Jackson County’s teen birth rate is higher than the teen birth rates in Europe, Mexico, the United States, Georgia and surrounding counties.
Although most Jackson County adults (88 percent) feel that unmarried teens should not be sexually active, 70 percent of students in the local schools are sexually active by their senior year.
In addition to teen pregnancy, young people are at a higher risk for sexually transmitted infections like HIV. A recent CDC study found that one in four girls have a sexually transmitted disease. To make matters worse, 38 percent of all sexually active high school students in Jackson County have already had three or more partners.
The community overwhelmingly supports more education and services for young people to prevent teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, according to a recent survey. The study by the Northeast Health District found that the majority of Jackson County residents (87 percent) believe that sexually active teens should be using birth control, however only a quarter (26 percent) believe the community as a whole would support this. In addition, the survey found that 90 percent of residents support more education in the schools on how to prevent pregnancy in the first place including information on both abstinence and birth control.
Teens surveyed said that parents are the biggest influence in their decision about sex and yet a quarter of students in Jackson County (26 percent) feel the adults in their lives do not spend enough time talking to them about important issues such as alcohol, drugs, sex, personal feelings or problems.
These numbers were taken from the Community Opinion Survey (2007), GA Vital Statistics (2005), Jackson County School District BART Report (2004), the CDC (STD information), National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2006 With One Voice National Survey).
I completely understand what people in general are talking about teen pregnancy. I have a cousin who is rapidly growing up and i don't what anything to happen to her to ruin her chases to go to college or anything of that nature. We must talk to our children about sex, drugs, and emotions. Whether we like it or not it is our job as a parent to enforce those rules upon our children. Almost every parent out there does not what to see their daughter and son to grow up but, it is inevitable. We have to teach our sons and daughters to look out for those things and not to make the wrong choices. It is our job, our duty to make sure that we can secure the best future that they can possible have.
I find it interesting that the adults are hoping for more classes to offer information on abstinence and birth control. We, teens, have all had health education classes, and they all offer the same information. It will marinate and stay fresh on our minds for a while, but then it just sort of… fades away. The intensity of the consequences we could face is not always the first thing on our mind. Even as someone is about to embark on this potential nine-month journey, the idea of it is recognized for maybe thirty seconds and then forgotten. As a few of my friends who have ended up with a child have said to me, “I just didn’t think it would happen to me.” It’s a kind of cliché response, but it’s true.
I don’t think that classes on what could happen would be really effective. I think one-on-one conversation with parents would have a longer lasting effect. If the conversation was more open and comfortable, I think teens would be more likely to not only hear what the parents have to say but actually listen as well. But the fact of the matter is, information, suggestions, and advice can be repeated and pounded into someone’s brain, but in the end, it’s that teen’s decision. Careless or thoughtful, it was his/her choice. Only so much can be done to prevent this “crisis.”
That’s why I believe that a class on parenting would be a great course for pregnant teens. Maybe this way they wouldn’t fell like they messed up their life and they actually have support from their own school. Instead of giving their backs on them, the school should help them out as much as they can to be a good parent and be able to release their goals without having any obstacles in their way. Parents should some how have a part in this to. Pregnant teens sometimes fell they don’t have enough support from their parents, so the school could some how get them involved as well.
I think that the pregnancy rate in Jackson County is way too high. Too many young women are having babies at such young ages. The classes that are given for people to take are good. Parents should also sit down and talk with their children about sex and drugs and other bad stuff.
Parents should teach their kids about safe sex. Unprotected sex can possibly lead to some bad infectious diseases such as HIV. Since I’ve been in Jackson County I have seen a numerous amount of pregnant teenagers. Some of them teenagers have dropped out of school because they can’t get anyone to help them with their baby. So overall I think teen pregnancy in Jackson County is way out of hand and something needs to be done about it.
Teens do know about abstinence, they also know about birth control. Teens make these decisions and know the consequences. I believe that the parents do not spend enough time talking with their kids about drugs, sex, alcohol, etc. Parents feel too uneasy when they try talking to their kids about these problems, but they don’t talk to them. The parents need to take the initiative and talk to their kids about drugs, sex, and alcohol.
I think that there are things we can do to help keep the teenagers in school. Since pregnancy is an ongoing issue in our community, and I do not think it is going anywhere, we should take steps to make things progress. I think that we should have daycares in the school. Some might think that this is ridiculous and that this will definitely be a disgrace to our school but I think the complete opposite. We will be helping these girls with their future. Think about it, there will be more of a chance for these girls to return to school if they know that they will have somebody watching their child. That is one of the biggest problems teens face. Finding somebody they trust enough to leave their child with while they are gone for 8 hours of the day.
These girls are faced with a lot of pressure when they see the positive sign on that pregnancy test. I don’t condone underage sex but it is happening, and we can not pretend like its not. There are some girls out there that have sex with anybody they feel is fit. Its not a special thing for them because they give it to anybody. But there are other girls who have been with the same person for years and end up having a baby. Then there are girls who make stupid decisions and end up not remembering what happened the night before. Whatever there story is, they deserve to fulfill their high school years. They need their diploma to finish their life and make a home for their child. They don’t need to sit at home screaming at the baby because its hungry and they don’t have a way to feed it.
Instead of shunning these teens for the decision, or mistake, they have made, we should be helping them. If it was your child that exactly what you would want, help. They need to know that there not alone. And I think that daycares in the high schools would be a good place to start.
This article should surprise me, but it doesn’t. My former best friend is 16 and has a 3 month old baby. I’m not saying that schools can prevent this, but if we were taught more about protected sex then it might not happen as often. Right now Jackson County teaches more on abstinence not on protection. That obviously isn’t very affective. I am not saying that it is not a good idea; I strongly believe that it should stay that way, with abstinence being our top priority, but teaching the opposite side couldn’t hurt.
If teens knew more about condoms and birth control then I think the teen pregnancy rate would drop tremendously. In all honesty most “old fashion” people our so stuck in their ways that the idea of there “baby” having sex is repulsing. But is it better if there “baby” gets pregnant? It would be a slap in the face to most parents if they knew what there kids were really doing, but it could be prevented. Parents need to talk to their kids about these things. We are not going to get embarrassed. If you talk we have to listen.
On the contrary if more parents continue to act blind then we are getting no where with the under lying issue. We can try to make teens believe that sex is bad, but that doesn’t mean it will change our minds.
I think that the teen pregnancy rate in Jackson County is ridiculous. I think that more parents or guardians of the Jackson County teens should talk to their kids about sex and sexual transmitted diseases while their in a younger grade instead of high school. I know that in middle school students are required to take a sex education class but I think that parents should take a stand and make their voices made to their children and have them practice abstinence or safe sex. They should speak to them about birth control and the responsibility that it takes to raise a kid.
I’m only in the 11th grade and since I have moved to Jackson County at least 5 out of the people that I know every year have either become pregnant or had an abortion. Teens now a day aren’t willing to take the responsibility of their actions and are too quick to throw money up and erase their “mistake”. I know that women are going to get pregnant regardless, but I think that they should be aware of what they are doing and the risk they are taking at such a young age.
Also, I think many girls are afraid to tell their parents that they have sex. They’re afraid that if they ask for birth control, then their parents will know they have sex and will begin to dislike them. They both must realize birth control is for the best and is for protection from pregnancy. There is no certain way that you can stop it. It’s something that is growing in my generation and will continue to grow as long as it is promoted and looked at as “cool” to do.
Most teenagers are not talked to by there parents and that sex education class we had in ninth grade was just not enough to inform them of the diseases they could get and how to avoid getting pregnant. In my opinion there are things that could be done to prevent this, such as a mandatory class about sex and diseases. This could really help us take a step in the right direction and stop teen pregnancy. I certainly don’t want our county to be known for having the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world.
There should be more classes in school for teens to help them real lies about the care of the baby is very important. Taking care of the kid is very important to see your own kid. It is the greatest thing that it will happen to you. And the classes will help the girl and the man to see what to do if you don’t know. You should not have sex if you not going to take care of a little one. If you really want to be ready for a kid to be in your life and not give it away or don’t do anything with him or her. If you want one be safe till you know that you are ready for it or keep it in your pants guys and be a man and say no!!!!!!!!!
My response to the part about where it talks about 38% of high school students who are sexually active have already had three or more partners. That is just crazy I could understand one or two if you really loved them, but not more than three. These students need to learn how to control themselves. That’s why I think that the schools need classes to help educate them.
Also when you have kids sexually active, they also have the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases (STD’S). Which a lot of these diseases you can not get rid of. So if they get it they have it for the rest of there life. Then especially if they have intercourse with another person then it just keeps spreading to who ever they have intercourse with. So they would be better off just using abstinence. So then they would have to worry about diseases or getting pregnant.
Although I do support classes for those who do become pregnant and day care for their children, I also believe that precautions should be taken to perhaps lower the rate of teen pregnancies in Jackson County. I’ve heard of schools in urban areas having their own health clinic in the schools to provide physical exams and types of birth control to sexually active teens. Seeing as how we have a higher pregnancy rate than most of these schools, shouldn’t we also have something like that available to our students? Although some parents would argue and say that the school is supporting sexually active teens, look at the facts. If over 70% of students are sexually active by their senior year, shouldn’t we at least help lower the percentage of those students that actually become pregnant? This would help raise the graduation rate in Jackson County as well as lower the pregnancy rate to a normal level.
A lot of these problems have to do with the parents of these teens. If their parents don’t seriously sit down and talk to their child about what it means to be sexually active and give them insight on these problems, than teens might think that it’s not as serious as it truly is. I think that we could even help parents with this by opening a community group that will teach parents how to talk to their kids about problems like this.
Having a class in school and a community group set up will decrease these percentages and will help save the future of these teens.
I think that for the teen pregnancy rate to go down we really need a class that reinforces that teen shouldn’t be having sex. Most teens that have sex don’t even know enough about it to even be doing it. They just do it because they are being pressured into doing it or because they think that they are in “love” and it will make matters better with their partner. Talking with your parents probably would also help, but I don’t think that parents know how to approach the situation with their children on how to talk about sex, because they don’t want to face the facts that they might be having sex. Even if you didn’t know if your child was having sex or not you could still talk to them about it, because they are probably have questions.
You could easily scare many girls and boys out of having sex by telling them the true cold hard facts about it, which they never hear until it’s too late and there is nothing they can do about it. I guess at our age our hormones are going crazy and we really don’t know how to handle them correctly, but I honestly think that we really do need a class on sex and the consequences that come along with it. I go to a school where it seems that walking around pregnant might be a new style. It’s not unlikely to see a girl pregnant here. To me that’s horrible to have young, young teens walking around pregnant, it just doesn’t look good on them or the school.
For a young adult to say they have multiple sex partners only says one thing disease. Then when they are having sex they don’t know what they are doing and end up having an unwanted baby. That could have easily been prevented by parents talking. So I really do think that this all falls on the parents fault for not educating there children. Have they been aware so many of the problems wouldn’t be happening right now.
I believe that people need to teach the students about diseases, and how you can catch them. I believe that if people will teach these students about diseases and pregnancies then they will stop. They will understand how devastating it would be to catch one of the sexually transmitted diseases. If they were to show a video of how it ruined someone’s life then, I also believe that it can make students think twice about what they are doing. I certainly don’t want to be known for being the county that has the highest teen pregnancy rate; in fact it’s quite embarrassing.
An educational approach to this is the best way to handle this situation. By just simply talking to your child about doing the right thing by being safe would drastically reduce the amount of pregnant girls in this county. So many girls are uneducated and don’t know the consequences that if they did then I’m sure this statistic would change. I really don’t think that parents now a day talk to their children about sex and that is a huge factor in life. Sex is crucial in life. It makes us who we are and we as a human race use it not only to reproduce but to show our soul mate how much we love them.
This is a clear indicator that sex ed classes need to talk more about birth control and how to use it. That goes not only for Jackson County, but for the rest of the state. Actually, make that the rest of the country. A large part of this teen pregnancy crisis has been caused by adults withholding important information from teens. Of course, such measures would do little to help those teens who are already parents. For those teens, it would be best either for our schools to offer a daycare for these children, or for a cheap private daycare to set up shop near high schools. The former may be expensive, but it would be well worth it to ensure that not only do these teen parents graduate, but their children will be less likely to repeat the mistakes of their parents.
-A junior at East Jackson
This article should surprise me, but it doesn’t. My former best friend is 16 and has a 3 month old baby. I’m not saying that schools can prevent this, but if we were taught more about protected sex then it might not happen as often. Right now Jackson County teaches more on abstinence not on protection. That obviously isn’t very affective. I am not saying that it is not a good idea; I strongly believe that it should stay that way, with abstinence being our top priority, but teaching the opposite side couldn’t hurt.
If teens knew more about condoms and birth control then I think the teen pregnancy rate would drop tremendously. In all honesty most “old fashion” people our so stuck in their ways that the idea of there “baby” having sex is repulsing. But is it better if there “baby” gets pregnant? It would be a slap in the face to most parents if they knew what there kids were really doing, but it could be prevented. Parents need to talk to their kids about these things. We are not going to get embarrassed. If you talk we have to listen.
On the contrary if more parents continue to act blind then we are getting no where with the under lying issue. We can try to make teens believe that sex is bad, but that doesn’t mean it will change our minds.
I don’t really think that the girls are aware of what having a baby would do to their lives. It wouldn’t only ruin their bodies but also their whole child hood. Your high school years should be the best years of your life and if you have to constantly take care of a baby, how do you expect to have a social life? Also the baby will struggle because the mother can’t fully support the baby the way she should and 9 times out of 10 the father doesn’t stick around. Just because of the simple fact that he is so young and he’s probably just like the girl, not ready to be a parent.
I don’t think our first move can be to try and stomp out sex in the lives of young people. That would be much too difficult and futile, considering the influence of the media stated above. But I think that we should start from an earlier level, and teach our kids about sex and its consequences if improperly distributed. I feel that we need to teach safe sex, not no sex. If we don’t take the initiative to teach them the truth, who will? Certainly not anything else they find. But we must act and we must act now. We need to start as early as middle school, teaching our kids how to act when they get older. Because being a young person myself, I know what these children know. They are educated enough just to know what sex is by their peers, and by seeing it so freely displayed. They think that it’s “cool” and the “mature” thing to do. This is why we must teach them what is happening. When the truth gets out about what happens in reality, and it is compared to the surreal life of T.V., our younger generations will surely wipe their eyes clean of this mist that has shrouded their reality and realize what life really throws at you. They will finally see that sex for young teens in excess isn’t as glamorous as the media makes it out to be. Hopefully then, we can finally free ourselves from the necessity to even worry about STDs, and we can shift our eyes to other things rather than teen pregnancies.
I don’t really think that the girls are aware of what having a baby would do to their lives. It wouldn’t only ruin their bodies but also their whole child hood. Your high school years should be the best years of your life and if you have to constantly take care of a baby, how do you expect to have a social life? Also the baby will struggle because the mother can’t fully support the baby the way she should and 9 times out of 10 the father doesn’t stick around. Just because of the simple fact that he is so young and he’s probably just like the girl, not ready to be a parent.
I can't say that my boys will not have sex or try things while they are in high school or any other time, but I do feel that we have talked with them enough and given them the truth. When the time comes, I can only hope that they make the right choices. In the end, that is all you can hope for. I have been lucky that I have three very smart boys and they think about their choices and they don't care what others think about them. They don't look for acceptance from their peers, something I am proud of them for. As stated, it is their choice and I hope that they make the right choices and decisions. That is not to say that when they leave the house on dates or with their friends that I don't worry. I do. I can only believe in them and know that I have done what I can to make sure they have the tools and knowledge that they need.