By BOB HIGH
Staff Writer

Only 50 of the 1,900 teenagers in the county schools’ three high schools are enrolled in a Life Choices program, a course designed to prevent pregnancies among teens attending East, West and South Columbus.

Pregnancies among high school teens continue to rise in Columbus County and the state, and this leads to increased dropout rates, according to statistics.

Mae Neal, director of the state-funded program for four years, says teens taking the elective course aren’t offered any credit toward the total required for graduation.

“I’m disappointed when I see pregnant girls in one of the schools who don’t take advantage of this program. The number of students in the course – offered since 1999 – has grown slowly, and I could reach many more if there was some course credit,” Neal said. “Most of the girls in school who become pregnant have never enrolled in the class.”

She said the class would help motivate them to postpone having babies until they were mentally, physically and financially prepared to take care of them.

“Even a partial credit for the course would be an incentive for more girls and boys. I’d like to see it as a requirement to take at least one semester to graduate,” Neal added. She said she’s seeking some partial credit from the state’s Department of Public Instruction.

Teach abstinence

Neal and Elouise Ward, her assistant, teach abstinence – no sex until marriage.

“I teach it in all three county high schools, and I have to admit at this point the number of pregnancies among the girls in school continues to frustrate me. I can’t even mention contraception as part of the course, but I’m allowed to explain or talk about it if a student mentions it,” Neal pointed out.

Neal said she would “have to admit at this point that the number of pregnancies in the schools continues to disappoint me. I can’t promote contraception, but I can talk to the kids and give them information if the students ask about it.”

“I also tell them where to go if they can’t afford contraceptives. A girl came to me a few weeks ago and said she couldn’t stay for the after-school session because she had to go to a clinic and get her birth control pills.

“I told her to go on and get them. That may have prevented an unwanted pregnancy. We advocate abstinence, but if students choose to be sexually active, we want them to protect themselves against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”

Answers to questions

Neal said she wished more Hispanic students would enroll in her Life Choices program. She pointed out that the course provides comprehensive sexuality education and up-to-date information and answers to questions most teens won’t talk about with their parents or other teachers.

“We stress the unlimited possibilities available to them when they choose to postpone sex and parenthood.”

Neal is introducing a newsletter about teen pregnancy as a new way to educate teens and their families.

“Everyone needs to pay more attention to this problem. Too many people are sitting back and saying teen pregnancy is a terrible thing and a shame. But these people need to do something about it, even people who don’t have young children,” she declared.

“Education among teenagers and their families is the key to the problem. Too many people say, ‘Teenagers will be teenagers.’ And, this includes boys. They’re just as responsible. It takes two, you know.”

She has an advisory board for her program and wants more adults, particularly parents of teens, to be involved, to help find solutions to reduce the number of teen pregnancies.

Neal can be reached at her county schools’ office by calling 642-5168.

Neal, however, said teen pregnancy isn’t the worst thing happening to young people. She’s worried about the increasing rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the county.

Neal said STDs include AIDS, an increasing problem among young black women. But, she pointed out, that’s another story.

Teenage Pregnancy Facts for Teens,
Ages 15-19

151
Pregnancies in 2004 in Columbus County

145
Pregnancies in 2005 in Columbus County

3
Pregnancies in 2005 in Columbus County for girls ages 10-14

82
Abortions in 2005 for unmarried women in Columbus County

20
Abortions for Columbus County teens ages 10-19 in 2005

$9 billion – Annual cost of teen pregnancy in United States

80 percent – The number of teen mothers nationally who are on welfare