at any store they could do so with no questions asked,
however many will not purchase them on their own for various reasons such as fear, no way to
get to the store, worry about seeing someone they know. Some would argue that if the parents
want to put their child on prescription birth control they can, but there are girls that are sexually
active that have not discussed sex with their parents, they still need to have this option available.
Ensuring teens have contraceptives available would be the more proactive approach towards
keep them safe. The fact is teens make the choice to be sexually active or not, Texas needs to
make contraceptives available to sexually active youth. Culp-Ressler also stated in her article
Teen Birth Rates Plunge To Record Low As Adolescents Now Have Better Access To Birth
Control that the adolescents who use birth control during their first sexual experiences are more
likely to use it down the road. Texas need to encourage its youth to practice safe sex preventing
teen pregnancy and making different types of birth control easily available ensures that.

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The numbers have been slowing declining in Texas for the amount of teens having
unprotected sex and becoming a teen parent statistic. This is still not good enough; Texas is in the
top three states in America for teens having unprotected sex, and teen pregnancies. Sex
Education and contraceptives is not an easy topic to agree on, however for the protection of the
youth populations adults need to be proactive when it comes to sex education, and
contraceptives. While the parents do not want their children having sex, they would also be
devastated to learn their child is going to be a parent because they did not practice safe sex. If
parents, and Texas schools would teach factual sex education along with providing
contraceptives the number of teen pregnancies will fade. In time the state could lead the country
with the lowest teen pregnancies.

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Works Cited
Culp-Ressler, Tara. "Teen Birth Rates Plunge To Record Low As Adolescents Now Have Better
Access To Birth Control." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 03 May 2016.
"Differences in Teenage Pregnancy Rates Among Five Developed Countries: The Roles of
Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use." Guttmacher Institute. N.p., 09 Feb. 2005. Web.
03 May 2016.
"Education Archives - Texas Freedom Network." Texas Freedom Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
May 2016.
"Let's Talk About Sex - Texas Monthly." Texas Monthly. N.p., 01 Mar. 2009. Web. 03 May
2016.
"Sex Ed Programs Actually Can Work." USA Today Magazine 136.2753 (2008): 14.
TOPICsearch. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
"Talking to Kids About Sex." Parenting. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.
Trubo, R. "Time To Talk." ORGYN: Organon's Magazine On Women & Health 4 (1993): 23-25.
MEDLINE. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.