Houston Chronicle Examines Teen Pregnancy, Sex Education In Texas

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 07 Apr 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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The Houston Chronicle on Wednesday examined teen pregnancy and the type of sex education offered in Texas. According to the Chronicle, two recent incidents -- one involving a Houston girl who miscarried during a flight home from a field trip, and another that involved a Baytown, Texas, girl giving birth to an infant in a school bathroom -- have raised "questions about how schools, social service agencies and parents can work better to identify and help these teens before they turn to desperate options." Social workers and psychologists said that pregnant teens often hide their pregnancies out of fear and that parents and other adults should pay closer attention.

Data released by the not-for-profit group Child Trends show that Texas in 2007 had the fifth-highest teen pregnancy rate and the highest teen birth rate in the U.S., with 62 births per 1,000 female teens ages 15 to 19. Rochelle Tafolla, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southwest Texas, said that the state has not seen the improvements in teen pregnancy rates that other states have experienced, adding, "At the same time, we're seeing a push for abstinence-until-marriage programs" in schools that have sex education programs.

Phyllis Simpson, director of health and physical education for the Texas Education Agency, said that although the state teaches human sexuality in its health curriculum, each of Texas' nearly 1,040 school systems is allowed to determine what curriculum is used or if they will teach it at all. Under state law, schools that teach sex education must stress abstinence as the "preferred option." According to the Chronicle, a Texas student could graduate from high school without being taught about birth control options. Houston Independent School District officials said the district offers an "abstinence-plus" program, which teaches about contraception but reinforces that abstinence is the best method to prevent sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy.

Al Summers, director of events for the National Middle School Association, said that adolescents today are maturing faster, which is forcing schools to deal with sensitive issues earlier. "The family is not what it was 40 years ago," Summers said, adding, "If [school districts] didn't already understand, I think they're beginning to understand that [sex education] does need to be addressed in an age-appropriate manner at the time which things could begin to happen" (Langford/Radcliffe, Houston Chronicle, 4/2).

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