Teen Pregnancy in South Carolina

Pressley, Aubrey
HED 213
Professor Scott
2/13/13
Health Issues: Teen Pregnancy in Columbia, South Carolina Growing up in Northeast Columbia I have endured many matters in which helped me grow into the young adult I am today. Where I’m from, high school is the beginning of change for many of the local teens in my hometown. Some change so drastically that if you were to compare their upbringings to their high school days you would never think they were the same individual. Some change for the better, others, for the worse but one thing is for sure, one common mistake that occurs all too often in Northeast Columbia is one that is considered to be a miracle all at once.
According to statistics from the South Carolina Campaign for Teen Pregnancy, 28 out of 1,000 births in Richland County were to girls between the ages of 10 and 19. Sixty-four percent of those births are to girls 18-19, 34 percent to those 15-17 and 2 percent to girls 10-14. Teen mothers, fathers, and their children face social and economic disadvantages throughout their lives. Teen mothers have higher rates of low birth weight babies and infant mortality than mothers in their 20s. They are more likely to live in poverty as well as rely on public assistance, and approximately 38% only will likely finish high school.
On the behalf of the child, they are less prepared to enter the school system and score lower on measures of school readiness. Roughly 50% are more likely to repeat a grade, less likely to complete high school, and have lower performance on standardized tests.
I chose this issue because I believe our youth is our future. With more children being brought onto this earth with less guidance than others I believe that only bad can come out of it. As studies showed, children are at a less advantage when a younger parent, who is in a sense still being supported by another in some form of way themselves, is their caretaker. Not to knock any teen parents who has been doing what is needed to support their seed, these stats do not hide the truth, teen parents are not suitable for a child
Now with this being acknowledged, what has been done to help this situation? Well, studies show that if one was to know the potential outcomes of being a teen parent, perhaps more precautionary steps would be taken to ensure a lesser chance of becoming pregnant. More thought would be put into the choices made by these young adults and less ‘accidents’ could potentially occur.
Quoting a piece from the South Carolina Campaign of Teen Prevention Program site “Teen pregnancy prevention programs are one of the best investments we can make in South Carolina’s future. According to a 2010 report by the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center, each tax dollar spent on programs to prevent unintended pregnancy saved taxpayers an average of $3.78 in the first year—nearly a 400% return on investment. Viewed in this light, efforts to prevent teen pregnancy are a bargain. By taking a long-term view and investing in prevention, we can save money and ensure that all young people in South Carolina have an opportunity to thrive.”
Currently in the last decade, the teen birth rate in Columbia has decreased by 28%. Furthermore, for the fourth consecutive year, teen birth rates in Columbia have declined, once again reaching an all-time low. At 39.1 per 1,000, South Carolina's teen birth rate declined 8% from 2010-2011. While these gains have been encouraging, Columbia has consistently had a higher teen birth rate that the state as a whole and largely contributes to the state being ranked 11th highest in the nation for teen pregnancy rates. A lot of progress has been made but as many as 17 teens (age 15-19) give birth every day, which drastically changes the demographics of Columbia’s youth. We have made great steps, but more still has to be made to get my hometown of Columbia, South Carolina back into a better shape.