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The statistics from the Central Oregon Health Council Task Force on Teen
Pregnancy are startling:
"According to a survey of student risk, over half of Deschutes County
teen-agers are sexually active by the end of high school. Over 30 percent are
sexually active by age 15...
"...roughly one-third of sexually active teens eventually get pregnant (50
percent within the first six months of sexual activity)...
"...in 1994, among Deschutes County girls age 10-17, there were 227 documented
pregnancies (147 births and 85 abortions..."
This information appears in "Facts of Teen Life Life-Deschutes County,"
a newsletter published by the task force.
Sisters is not immune from the trend. Eight Sisters students are "parenting"
this year, either pregnant or having had a child (see April 24 Nugget).
This is up significantly from the year before, although not out of line with
state averages.
Nor is Sisters immune from the impact. While the state allocates twice the
school support for teen moms, from approximately $4,000 to $8,000 per girl, the
district pays for services for these mothers and their babies.
Next year's proposed budget includes $10,000 to provide state-mandated
transportation for the girls and their infants to daycare, then on to school
for the young moms, with return trips in the afternoon.
At the same time, the district is cutting funds for the school nurse at the
high school, the one who has been providing most of the counseling and disease
information for the children prone to having babies, in addition to her duties
in providing medical services.
But student mothers are eligible for other state aid. The extent and impact of
this support has caused a vigorous debate in Sisters. In last week's
Nugget, a letter writer suggested that teen mothers "should suffer the
consequences and deal with problems (themselves) or with the help of (their)
families."
That argument receives energetic rebuttal in this week's paper (see Letters to
the Editor), with one saying it would be a mistake to "throw away our
teen-agers for their mistakes or poor judgment."
But most of the focus has been on teen mothers. What about the fathers?
It is not generally recognized that according to a Oregon Department of Justice
brochure on paternity laws, the "child of unmarried teenage parents is legally
entitled to financial support by both parents.
This includes a right to the father's social security benefits, insurance
benefits, inheritance and military benefits as well as wages..." according to
The Rational Enquirer, published by the Oregon Teen Pregnancy Task
Force.
Even teen fathers "under age 18 can be legally named as a parent and be
required to make limited child support payments (these actions are intended not
to punish the father, but to protect the rights of the child," according to the
Enquirer.
But even if every school-aged male abstained from sex, two-thirds of the births
among teens would still occur.
"Why? Because 70 percent of the births to mothers ages 10 to 18 across the
nation are fathered by post-high school adult men," said the Enquirer.
The advocacy publication suggested that it was "time we started enforcing
statutory rape laws (and) charging fathers for the support of their children."
Support for these new babies is also available from another,
nongovernment source. But this option--adoption--is refused by the vast
majority of young mothers and their families.
"Nationally, only about 3 percent of teens who carry their baby to term choose
to place their child up for adoption. This is in sharp contrast with the 1970s
when nearly 90 percent of children born to teens were placed for adoption,"
according to the "Facts of Teen Life Life-Deschutes County"
newsletter.
These statistics are reflected in Sisters. According to Sisters Middle/High
nurse Julie Stover, all eight of the young women are planning on keeping their
baby.
"Adoption is not the thing to do. The attitude is, `you carry your baby and you
take care of it,' " said Stover.
That's true everywhere in the county, according to Bruce Abernethy, who chairs
the Central Oregon Task Force on Teen Pregnancy, which assembled the "Facts of
Teen Life-Deschutes County" newsletter.
"I do not know why. I have heard there is tremendous peer pressure among teens,
and parental pressure, to keep the child," Abernethy said.
So putting a child up for adoption remains out of favor, despite the fact that
"locally, in Deschutes County it is estimated that the wait for parents
seeking to adopt a healthy baby can run several years (if they are ever able to
adopt) and the number of parents looking to adopt a healthy child can outnumber
available children by almost fifty to one."
Those are good odds, but even the growth in "open adoptions," where a young
mother actually gets to choose the parents for her baby and have some
continuing contact with the child, has not made adoption a more popular
alternative.
Abernethy hopes to make a change in that. He also heads up the government's
Commission on Children and Families in Deschutes County, and a larger portion
of their effort will go to making adopting a viable option for local teens.
"The teens are not grounded in reality to think they can provide the best
environment for their child," Abernethy said.
Even the federal government is getting involved in this debate--although
possibly on the wrong side of the supply/demand equation.
The Associated Press caried stories this week that President Clinton endorses
Republican legislation to give a $5,000 tax break to families that adopt
children, and penalize states where agencies delay child placement while
looking for an adoptive family of the same race.
President Clinton announced on Saturday, May 4 that he would authorize
executive actions to force states to end welfare support for teenage
parents who do not finish high school or live with a responsible parent or
guardian.
Intended to improve care and family life for the newborn, these actions will
probably not reduce teen pregnancy.
"There are lots of reasons girls get pregnant, and it has nothing to do with
involvement in cocurricular activities," said school nurse Stover. "The girls
often say `I just want someone to love and to love me.' "
"County-wide, if you talk to the public health nurses, they will also tell you
that many of the girls have sexual abuse and/or poor parenting skills in their
background," she said.
According to "Facts of Teen Life," abuse is the "often unspoken link... 60-76
percent of pregnant teens who choose to parent have a history of abuse! It is
believed this is because the trauma of abuse may adversely affect the whole
developmental process, lower self-esteem or teach the teen to emphasize
self-worth based on sexuality..."
In "Facts of Teen Life," another possible culprit is the media.
"The average teen-ager watches five hours of TV per day with 2.4 sex acts per
hour during the daytime and 1.4 sex acts per hour during the evenings (14,000
sex acts per year)..." according to the newsletter.
"Close to 90 percent of the sexual activity portrayed in soaps (a favorite of
teens) is between unmarried persons and yet it unrealistically results in no
negative consequences such as disease or pregnancy."
While pregnancy is likely among sexually active teens, diseases are also a
worry. Aside from non-life threatening diseases, there have been 36 positive
tests for HIV (the precursor for AIDS) in Deschutes County, according to "Facts
of Teen Life."
But teens are not swayed by such concerns. It is not until the demands of an
infant are experienced does the new mother realize that she may have made a
terrible mistake.
"Some are starting to realize (what their new responsibilities will involve)
but you cannot tell them that up front," nurse Stover said.
Nor can you tell them that the experience of childbirth is often not a romantic
affair.
"Several of the (Sisters) girls have delivered and they have not been perfect
deliveries. It has opened the eyes of some of the others," said Stover.
And perhaps this information, from teen to teen, has had the greatest impact.
There have been no new student pregnancies reported in Sisters since February.
