Every two months, we put out a newsletter at my non-profit job. For our September issue, I wrote an article which challenged commonly held beliefs about teen pregnancy. I was really hoping to make people think, and knew that some may be offended. But I was okay with that - sometimes the truth is hard to swallow.
Here's the article:
The canary in the mineshaft - "sarahthedoula"
Teen pregnancy has been all over the news in “our area” this summer. According to our local health unit, in 2007, 9% of our births, were to teens. Only about half of the teens who get pregnant, go on to give birth – the other half of pregnancies end in either miscarriage or abortion. In reality, the number of young women experiencing a pregnancy could be even higher, as the health unit can only account for women who choose to go through the public health care system, not for those who miscarry at home, or who go to a private clinic. That “9%” works out to a birth rate of 17.6 mothers aged 15-19 per 1,000 teens in “our area”, while the provincial average was 12.5. Something is going on here….. and we need to pay attention…. but not for the reasons you might think!!
Most people refer to teen pregnancy as a ‘problem’. It has long been assumed that giving birth as a teen will result in that mother-baby being pulled down into a lifetime of poverty and dependence on government and family. Research is showing that in reality, when teen parents are well supported, and given the same educational chances as their non-parenting peers, then by the time they are in their 30’s, they’re doing just as well.
It has long been assumed that teens get pregnant because they don’t know how to prevent pregnancy, they don’t have access to contraception, or they don’t use contraception properly. Research is showing that in reality, teens get pregnant for a wide variety of complex reasons – the ‘problem’ can’t be solved just through better sex ed classes and free condoms.
Most of us feel intuitively that teen pregnancy is a problem… but the problem isn’t what we think it is, so the solutions aren’t what we’ve thought they are. For that matter, moral and religious teaching on its own isn’t making much of a difference either.
I believe that teen pregnancy is problem because of what it is a symptom of: a lack of hope, which leads to an increase in risk-taking behaviours. Just as the death of a canary signalled miners that the air wasn’t safe for them to breathe, an increase in teen pregnancy rates signals to the community that their teens need help – their teens need hope. Hope is at the centre of Christ’s message, and it is a gift that every one of us can give. God knows the plans he has for each of us – plans to give us hope & a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) “When kids are empowered with information and stimulated by hope for the future, it has a contraceptive effect. Education. Employment. Their own bank accounts. Good health. Family involvement. Self-esteem. These are also contraceptives. It’s the total fabric that is important” (Ludtke)
Now, more than ever, we at “non-profit” need your support. We need your prayers and your financial gifts, so that we can continue to minister to the youth of “our area”. We need you to pour into us, so that we can pour the love and hope of Christ, into the lives of teens, every day. Together, we can bring hope to a generation.
*********
This morning, our administrator forwarded the following message to me:
Dear Ms “sarahthedoula”
I was disappointed in the the newsletter, mostly because of your article on teen pregnancy. I certainly don't agree with your assertion that it is not a real problem. I, in common with many Christians, do not approve sex outside marriage and most of all sex among young people without using contraceptives.
I think you have been misled by research. Research, particularly in the social ssciences has a bad reputation. My own area was education and the vast majority of projects did ot follow proper statistical procedures. There are two main reasons: First, most of the people doing the research are not statistically adept; Second, much research is carried out with a clear design for specific outcomes. Research on the family has been largely taken over by feminists whose bias and/or ignorance colour their alleged findings.
Your core assertion that"when teen parents are well supported, and given the same educational chances . . . . (later) they're doing just as well". Note 1: No mention of what percentage is well supported. 2) You can't measure "chances ", so it probably means if they get the same education as their peers. 3) For that limited group, mainly coming from strong supportive families, that may well be true - but meaningless if we don't know the proportion involved. My guess would be a minority. 4) You seem to be implying that the rest of us should be giving special support to those who choose not to give their babies up for adoption. I don't agree. Why should we reward them for their bad decision? Boys and girls who cannot access education but are not parents are more deserving. 5. Typically, the research tells us how the mothers are doing - but what about their children? Children do better if they have a family with a father and a mother.
You state correctly that our schools are not helping the situation with their sex education. programs. You incorrectly state that "moral and religious teaching on its own" does not work. (Unless the "on its own" qualifier excludes parents who set their children good examples. Who on earth would think that moral education by immoral people would have a good effect?) How would you know that given that our schools, even most Catholic schools, don't give moral and religious instruction in this area? It would be interesting to know if girls from strongly religious homes within an intact marriage are as likely to become pregnant as those from non-churchgoing homes; and if there is a difference between secular religious (e.g., the United church) and more strongly religious homes (e.g., Pentecostal and Presbyterian).
Given that I reject the feminist idea that girls are free individuals who should make their own choices without regard for old-fashioned, outdated religion and morality, I do not agree that the central problem is lack of hope, but rather the absence of a strong moral and/or religious framework and the decreasing number of homes characterized by loving parents, a faith in God, and the embodiment of the central virtues of truth, courage, justice (the golden rule) and humility. That lack certainly does give rise to a me generation in which lack of personal responsibility and hope are typical features. Why would one hope when one believes in nothing much beyond personal entitlement?
(Brief complaint about an article written by a different staff member…..)
I look to “non-profit” to reject the modern secular view of society not to join it.
Sincerely,
mid-upper class WASP
********
I knew as soon as I read the opening line who the letter was from. I and one of my co-workers have upset this person before (we did a workshop on teen culture which apparently was just "too much") At any rate - I have to work with one of my co-workers to somehow appease this person now. I won't be apologizing, or retracting anything, but they just might receive a heap of statistical evidence and source material. Seriously though - did they actually READ what I wrote?! And this line especially kills me: "I reject the feminist idea that girls are free individuals who should make their own choices without regard for old-fashioned, outdated religion and morality." Has this person time-warped back to the middle ages?? Oh well. I'll deal with it all after a fabulous long weekend. :)
P.S. Because it is a general newsletter to a WIDE audience, we almost never include the statistical specifics - the reader just glazes over and misses the point then. Our sources are always available upon request though.
Here's the article:
The canary in the mineshaft - "sarahthedoula"
Teen pregnancy has been all over the news in “our area” this summer. According to our local health unit, in 2007, 9% of our births, were to teens. Only about half of the teens who get pregnant, go on to give birth – the other half of pregnancies end in either miscarriage or abortion. In reality, the number of young women experiencing a pregnancy could be even higher, as the health unit can only account for women who choose to go through the public health care system, not for those who miscarry at home, or who go to a private clinic. That “9%” works out to a birth rate of 17.6 mothers aged 15-19 per 1,000 teens in “our area”, while the provincial average was 12.5. Something is going on here….. and we need to pay attention…. but not for the reasons you might think!!
Most people refer to teen pregnancy as a ‘problem’. It has long been assumed that giving birth as a teen will result in that mother-baby being pulled down into a lifetime of poverty and dependence on government and family. Research is showing that in reality, when teen parents are well supported, and given the same educational chances as their non-parenting peers, then by the time they are in their 30’s, they’re doing just as well.
It has long been assumed that teens get pregnant because they don’t know how to prevent pregnancy, they don’t have access to contraception, or they don’t use contraception properly. Research is showing that in reality, teens get pregnant for a wide variety of complex reasons – the ‘problem’ can’t be solved just through better sex ed classes and free condoms.
Most of us feel intuitively that teen pregnancy is a problem… but the problem isn’t what we think it is, so the solutions aren’t what we’ve thought they are. For that matter, moral and religious teaching on its own isn’t making much of a difference either.
I believe that teen pregnancy is problem because of what it is a symptom of: a lack of hope, which leads to an increase in risk-taking behaviours. Just as the death of a canary signalled miners that the air wasn’t safe for them to breathe, an increase in teen pregnancy rates signals to the community that their teens need help – their teens need hope. Hope is at the centre of Christ’s message, and it is a gift that every one of us can give. God knows the plans he has for each of us – plans to give us hope & a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) “When kids are empowered with information and stimulated by hope for the future, it has a contraceptive effect. Education. Employment. Their own bank accounts. Good health. Family involvement. Self-esteem. These are also contraceptives. It’s the total fabric that is important” (Ludtke)
Now, more than ever, we at “non-profit” need your support. We need your prayers and your financial gifts, so that we can continue to minister to the youth of “our area”. We need you to pour into us, so that we can pour the love and hope of Christ, into the lives of teens, every day. Together, we can bring hope to a generation.
*********
This morning, our administrator forwarded the following message to me:
Dear Ms “sarahthedoula”
I was disappointed in the the newsletter, mostly because of your article on teen pregnancy. I certainly don't agree with your assertion that it is not a real problem. I, in common with many Christians, do not approve sex outside marriage and most of all sex among young people without using contraceptives.
I think you have been misled by research. Research, particularly in the social ssciences has a bad reputation. My own area was education and the vast majority of projects did ot follow proper statistical procedures. There are two main reasons: First, most of the people doing the research are not statistically adept; Second, much research is carried out with a clear design for specific outcomes. Research on the family has been largely taken over by feminists whose bias and/or ignorance colour their alleged findings.
Your core assertion that"when teen parents are well supported, and given the same educational chances . . . . (later) they're doing just as well". Note 1: No mention of what percentage is well supported. 2) You can't measure "chances ", so it probably means if they get the same education as their peers. 3) For that limited group, mainly coming from strong supportive families, that may well be true - but meaningless if we don't know the proportion involved. My guess would be a minority. 4) You seem to be implying that the rest of us should be giving special support to those who choose not to give their babies up for adoption. I don't agree. Why should we reward them for their bad decision? Boys and girls who cannot access education but are not parents are more deserving. 5. Typically, the research tells us how the mothers are doing - but what about their children? Children do better if they have a family with a father and a mother.
You state correctly that our schools are not helping the situation with their sex education. programs. You incorrectly state that "moral and religious teaching on its own" does not work. (Unless the "on its own" qualifier excludes parents who set their children good examples. Who on earth would think that moral education by immoral people would have a good effect?) How would you know that given that our schools, even most Catholic schools, don't give moral and religious instruction in this area? It would be interesting to know if girls from strongly religious homes within an intact marriage are as likely to become pregnant as those from non-churchgoing homes; and if there is a difference between secular religious (e.g., the United church) and more strongly religious homes (e.g., Pentecostal and Presbyterian).
Given that I reject the feminist idea that girls are free individuals who should make their own choices without regard for old-fashioned, outdated religion and morality, I do not agree that the central problem is lack of hope, but rather the absence of a strong moral and/or religious framework and the decreasing number of homes characterized by loving parents, a faith in God, and the embodiment of the central virtues of truth, courage, justice (the golden rule) and humility. That lack certainly does give rise to a me generation in which lack of personal responsibility and hope are typical features. Why would one hope when one believes in nothing much beyond personal entitlement?
(Brief complaint about an article written by a different staff member…..)
I look to “non-profit” to reject the modern secular view of society not to join it.
Sincerely,
mid-upper class WASP
********
I knew as soon as I read the opening line who the letter was from. I and one of my co-workers have upset this person before (we did a workshop on teen culture which apparently was just "too much") At any rate - I have to work with one of my co-workers to somehow appease this person now. I won't be apologizing, or retracting anything, but they just might receive a heap of statistical evidence and source material. Seriously though - did they actually READ what I wrote?! And this line especially kills me: "I reject the feminist idea that girls are free individuals who should make their own choices without regard for old-fashioned, outdated religion and morality." Has this person time-warped back to the middle ages?? Oh well. I'll deal with it all after a fabulous long weekend. :)
P.S. Because it is a general newsletter to a WIDE audience, we almost never include the statistical specifics - the reader just glazes over and misses the point then. Our sources are always available upon request though.