Teen pregnancy, taxes and climate change: Evidence matters
It is one of the great under-reported success stories of our time.
Twenty years ago, roughly 62 out of every 1,000 teen-age American girls were giving birth. Here in Georgia, the numbers were much, much worse. At the time, we had the highest teen-age birth rate in the country, at 126 births per 1,000 teen-age girls, twice as high as the national average.
The good news is that by 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the national teen birth rate had fallen to 39.1 births per 1,000 females, a 37 percent decrease and the lowest rate ever recorded in this country. (It’s still among the highest in the Western world.) Here in Georgia, the decline was even more dramatic. By 2009, the rate of teenage births here had fallen to 47.7 per 1,000, still above the national average but a startling reduction of 62 percent.
That’s a lot of individual lives that have been saved and changed. It’s a lot of money saved for the taxpayer as well. Those improvements have been pretty broadly based as well. As the Centers for Disease Control reports, “During that period, the birth rate decreased 50 percent among black teens, 41 percent among white teens, and 33 percent among Hispanic teens.”
However, the problem has remained more persistent in some areas than others. Texas, for example, has the third-highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. At 60.7 pregnancies per 1,000 teen-aged girls, its rate is more than three times higher than that of Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which have the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the country.
In Texas, that means three times more girls at risk of dropping out of high school and never attending college. It means a lot more abortions. It means a lot more children who are being raised by children, often without benefit of a nuclear family. It means premature babies, more low weight babies, more infant mortality and more dependence on government social programs.
In its sex-ed programs in public school, Texas relies upon a curriculum of abstinence-only, an approach that has been shown to be ineffective in multiple studies. Gov. Rick Perry was asked about that fact last year in a televised interview with Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune, who read Perry a question submitted by an audience member:
Here’s a transcript of the relevant exchange:
SMITH: Governor, why does Texas continue with abstinence education programs when they don’t seem to be working? In fact, I think we have the third highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.
PERRY: “Abstinence … works.”
(audience laughter)
SMITH: “But we have the third highest teen pregnancy rate among all states in the country. The questioner’s point is, it doesn’t seem to be working — abstinence education.”
PERRY: “It, it, it works. Maybe it’s the way it’s being taught, or the way it’s being applied out there, but the fact of the matter is it is the best form of — uh — to teach our children.”
SMITH: “Can you give a statistic telling me that it works?”
PERRY: “I’m just going to tell you from my own personal life, abstinence works …”
We’ve seen that attitude in a lot of policy areas. Tax cuts increase government revenue, even though repeated experiments have proved otherwise. Global warming has been revealed as a hoax, even though every investigation of the data has upheld its accuracy (the most recent is here).
And as Perry stubbornly insists, abstinence works.
This is faith and ideology that is immune to evidence. It is the assertion that belief should trump outcome. And as the teen-birth statistics demonstrate, the consequences of elevating faith over fact in the public policy sphere can be tragic.
(As an aside, it’s hard to watch that clip and not be struck by the uncanny similarity in body language and speaking cadence between Perry and former President George W. Bush. It’s actually kind of weird. My wife’s family is from Texas and my brother has lived there for 30 years — it’s not as if every male in the state has those mannerisms.)
– Jay Bookman
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849 comments Add your comment
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:02 am
“It’s always fun watching the lengths that you guys will go in lying about what I have said in order for you to pretend that you were correct on an issue.”
GLL<
You mean like this?
"The point is that if a Republican is in charge. they get the blame. If a Democrat is in charge, they don’t."
Adam
August 24th, 2011
10:02 am
I like how my giving Georgia government credit for a good decision was completely glossed over. It’s like you just want to fight…
stands for decibels
August 24th, 2011
10:02 am
with that hair? do you want a repeat of the Michael Jackson tragedy?
Why yes. Yes I do.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:02 am
The kid’s Mom and I were quite the radicals. We didn’t rely on the school to teach them the problems with having children when they were still children.
I know libs. It’s a shocker, but we actually chose to raise our own kids. And strangely, they are successful and happy and neither have had to face pregnancies, drug addictions, kicking the smelly, horrible hygiene habit of smoking or tattoo removal.
Not turning our children over to the state. Please don’t tell. K?
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:03 am
Bosch
So you DO blame Obama for the crime in Chicago. Good for you.
Mighty Righty
August 24th, 2011
10:04 am
Jay, do these statistics include abortions? If you are only counting live births the statistics have no meaning.
Thomas
August 24th, 2011
10:04 am
Jay- you like charts, correct? A little bit of a scary correlation between states with highest teen pregnancy rates and states with highest illegal immigrant population- I didn’t see where you laid that out in your op ed. egads- a little fly just landed in the punch bowl.
(ir)Rational
August 24th, 2011
10:04 am
Debbie – thank you very much for adding to my already great mood. Not positive where it came from, but I’m extremely happy this morning. Maybe I should cut back on the Mt. Dew?
Oh-well. Who is John Galt?
deegee
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
The point is that we need to elect people that can resolve a problem objectively. We need people that can analyze an issue based on a scientific method. It should be disturbing to the electorate that people like Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann are subjective in their approach to problem solving. Their life experiences may dictate how they solve problems within their families, but they shouldn’t be used exclusively for solving problems that affect the cultural melting pot that is the USA. Certainly, a candidate should have a high degree of integrity. Their life experiences will naturally contribute to the discussion. They shouldn’t limit the discussion.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
Generation$crewed
August 24th, 2011
9:59 am
has anyone that anybody here personally knows ever became pregnant while practicing abstinence?
Just Mary.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
USinUK is rolling today
Aquagirl
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
I don’t know of anyone that denies that the Earth is warming.
I love the wingnut tap dance on this, the same people who deny we’re part of the problem are the same ones who a few years ago were denying the earth is getting warmer.
Now, if global warming denialists were wrong a few years ago, you’d think they’d have a bit of rational self-reflection on their own inaccuracy. But no, they bravely forge ahead, ignoring their 100% fail rate. Are these people APS grads? Is it an ego thing?
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
“has anyone that anybody here personally knows ever became pregnant while practicing abstinence?”
Well, there was this Virgin once I heard about named Mary…..
Normal
August 24th, 2011
10:06 am
It absolutely amazes me that the religious folks try so hard to stop a natural God given biological function. If I am truly made in Gods image, as they preach, then God certainly is a lusty Man…must have been a Sailor….
But teach good safe sex, provide contraceptives (thereby lowering abortion…a win/win if I ever saw one), and promote responsibility for ones actions.
As aside but pertinent, I think….During the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts, if a solder of other countries fathered a child with a local female, that country took responsibility for that child. Only America ignored the children fathered by American soldiers. Says something about us, doesn’t it?
NIght Train
August 24th, 2011
10:06 am
I’m really surprised that the people on the left are not in support of teaching abstinence-only. As Jay points out, it causes “more dependence on government social programs” which means they will more than likely vote for a democrat.
Lower the education level the more likely they are to depend on the government for survival and the more likely they are to vote for democrats who will give them more and more handouts.
Adam, no new laws are needed, just remove the SexED from the classroom.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:07 am
Bosch – I’ve come to the conclusion that he is a completely lost cause.
The only thing he’s good for is a laugh. Don’t forget to point at him while doing so
pat
August 24th, 2011
10:07 am
If anything it’s evidence that you shouldn’t let the government raise your kids. Quit being losers, be parents.
Since Texas also has one of the highest if not the highest illegal populations in the U.S., of the teen prenancy stats, how many of those kids are born to illegals as anchor babies, where such action isn’t a matter of accidentally getting pregnent, it’s fervent desire and familial encouragement so as to plant a flag in the U.S.
So how many of those teen pregnacies are anchor babies? How many born to illegals who do not know enough english to hear what is being taught in school for those that actually go.
The facts you omit are also stubborn things.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:07 am
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
USinUK is rolling today
Bong broke?
Mighty Righty
August 24th, 2011
10:07 am
Was Barnes governor when Georgia had high pregnancy rates?
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:07 am
Oh, so now GLL has moved on to the false generalization of libs because he’s run out of ammo in his argument — wait, did he ever HAVE an argument of point?
Normal
August 24th, 2011
10:09 am
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
Mary was just a good liar, is all…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 24th, 2011
10:09 am
And in a direct U-turn away from any logic, GLL goes from discussing why he fails to comprehend the nuance that Perry is not blamed for the failure of abstinence but for the continued support of a failed abstinence-only education program to a diatribe about how his parenting skills exceed those of say, Palin. Do the airbags go off in that kind of high-speed turn?
Gordon
August 24th, 2011
10:09 am
I wonder why I read only negative blogs about Republicans and not positive ones about President Obama. We have a president who is “sort of a god.” Democrats should be focused on his accomplishments to promote his re-election. I wonder why they aren’t.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:09 am
It would be very interesting to find out if the parents of teens that get pregnant are a majority of liberals or conservatives.
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:09 am
“I’m really surprised that the people on the left are not in support of teaching abstinence-only. As Jay points out, it causes “more dependence on government social programs” which means they will more than likely vote for a democrat”
Yeah NIght Train because nothing supports an argument more than stupid generalizations based on nothing but prejudices.
@@
August 24th, 2011
10:10 am
Bosch:
Good grief — @@ did you stretch before making that leap?
It was MY opinion. If you can prove that it hasn’t, I’ll give yours consideration.
I see the gossip fest has begun with you right in the thick of it.
I’m out.
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:11 am
“We have a president who is “sort of a god.””
Says who Gordo? Certainly not any of us.
Jm
August 24th, 2011
10:11 am
A. Good column
B. Huntsman would probably agree
C. TX, more private sector jobs created than the rest of the country combined
Nothing can refute that last fact
Thomas
August 24th, 2011
10:11 am
So how many of those teen pregnacies are anchor babies? How many born to illegals who do not know enough english to hear what is being taught in school for those that actually go.
The facts you omit are also stubborn things
We shall await our chart- or we could leave the blog and let everyone roll around claiming victory much like Bush did on the USS Abraham Lincoln. The far left=the far right
Adam
August 24th, 2011
10:12 am
Night Train: Abstinence only education is what creates more dependance. If you use only that metric, you should be against it. But the religious and faith based idea that abortion is wrong and birth control is wrong and people should just be able to control their urges like sex and being gay is what is driving this one, not any real hard data, not any objective analysis.
Removing Sex Ed from the classroom is a terrible idea. You may personally believe that you are teaching your children properly, by talking to them about the birds and the bees and saying stuff like “when two people love each other very much.” But the fact is, most parents don’t even know where to begin because they are not educators in a specific discipline themselves. School is designed to teach more than the parents know and/or are willing to teach.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:12 am
And in a direct U-turn away from any logic,
to be fair, he does that an awful lot.
*still pointing my finger laughing at him*
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:12 am
Keep Up
Thanks for the commentary. It’s a little odd (and creepy) that you can’t differentiate between parenting skills and the acts of a governor. You do realize that the governor of a state isn’t the parent of all the children in that state, don’t you?
Yes, we did much better than Palin. And thanks for pointing that out.
JOE C00L
August 24th, 2011
10:13 am
“PERRY: “I’m just going to tell you from my own personal life, abstinence works …”
He left out “Until I Got My First Piece”
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Joe Cool –
at least he still has real purdy hair
Adam
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
GLL: It would be very interesting to find out if the parents of teens that get pregnant are a majority of liberals or conservatives.
That would should be easy to estimate based on voter registrations in the states that have abstinence only as their curriculum.
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Actually, Thomas, no such correlation exists.
California, with the nation’s highest percentage of illegal immigrants, ranks 27th in teen birth rate.
Mississippi, the state with the highest rate of teen births, has a very low rate of illegal immigration, roughly one-fourth the rate of California.
In other words, to the degree that your claim is revealing, it is revealing of your bias.
Generation$crewed
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:05 am
You personally knew Mary?
Really how old are you?
BTW do you have any proof of her being a virgin? Other than an account written years after the fact?
Oh in other words you do not know of a single case that a person was practicing abstinence and they got pregnant? Shocking!
USinUK
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
“has anyone that anybody here personally knows ever became pregnant while practicing abstinence?”
I think the more accurate question is: anybody here personally know someone who had sex even though they intended to practice abstinence?
(hand raised)
Doggone/GA
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
“So how many of those teen pregnacies are anchor babies?”
there’s no such thing
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Midori
You are trying really hard, and I appreciate it. But you shouldn’t be so obsessed with me. You are not really my type. Let me guess. You smoke AND have tattoos,
Doggone/GA
August 24th, 2011
10:15 am
“I wonder why I read only negative blogs about Republicans”
Because you’re a glutton for punishment?
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:15 am
“If you can prove that it hasn’t, I’ll give yours consideration”
It’s a false equivalent, what’s to prove? I guess you skipped the day in your research class that dealt with correlations.
But, I’ll help you out here with the generalities of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_and_dependence
Correlation and causalityMain article: Correlation does not imply causation
The conventional dictum that “correlation does not imply causation” means that correlation cannot be used to infer a causal relationship between the variables.[11] This dictum should not be taken to mean that correlations cannot indicate the potential existence of causal relations. However, the causes underlying the correlation, if any, may be indirect and unknown, and high correlations also overlap with identity relations (tautologies), where no causal process exists. Consequently, establishing a correlation between two variables is not a sufficient condition to establish a causal relationship (in either direction). For example, one may observe a correlation between an ordinary alarm clock ringing and daybreak, though there is no direct causal relationship between these events.
A correlation between age and height in children is fairly causally transparent, but a correlation between mood and health in people is less so. Does improved mood lead to improved health, or does good health lead to good mood, or both? Or does some other factor underlie both? In other words, a correlation can be taken as evidence for a possible causal relationship, but cannot indicate what the causal relationship, if any, might be
So, of course you can have the opinion that there is a relationship to violence in teens and abortions, but there is about as much a relationship there as say there are to an apple being a bird.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 24th, 2011
10:15 am
Here’s a chart below, if Democrats want to blame Republicans for African Americans and Hispanics having sex go right ahead, nobody cares… Everything starts with the parents, if you blame the govt for your kid getting pregnant you are a fool…
http://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/AboutTeenPreg.htm
Tommy Maddox
August 24th, 2011
10:15 am
Gee, Texas has a teen pregnancy rate “more than three times higher than that of Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire”. I guess you’ve never seen the women from Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Granny Godzilla
August 24th, 2011
10:16 am
Bottom line folks…supporting Abstinence only education for kids is a
huge waste of taxpayer money.
Tell them the truth, tell them early and tell them often.
In homes, schools, churches, clubs on street corners if required.
And quit glorifying teen moms on “reality” tv and tabloid magazines.
TGT
August 24th, 2011
10:16 am
On the 2010 release of the abstinence study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine:
Well, it’s just the gold standard for intervention research, a bright and shining pinnacle of research design that social science seldom ever reaches: random assignment. In this case 662 black sixth- and seventh-graders in low-income communities were assigned to one of four interventions, plus a control group: abstinence-only education, contraceptive “safer sex” education, two different comprehensive-education programs, plus a control group of kids who received general health education. Even the teachers were randomly assigned to one of the five groups.
The main conclusion of this rigorous clinical trial? “The abstinence-only intervention compared with the health-promotion control intervention reduced by about 33 percent the percentage of students who ever reported having sexual intercourse by the time of the 24-month follow-up, controlling for grade, age and intervention-maintenance condition.”
Wow. Any negative side effects? Are the kids less likely to use condoms? Nope. The authors report that “a randomized controlled trial and a literature review found no effects of abstinence interventions on condom use. Similarly, in this trial the abstinence-only intervention participants did not differ in self-reported consistent condom use compared with the control group.”
How about the contraceptive “safer sex” education program? Did teaching the kids to use condoms make them more likely to use condoms? Remarkably, no. The kids in the control group were just as likely to use condoms as kids given safer-sex education. Well, then, did the comprehensive “abstinence plus” approach do better at increasing condom use, compared to doing nothing? No, it did not either delay sex or increase condom use, either. The abstinence-only approach, in this one rigorous study, was the only one that “worked.”
But abstinence never works, right? I mean, we can train our pets not to poo on the carpet, but we can’t train our teens to wait until marriage?!
godless heathen
August 24th, 2011
10:16 am
“USinUK is rolling today
Bong broke?”
Now that’s funny right there.
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:16 am
“Was Barnes governor when Georgia had high pregnancy rates?
No. Zell Miller was.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 24th, 2011
10:17 am
Every chart you find shows hispanics by far and away have the highest teen pregnancy rates. I guess it’s Rick Perry or George Bush’s fault that Texas borders with Mexico. LOL
USinUK
August 24th, 2011
10:18 am
“Because you’re a glutton for punishment?”
today DOES seem to be martyrdom day here at Bookman’s House of Blog
DebbieDoRight
August 24th, 2011
10:18 am
Midori: Speaking of Rush, he’s now on a mission to identify all of Obama’s previous girlfriends. Maybe he wants to interview them to see what he’s doing wrong?
Well, with all those trips to the Dominican Republic and all that Viagara he’s been taking – maybe his problem is that he has to PAY for his dates and use copious amounts of Viagara just to, ummmmm, feel frisky.
Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at the airport after returning from a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Customs officials found the Viagra in his luggage but his name was not on the prescription
And finding all of Obama’s previous girlfriends, you don’t think Rush is looking for a brown Monica Lewinsky or even better an illegitimate baby do you?
MR: BTW, abstinence is the only birth control method that does work. It is ignorant to deny this fact.
It’s also ignorant to deny the fact that teenagers are going to have sex. Try and remember back when you were a teenager, (I’ll give you some time ’cause I know you’re going to have go WAY back and it might take a few minutes)>
Jimmy62
August 24th, 2011
10:18 am
Abstinence does work. It’s absolutely impossible to get pregnant if you are abstinent. Except for certain Jewish women named Mary.
Abstinence as a policy? Not gonna work.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 24th, 2011
10:18 am
GLL… I completely agree. It is odd and certainly very creepy that YOU can’t differentiate between parenting skills and the discussion of the acts of a governor. I know these are nuances, but these are not even subtle ones.
Do try to remember to discuss the post and not attack the poster especially with your failures in logic.
godless heathen
August 24th, 2011
10:19 am
Adam,
Thank you for giving the GOP government credit for reducing teen pregnancy in Georgia.
And I’ll give President Obama for leading from his behind in Libya.
stands for decibels
August 24th, 2011
10:19 am
Ok, I subjected myself to that clip.
Yeah, it’s eerily W-Bushian, that horrid stutter-as-you-try-not-to-sound-like-a-complete-moron (e.g., “the fact of the matter is it is the best form of — uh — to teach our children”), the shameless straw-man deflection (”if the point is, we’re gonna stand up here ‘n say ‘y’all go ‘n have sex n’ go have whatever’s goin’ on”), the apparent inability to suss out what big words like “disconnect” mean in context…
(ir)Rational
August 24th, 2011
10:19 am
Bosch – I believe it was either Newsweek or Time, but I can’t remember. Not important though, cause it isn’t germane to the argument. Gordon does make a good point, why can’t we have something to argue about where Jay puts up something about Obama’s accomplishments. It typically turns to that point anyway. Why not start there?
GLL – I think you would probably be surprised in that many of these teens that get pregnant are very religious and probably conservative. Typically because many religious (more to do with it than politics in my opinion) parents refuse to talk to their children about the dangers of premarital sex (or sex in general). My parents just gave me a book telling me it was evil and left it at that. Religion is probably more responsible than anything (my opinion!).
Oh-well. Who is John Galt?
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:19 am
Adam
That wouldn’t do it It would be easy to discover that 10% of the population was responsible for 90% of the teen births. Since I am a conservative, I would think that it would be more the kids that were raised as wards of the state and were not properly taught any sort of morality.
But you never know about those sorts of things. It might be the kids that are raised in church that are having more kids than kids raised in the ghettos, but I doubt it.
Mighty Righty
August 24th, 2011
10:20 am
Here is an informative educational study of our climate for the last 2000 years that intelligent students of climate change will find interesting.
http://www.longrangeweather.com/global_temperatures.htm
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:20 am
I suppose it flew right over my head GG, as I don’t see the humor in it.
or perhaps GLL can tell me where to get it fixed?
He seems to know every aspect and business in Atlanta.
Perhaps he can share more of his infinite wisdom?
Adam
August 24th, 2011
10:20 am
TGT: Is that study peer reviewed and available as a link?
Generation$crewed
August 24th, 2011
10:20 am
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Um Isn’t California in the top ten in Teen Pregnancy rate with around 95 pregnancies per 1000?
Arne’t they also in the top ten in abortions by teens per 1000 with around 35?
So are you celebrating their sucess at aborting their babies before they are able to be counted as teen birth rates?
Tommy Maddox
August 24th, 2011
10:21 am
Jay – did the statistics you drew from state the demographic breakdown of the pregnancy rates?
Jm
August 24th, 2011
10:21 am
Jay, question for you since you’re around and a media guy.
How much credibility do you feel MSNBC still has after hiring Al Sharpton, an activist without ANY journalism training, to fill their lineup?
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:21 am
DDR – I remember when that happened.
Lit up the blogosphere.
Rush is on his fourth wife, and still can’t get it right.
What a loser.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:22 am
Keep Up
Teen pregnancy is the issue here. As much as you might have a problem with parental influence on the topic, I think it is an important part. You do think that others should have a say in expressing their opinion, don’t you?
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:22 am
GLL: It would be very interesting to find out if the parents of teens that get pregnant are a majority of liberals or conservatives.
Well, of the 20 states with the lowest teen birth rates, 18 voted for Obama and two voted for Bush.
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:23 am
irrational,
Are you serious? Wingnuts can’t go one page without every topic here pointing to Obama = failure.
And the only people I see who equate Obama to a divine character are wingnuts, so, not sure what the point is.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:23 am
How much credibility do you feel MSNBC still has after hiring Al Sharpton, an activist without ANY journalism training, to fill their lineup?
about the same as Fox’s credibility for hiring Sean Hannity, a shrill shill without ANY journalism training, to fill Fox’s lineup?
deegee
August 24th, 2011
10:24 am
“Non-Hispanic black youth, Hispanic/Latino youth, American Indian/Alaska Native youth, and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth of any race or ethnicity experience the highest rates of teen pregnancy and childbirth.”
I live in N. Georgia. Poor white teenagers get pregnant at a high rate but at least they keep it all in the family.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:24 am
Midori
You HAVE to stop thinking about me, girl. It is NEVER going to happen.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:25 am
gotta go put food on my family.
GLL – don’t buy up too much of those lavish houses that rent for $500 while I’m gone.
Friends don’t let friends buy stupid.
pat
August 24th, 2011
10:25 am
Here’s your evidence, put it in your pipe and smoke it:
“In 2005, more than 73,000 girls aged 15-19 years got
pregnant in Texas, and 58% (42,000) were Latina teens.9 More than half
of all Latina girls experience a pregnancy before they turn twenty years of
age.10 It is projected that by 2015 the Texas teen pregnancy rate will
increase by 13%, resulting in a projected teen pregnancy rate of 127 per
1000 Texas women aged 15-19 years.11 This increase is primarily due to
the changing demographics and projected growth in the number of Latino
adolescents in Texas.”
58% of Teen pregnancies are latina. They comprise 38% of the population and 58% of the teen pregnancies….
It’s an immigration problem, not an education problem….
http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=childrenatrisk&sei-redir=1#search=%22hispanic%20teen%20pregnancy%20texas%22
Oh wait so, now let’s rag on the sources the ‘Journal of Applied Research on Children’ Must be a right wing conspiracy rag….
Generation$crewed
August 24th, 2011
10:26 am
USinUK
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Unless you were raped it was your choice to not remain abstinet. If you were raped I am sorry and hope the SOB who did it is reciving the same daily in prision.
Peoples lack of will power does not mean a concept doesn’t work. If they don’t have the will power to not have sex, what are the chances the will power to stop everything and put on a jimmy capper?
What plan on teen pregnancy has worked? It went back up in 2006! The biggest way to get kids to not get pregnant is explain in detail the consequences of having a baby as a teen. explain how hard it will be and hopefully that will motivate them enough to make the right decision.
Utimately the decision will be made by 13-18 yr olds, if we like it or not!
jm
August 24th, 2011
10:26 am
A. Midori, I didn’t ask you.
B. Fine lambast Fox all you want. They have some hacks, but that’s not what I asked about.
C. MSNBC appears to have shed all credibility if they ever had any.
(Notwithstanding the fact that I like Chris Matthews)
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:26 am
jm, I don’t consider talk-show hosts to be journalists in any form or fashion. They are media figures, celebrities, entertainers, etc. But not journalists.
As a general rule, if you’ve never covered a county commission or city council meeting, you’re not a journalist.
As to Sharpton, he’s for the most part a clown, although he has his serious moments and serious things to say. Ditto for Limbaugh.
Granny Godzilla
August 24th, 2011
10:26 am
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:20 am
I suppose it flew right over my head GG, as I don’t see the humor in it.
?????
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:26 am
GLL – I didn’t start the fire. You did.
Later folks.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:27 am
sorry Mrs G – was talking to Godless Heathern.
Don't Forget
August 24th, 2011
10:27 am
So, I’m guessing that most, or even some, of the conservatives here have never had pre marital sex. Anyone care to relate their personal history of abstinance only? Something tells me this is “do as I say” no “do as I do”.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:27 am
Jay
See my 10:19.
So kids that were raised in conservative households, probably in church are more likely to become pregnant than kids raised in secular households where abortion and out of wedlock sex is accepted.
Interesting POV, Jay.
Midori
August 24th, 2011
10:28 am
jm
August 24th, 2011
10:26 am
A. Midori, I didn’t ask you.
never stopped “YOU” from jumping into my converstations, feet first…………
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 24th, 2011
10:28 am
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:14 am
Midori
You are trying really hard, and I appreciate it. But you shouldn’t be so obsessed with me. You are not really my type. Let me guess. You smoke AND have tattoos,
____________
Ooohhhh… a new effort at code insults. Smoking and tattoos…..
What is it with some posters believes that others are obsessed with them? I suspect it reflects their own mental instability.
(ir)Rational
August 24th, 2011
10:28 am
Bosch – I wasn’t trying to argue. I was simply agreeing that maybe Jay should put up a blog posting touting Obama’s accomplishments. Right after that I said the discussion usually ends up with us all arguing about that anyway, so why not start there for once? I was also simply pointing out that it was in one of the two (I just looked it up and it was Newsweek) magazines that I listed that claimed that Obama was sort of a god. Once again, I’m not trying to argue. This is one topic I actually agree with y’all on.
Oh-well. Who is John Galt?
Mighty Righty
August 24th, 2011
10:28 am
DebbieDoRight
August 24th, 2011
10:18 am
Earlier you were jealous of Sara Palin and now Rush. I think if you will accomplish something yourself you will find those feelings of envy will go away. You were right about me having to go back a long way to remember my teen years. Having grown up in Southern California it was cars, surf and chicks. You would be surprised what a sixteen year old with ten dollars could do in Tiajuana.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:29 am
Midori
Put food on your family?
How does your family feel about that?
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:29 am
GLL, who are you quoting there?
Adam
August 24th, 2011
10:29 am
pat: Yes, a lot of teen pregnancies are Hispanic. Does that mean it’s all about illegal immigration? No, that metric wasn’t there. How about immigration in general? Only if you assert that only Hispanics immigrate….
jm
August 24th, 2011
10:30 am
Jay 10:26 – well so if all the media outlets go the route of mixing entertainment and “reporting”, who is the public supposed to trust for unbiased information and insight into the world’s events?
As I figure nowadays, Bloomberg is the best….
godless heathen
August 24th, 2011
10:30 am
Are you serious? Libbies can’t go one page without every topic here pointing to Bush = failure.
Fixed your sentence, Bosch.
Ayn Rant
August 24th, 2011
10:31 am
Does anyone see the paradox: children are the result of sex, but children must not learn about sex? Or, children, who are the result of naked genital contact between parents, and who suckle at their mothers’ breast, should not be exposed to diagrams and images of adult genitals and breasts?
Until recent times, parents and children rarely had much privacy from one another. Often children slept in close proximity to their parents, and were well aware that sex was a vital part of adult life. Those children didn’t need sex education in school; modern children do.
JOE C00L
August 24th, 2011
10:33 am
“How much credibility do you feel MSNBC still has after hiring Al Sharpton, an activist without ANY journalism training, to fill their lineup?”
Guess it would be something like FOX hiring Glenn Beck with no college education.
I guess you can say, they BOTH have no traditional journalism education and life has been their education.
Jay
August 24th, 2011
10:33 am
jm: well so if all the media outlets go the route of mixing entertainment and “reporting”, who is the public supposed to trust for unbiased information and insight into the world’s events?
If all the media outlets are going as you suggest, it’s because the public has signaled pretty clearly that it doesn’t WANT “unbiased information and insight into the world’s events.”
If there is demand for something, someone will produce it.
No demand, then no supply.
Normal
August 24th, 2011
10:33 am
Do the Cons preach abstinence because they are afraid Obama will tax sex? Inquiring minds and all that…
Generation$crewed
August 24th, 2011
10:33 am
Don’t Forget
August 24th, 2011
10:27 am
So based on your theory we should all tell our kids to speed while driving but make sure their mirrors are adjusted, if we ourselves have ever been guilty of speeding?
I have done many dangerous or careless things in my life that I would not want my kids to do and would attempt to discourage them from doing so. Or do you not tell your kids to not do anything that you yourself may have done?
pat
August 24th, 2011
10:33 am
Adam the link is there, read the report….
Adam
August 24th, 2011
10:34 am
godless heathen: Are you serious? Libbies can’t go one page without every topic here pointing to Bush = failure.
Fixed your sentence, Bosch.
Well, you’re both wrong, but Bosch is closer to being right than you.
Good little liberal
August 24th, 2011
10:34 am
Keep Up
LOL!!
I think you know me well enough to know that I don’t code insults.
And please. Try to control your feelings for me, no matter what those feelings are. Out of the posts you have rendered today, how many have been desperate attempts to pick a fight with me?
Get a clue, Pal. you are a little obsessed and it’s just downright creepy.
Bosch
August 24th, 2011
10:34 am
irrational,
Personally I’m glad that Jay has put up a topic that has another area for discussing opinions like teen pregnancy, even if he uses Perry as the catalyst. After bloggin here for many years, I know that the topic will eventually get to how bad Obama sucks for the wingnuts — but for now, I’m glad it’s something new.
Maybe next Jay can have a gun control thread — boy does that get the dander flowing.
Generation$crewed
August 24th, 2011
10:34 am
Normal
August 24th, 2011
10:33 am
Not tax it, regulate sex.
Get it together. Taxing only applies to the rich, everyone from all walks has sex.
Jefferson
August 24th, 2011
10:36 am
As shown, Perry could care less about the other world.