"Most people feel teens know about sex. I don't feel this is the case. I feel abstinence should be taught by the school. Parents should talk about safe sex to their children. I feel there should be condom ads and commercials. Some people feel this is encouraging sex. I don't. I feel this is promoting safe sex. This would solve many problems about the way teenagers feel about sex. It would also put an end to the problem of saying 'I didn't know' or 'I wasn't taught'." Jeanne Johnke, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"A lot of kids are also afraid to go into a store and buy them [condoms]: getting them at school is much more reassuring to them. ... I wish the generations before would understand a little better. Teenagers are going to do what they want. They just need the guidance to do it right. A lot of teenagers have a problem talking to their parents about the responsibility of having sex, and in some cases, parents don't care. This sense of not having anyone to turn to is sometimes what drives teenagers to have "irresponsible" sex." JoEllyn Cordes, Eureka High School, Eureka, IllinoisKimberly gives us a ray of hope: "Studies have also shown that teen-agers get smarter as they get older. The proportion of females that report using oral contraceptives increased from 25 percent at age 15 to 51 percent at age 19. Another thing to credit teenagers is that even though they are having sex, they are not doing it all that often. While 44.9 percent of women ages 15-19 are sexually experienced, only 28 percent have had sex in the past month, and only 15 percent have been consistently active during the past 12 months. A 1987 survey of young women obtaining abortions indicates 40 percent were using a birth control method during the month conception occurred. This detects a fault not in the product, but in the knowledge of the user of the product. This is where education must play a large role so that those that want to protect themselves, can." Kimberly Redd, David Crockett High School, Austin, TexasKimberly's statistics should increase our resolve to help teen age girls reach the ripe old age of 19 without unwittingly becoming mothers. Unfortunately the excerpts that follow show that teen pregnancy is increasing:"Take the example of Crystal Cagle. Crystal's first and second daughters were born when she was 13 and 15, respectively. Did Crystal need free condoms, or someone to tell her that abstinence is nothing to be ashamed of? I think not. What Crystal, and other pregnant girls like her need is for someone, anyone, to care for them in some way. If the reader can remember the personalities of even a few pregnant girls they have known, they ought to realize how most of those girls came to be that way. All too often adolescent girls who engage in sex have not been overcome by lust or hormones; the physical gratification of sex is not their motivation...Abstinence cannot make a forsaken girl feel loved and condoms cannot protect her from the emotional pain of a bad sexual experience, yet these are often the only solutions offered to adolescents. It seems obvious to me from the little attention devoted to helping these girls that, were they not becoming pregnant, our society would probably pay them very little attention... In my opinion there is only one way to prevent teen pregnancy: our nation must give hope to the children who are our hope, so that they believe the future holds something of more worth than the fleeting comfort of sex. For Americans, who often prefer their social problems to be handled by the government, this will be a daunting task. Nevertheless, this problem is best handled by parents and teachers and even other teenagers, not by bureaucracy."Jason Dawdy, Seaman High School, Topeka, Kansas "I use to know a girl at my old high school in California before I moved to Missouri, and she had a little girl when she was sixteen years old. She use to tell me that she was happy to have her child but it was a very hard responsibility. She said it was real hard to get by in life because her parents kicked her out. She was real sad and upset because she had to raise the child herself because the father left and didn't want anything to do with her or the baby. She said most of the time she didn't ask for anyone's help. She would tell me that she wanted to give her baby up for adoption because she couldn't handle it. She would tell me that she wished she had somebody by her side to help her out. At the end of the year I never saw the girl again because she had another baby and she dropped out of school for the time being. I guess she didn't learn her lesson from her first mistake." Richard Garrett, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri"About a year ago someone very close to me got pregnant; she was my cousin and she was only fifteen. She was always a very shy person and no one ever thought she would think about being sexually active. No one ever talked to her about using protection. She started going out with an older guy and sneaking out at night to go be with him. When she became pregnant her dad made her get an abortion. When her boyfriend found out he moved and she hasn't seen him since the night she told him that she was pregnant. The abortion was against her will. Her dad kicked her out and now she lives with her grandmother. I can't imagine how she must feel; her boyfriend left her, she wanted a baby but her dad wouldn't let her, and then she was rejected by most of her family." Michelle Hathaway, LaCrosse High School, LaCrosse, Washington"I read in Newsweek magazine 'Ša young black girl living in the slums decided to have a baby just to express herself.' Did she really understand how hard the rest of her life is going to be? Not only will she be looking out for herself, but for the life of her baby."Alyssa Daigle, Deer River High School, Deer River, MinnesotaWe believe Melanie (below) is being realistic when she says:"Abortion should be legal because everyone who wants one is going to get one no matter what would happen to their body or even if it would cost them their lives. So with it legal they can get the proper care they need. I don't believe in abortion myself, but I can't make people do what I believe. I could have made that choice with my baby but I decided to take responsibility for myself and my actions and now I have a beautiful baby boy." Melanie Grassi, Marion High School, Marion, South Dakota Caressa brings up another problem:"Currently, Kansas has one of the nation's most liberal laws. It requires only that a woman receive the consent of a doctor, and have the abortion in a medical facility. A bad point is that the law forces teens to tell their parents. This causes bad results for those who cannot tell their parents. One example of this is Rebecca Bell. Rebecca Bell died at age 17 after she got an abortion-related infection. She couldn't get a legal abortion in Indiana without her parents' consent, and she was afraid to tell them." Caressa Brokar, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, KansasKendal offers a different observation:"AŠproblem with our society is that abortions are so easy to get. Even though the Supreme Court case of Missouri Planned Parenthood vs. Danforth in 1976 required minors to have their parents' permission to have an abortion, many states now allow minors to get an abortion without that consent. [According to the 8/9/90 issue of Rolling Stone magazine] Thirty-five states have parental consent or parental notification laws, but only a third enforce them. Š All the people that believe and support the pro-choice movement, who believe that women have the right to control their own body, should be reminded that those women could have controlled their body before they got themselves pregnant. Anyone who gets an abortion simply for the reason that a baby would get in the way of their life, are just being selfish in avoiding responsibility for their actions." Kendal Piatt, Kiona-Benton High School, Benton City, WashingtonThe Good Old Days"America today is definitely not the same as when my grandparents were young. People worked hard for their money. They took responsibility for their actions, good or bad. Today's generation is taught not to take the bad with the good. (They) complain, 'It's not my fault.' Š Surprisingly, it is working." Heather C. Thomason, Plainview High School, Ardmore, Oklahoma"Our values have changed from the honest, hard-working, proud people of the 1950's to the superficial, corrupt and power-hungry people most often depicted in the 1990's. We want everything and we want it now. Unfortunately, we don't care who's feet we step on in our quest to get it." Keli Crane, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas"In the past, family, church and school were considered a triangle for education. After the 1960s values were not even mentioned in the classroom." Shane Morris, Camden High School, Camden, Tennessee"Why can't the world we live in be like the one our parents grew up in? It may not have been perfect, but I can guarantee it was better than today. The irresponsible behavior can be blamed on the breakdown of families and the media that portrays it." Rachel Miller, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois"Television reflects society. In the 1950s we only saw the white population. Now we show how it really is out there. In the 1990's we need to show reality, which includes violence and many unwanted problems the public faces everyday. If we try to hide racism, sexism, and violence it will not solve any of these problems." Shelly Douglas, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas"In a society with role models who use drugs and gamble, a society where television shows every ill of society to anyone who will watch, will children find something to base their values upon?" Matthew C. Winkleman, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois C. Winkleman, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois