Submitted by Hilary P., Sprout Contributor
Source: www.cdc.gov
Did you know?
About 1,100 teen girls give birth every day.
1 out of 10 new mothers is a teen.
Teen childbearing costs US taxpayers more than $9 billion each year.
More than 400,000 teen girls, aged 15-19 years, give birth each year in the US. The media often glamorizes teen parenting, but the reality is starkly different. Having a child during the teen years carries high costs – emotional, physical and financial – to the mother, father, child and community. Parents, educators, public health and medical professionals, and community organizations all have a role to play in reducing teen pregnancy.
What can be done?
Communities can…
Promote youth development programs that keep teens in school, offer after-school supervised activities, and teach life skills.
Make it easy for teens who are already sexually active to get services, including birth control, other medical care, and sex education that has been proven to work.
Support youth programs for teens at risk. These include girls who have already been pregnant, and boys and girls who have a parent or sibling who has been a teen parent, live in foster care, or attend school or programs for troubled teens.
Parents, guardians and caregivers can…
Talk to your teens about the importance of sexual and reproductive health, including delaying sex, avoiding pregnancy, using birth control, having respectful and honest relationships, and being aware of dating violence.
Know where your teens are, what they are doing, and who they are with, particularly after school.
Talk to community leaders about the need for effective programs that prevent teen pregnancy and address overall sexual and reproductive health.
Teens can…
Understand that both boys and girls share responsibility for avoiding teen pregnancy.
Resist peer pressure to start having sex before you are emotionally ready.
Talk openly about sexual health issues with parents, other adults you trust, and peers.
If having sex, use birth control correctly and consistently every time.
For more information about preventing teen pregnancy, please visit www.cdc.gov.
