Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503200043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
All were teen-age parents featured in this newspaper's ``One Out of Every 10'' series last year. All were on the mind of Roanoke City Manager Bob Herbert when he created his high-profile Teen Pregnancy Task Force, which began meeting last April.
While the task force is still struggling to find a direction, these teen-agers have done what their communities and their parents - but not necessarily their peers - find unthinkable:
They're pregnant, again.
Meanwhile, a new trend is emerging. Meet Love Pate, a 17-year-old Patrick Henry High School cheerleader. She runs track, earns mostly A's, works at Hardee's on weekends and is dead-set on going to college this fall - with her 7-month-old son Dakeise.
How to reverse the idea among many teens that pregnancy is socially acceptable, even among the academically inclined? How to lower pregnancy rates in all areas of the city, and especially in Northwest, where 47 out of the 96 teen births in 1992 were to females who already had children?
Today's Extra section takes another look at the people behind the numbers. It also introduces you to students in the Teen Outreach Program, a school-based community service program that has reduced teen pregnancy, juvenile crime and school dropout among the students it serves.
In Monday's Extra section, we'll introduce you to YWCA director Harriet Lewis and some others in the community who aren't waiting for answers from the task force.
They're working on the problem from the grass-roots level - and they're asking for your help.
by CNB