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Teen Pregnancy

For more than 25 years, teenage pregnancy has been defined as one of the nation’s major social problems. In recent years, national data has indicated a decline in teen birth rates, and the pregnancy rates are the lowest in 30 years. Teenage sexual activity is also declining but it should be noted that rates have reached a plateau and have remained relatively stable for the past three years.  Teen pregnancy and childbearing remain very serious problems in the South Carolina.

Experts state that 75 percent of the decrease in teen pregnancies over the last decade occurred as a result of increased contraceptive use. The remaining 25 percent can be attributed to more young people choosing to remain abstinent.  Many researchers and providers also acknowledge the synergistic effect of a number of factors, such as: emphasis on abstinence; the increasing popularity, availability and use of the newer, long-lasting methods of contraception, such as Depo Provera and the contraceptive patch; and awareness of the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS (which may be the result of AIDS education programs).

More programs to reduce teen pregnancy are making a real difference in encouraging teens to remain abstinent or use contraception when they have sex.  Communities are encouraged to follow three strategies to increase the chances that program they select or design on their own will actually reduce sexual risk taking or pregnancy.  Those strategies are: 1) Implement with fidelity programs demonstrated to be effective with similar populations. 2) Select or design programs that incorporate the key characteristics of programs that have been effective with similar populations. 3) Use logic models to select or design new programs.

At the same time that positive information and data on effective programming continues to emerge, important messages and actions must continue to be promoted by reasonable, informed and concerned individuals working in collaboration. Sarah Brown, executive director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, states: “It is important to continue to send teens, especially young teens, the message that they don’t have to have sex, that it’s OK to delay;” and, “We must continue to work hard to make sexually active kids understand that if they are not abstinent, [they must use] contraception exquisitely carefully.”

In addressing teenage pregnancy, DHEC will continue to work with other partners to develop appropriate evaluation measures for the interventions that are being undertaken. We will continue to:

• Provide voluntary, confidential family planning services that provide education, counseling and a broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods to teenagers;
• Develop data-driven strategies that target high-risk populations;
• Work in collaboration with other public and private agencies or organizations and community groups to reach teenagers with effective interventions before a first or subsequent pregnancy.

For more information on teen pregnancy and what parents can do to address this problem, please go to: http://www.teenpregnancysc.org