ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080048
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
NO ONE can declare victory. About 1.2 million infants were born last year to unmarried mothers, many of them teen-age mothers, and the United States still has a higher teen-pregnancy rate than any other industrialized nation. Clearly, a multitude of problems associated with teen pregnancy remains.
But it's mighty encouraging that the nation's out-of-wedlock birth rate dropped last year for the first time in nearly two decades, a reduction in accord with a four-year decline in the teen birth rate.
These statistical findings indicate that more young women are responsibly avoiding pregnancy - which, for the unmarried teen, can become a baby trap. Lest any forget, this is not a predicament that ends after nine months, but one that can negatively alter a teen's life and her prospects for happiness for many years to come.
And an even greater cause for optimism is the implication that fewer babies will be caught in this particular baby trap. Not all infants born to unwed mothers are sentenced to lives of poverty and related ills. But the connection between this happenstance of birth and impoverished, often neglected and abused children has been too well-established to ignore. It is this connection that has made prevention of teen pregnancy a national imperative.
Not surprising in the midst of a political season, the possible reasons for the decline in unwed births have become the subject of political debate. Liberals are inclined to credit teens' increased use of contraceptives; conservatives attribute it to increased abstinence; and - whichever, whatever - President Clinton has claimed some credit.
In fact, Clinton deserves some credit. From the start of his administration, he used his bully pulpit to draw attention to the teen-pregnancy problem, giving considerable momentum to countless efforts that have come into being to combat it and deal with its consequences.
Those efforts reflect a range of philosophical approaches, from the distribution of free condoms to abstinence-based programs to school-based baby-sitting services so teen mothers can complete their education.
Notably, they have also included peer-based efforts such as Roanoke city's Teen Outreach Program (TOP). This program, which involves at-risk teens helping other teens to avoid risky behavior, has proved extremely effective in preventing teen pregnancy. The secret of its success seems to be the self-esteem that young people gain from it. It's widely recognized that a lack of self-esteem and a lack of goals are at the root of many unwed teen pregnancies.
Doubtless, the encouraging new statistics on unwed births will accelerate the debate as to what kind of programs work best and are needed to further the trend. Most likely, there is no single answer. The teen-pregnancy problem is too complicated for a one-size-fits-all response.
What seems clear, however, is that the focus on the issue - whether from Clinton's bully pulpit, from the media or from programs like TOP - is helping to change teens' attitudes about unwed pregnancy and, consequently, teens' behavior. That focus must continue if the statistics on teen and unwed pregnancies are to keep going in the right direction - downward.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB