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Tuesday, December 23, 1997

Sex education appears helpful in Travis County's teen pregnancy decline

AUSTIN (AP) - Junior high school students are learning about armpit hair, reproductive organs and why a guy shouldn't pinch a girl's behind.

Young men meet regularly to talk about college and careers, and about how becoming a teen-age father could jeopardize those plans.

Adults are being trained on how to answer awkward questions from their children, ranging from a 4-year-old's "Why were you and mommy naked last night?" to a teen-ager's "How do I know if I'm homosexual?"

Many social service agencies in Austin and Travis County are using these and other approaches in an effort to address root causes of teen-age pregnancy. Their hope is to help push down teen pregnancy rates by touching all aspects of youngsters' lives, including job opportunities, family relations, academic achievement, recreation, abstinence and contraception.

Some researchers and advocates say the work may be paying off.

The teen-age pregnancy rate in Travis County, although still one of the highest among Texas' biggest counties, dropped more than 8 percent between 1995 and 1996, according to the most recent numbers from the Texas Department of Health.

The 1996 rate, 46.1 pregnancies per 1,000 girls age 13-17, is the lowest since 1988, when the rate was 39.5, the Austin American-Statesman reported Monday.

Statewide, the rate has dropped from 42.5 in 1992 to 40.3 in 1996. Nationwide, the number of live births to teens aged 15-19 dropped steadily from 60.7 in 1991 and to 56.8 in 1995. A national teen pregnancy number was not available.

"This is something that is exceptional. It doesn't happen very often, anywhere," said Ellen Sanchez, education manager for Planned Parenthood, which sends its Teen Life company to schools to perform skits about sexuality and relationships. "(It's) a culmination of a communitywide effort that's been going on."

Added Kathey Pendleton of Austin Crisis Pregnancy Center, "I'd like to think we had a lot to do with it."

While people are optimistic that prevention programs are working, state Health Department statisticians have no way of quantifying the effect.

Janet Lawson, director of the TDH Women's Health Division, says, "Of course I'm happy the rates are falling, but many of the problems that initiate the rates are still there. So this problem is not going to go away. I don't want people to be reassured prematurely."

Texas Health Commissioner Reyn Archer cautions against assuming any one particular approach is working, and says the problem must be fought from a multitude of directions. The state just distributed $4.9 million in federal money for abstinence-only programs throughout Texas.

"They are a very dynamic group of people and their behavioral attitudes change from one generation to the next," Archer said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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