On Page B-1 of Sunday's paper, there is an article by Tyeesha Dixon declaring the good news that state and national teen-birth rates are decreasing. According to David Landry of Guttmacher Institute, this is because "[Teenagers] are having sex at a later age."
Ironically, Page B-7 that same day contains an article about a 25-year-old man having "consensual" sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The article defines teenagers as ages 15 to 19. At BETA Center, we are seeing pregnant girls younger than ever before -- as young as 11 or 12. The younger the mother, the more likely the pregnancy has come about as a result of non-voluntary sex (including rape and incest) or victimization by older predatory males.
When you include all adolescents -- that is, ages 11 to 19 -- you get a clearer representation of the magnitude of the problem. In Orange County, teen births have increased each year since 2002 -- the greatest increases are in mothers younger than 14 years old. Clearly teen pregnancy remains a critical issue in Central Florida, one that we cannot ignore.
www.orlandosentinel.com
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