Teen pregnancy has been on the decline since reaching its all-time high in 1991, but numbers still remain distressingly high. Thirty-four percent of American teen girls will become pregnant at least once before turning age 20, which results in approximately 820,000 teen pregnancies across the nation each year.

On a more local front, Oregon ranks 23rd (1 being the fewest, 50 the most) among the states for the number of teen pregnancies. In 2002, 2,127 Oregon teens became pregnant. Of those, 96 were between the ages of 10 and 14.

Why is teen pregnancy a concern?

• Teen mothers are more likely to be single parents and less likely to finish high school.
• Teen pregnancy is closely linked with poverty in a cause-effect cycle.
• Young teens typically experience greater health risks in pregnancy than older women. Early pregnancy can even compromise overall health later in life.
• Children of teen parents often have insufficient health care and inadequate parenting
• Children of teen parents are twice as likely to be victims of abuse or neglect as children of women who delay childbearing.
• Teen pregnancy costs the U.S. billions of dollars. Each year, the federal government spends $40 billion to help families that began with a teenage birth.

What’s the surest way to reduce teen pregnancy? Encourage our children to wait to have sex. Tell them that having a child is a huge responsibility, not a way to fix a faltering relationship or to ensure that they’ll have someone there who will always love them. Unless they are ready to handle the responsibility of a possible pregnancy, they are not ready for sex.

However, be sure to communicate to your children that while you expect certain behaviors, they should never feel afraid to come to you for help in any situation. Teenagers who become pregnant are often so fearful of their parents’ responses, that they will try to hide or ignore the pregnancy, endangering both their health and the health of the babies. A pregnant teen truly is “in crisis” and needs all the support and love her parents or guardians can give.