Officials: Sexually transmitted disease, teen pregnancy problems in Midland

A national report released Wednesday named Texas as the state with the worst teen pregnancy rate in the country, and Midland sex education officials say local teens also have high rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
"Last year, the health department reported 200 girls between the ages of 13 and 18 as having been diagnosed with chlamydia," said Pat Snyder, a registered nurse and teen pregnancy coordinator for the Midland Independent School District.

Snyder said the total number of people she helped last year was 275, which included parents and pregnant teens.

"I've had girls as young as 11 pregnant; they're getting sexually active younger," Snyder said. "The specific ones I've worked with have had older siblings and the girls did not look their age. They're maturing faster now than they did this time a year ago."

The report, provided in the KIDS COUNT data book, is a precursor to the fall release of The State of Texas Children 2007.

Released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the report shows Texas averages 63 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19. The report also stated that nationally, there are 41 births for every 1,000 teens.

The state did improve by 9 percent between 2000 and 2004, but having a total of more than 51,000 births to Texas teens put the Lone Star State at the top of the list.

"The recidivism rates are high (for teen pregnancy)," Snyder said. "Some of them are on their third babies and are only about 18."

Years ago, if a teen got pregnant she would be shipped out to the alternative school. But Snyder and her supervisor Tracey Dees said their main goal is to keep the girls in school and see them graduate.

Dees, the supervisor of health care services in MISD, said most of the MISD girls who get pregnant graduate.

"We try to help them get a support system regardless of whether they have a support system at home," she said. "Once you are pregnant, there is another life to be taken into consideration. We have daycare services at Coleman high school; if they are going to succeed, let's make sure we get them an education."

In addition to the school curriculum, other agencies make efforts to educate teens on abstinence and what is considered "safe" sex.

Judy Rouse, executive director of the Life Center, said their sex education program is based on medically accurate facts and abstinence.

"We have an abstinence program that's been in schools since 1998," she said. "It follows a regular pattern of education. We talk about the media, we talk about relationships and 'Is safe sex really safe?' We discuss the myth of safe sex."

Rouse said not only does the center's program offer dialogue about sex, but it also informs teenagers about laws pertaining to them and sexual intercourse.

"With our program, we help (teens) decide for themselves what's best for them."

But Dees also pointed out the decision of becoming sexually active is not the only thing teenage girls have to deal with.

"We've had kids who have been sexually assaulted and they become pregnant and some who have been beaten by their parents because they're pregnant," Dees said. "And that's the hardest part."

Teen girls are not the only ones affected by teen pregnancies; teen fathers have their own issues to deal with as well.

"We've also got these daddies, too. Where does he fit into this? Some teens stay together, but for some, after she's pregnant it's over," Dees said.

"Some don't want anything to do with (the baby), but some of them are so young they don't know what to do."

Dees said the goal of her office is to not judge the teens for their actions.

"There's no imposition on our personal beliefs or morality. It's about how we as health care providers can help them bring healthy babies into this world," she explained.

Frances Deviney, Texas KIDS COUNT director, said information for the report is primarily gathered from the census bureau, but it also comes from the U.S. Center for Disease Control, the U.S. Department of Education and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.

"Texas ranks 37th on overall child well-being," Deviney said.

In addition to being the state with the highest teen birth rates, one in four Texas children lived in poverty in 2005, ranking the Lone Star State as 44th in the nation.

"Texas consistently rates at the bottom," Deviney said. "We need to remember that we cannot look favorably upon our state if our kids are in such conditions."

source : www.mywesttexas.com