School Programs to Address Teen Pregnancy Issues

This article presents information about the difficulties associated with teenage pregnancy, followed by an overview of school based preventative programs and programs for pregnant teens and teen parents. Also, information is provided on both generalized services that pertain to teen parenting programs as a whole, as well as specialized services that are specific to particular programs. Finally, a comprehensive teen program called the Caring Equation is profiled, as well as feedback from recipients who had been enrolled in the Paquin School for pregnant and/or teen parents.

Keywords: Keywords; Abstinence-only Sex Education; "Baby Think It Over"; Comprehensive Sex Education; Learning, Earning And Parenting (LEAP); Least Restrictive Environment; Teen Pregnancy

Overview

Teenage parenthood is a predicament that bears grave setbacks (Scholl, 2007), both on individual and large-scale levels. This hardship is particularly true for young females who assume the brunt of the responsibilities that accompany such a lifestyle, oftentimes without a partner (Wiseman, et al., 2006). When a teenage girl discovers that she is expecting, her interpersonal relationships run the risk of becoming ruthlessly stunted. Family members are disappointed and worry how the new addition will affect the household dynamics. Friends, perhaps even the father of the child, distance themselves from the situation, finding that divergent developmental milestones lodge a wedge between the two sets of lifestyles and priorities. In addition, the teenage mom's educational and career-related options become severely limited; the demands of single parenthood are taxing in themselves and integrating an added layer of responsibility, such as school, becomes too much to juggle. Thus, high school dropout rates (Eloundou-Enyegue, 2004), the impossibility of attending college, and ensuing low-wage or nonexistent jobs become the norm for teen mothers.

Society as a whole is affected, based on the fact that teenage parents have restricted occupational contributions and a corresponding reliance on public assistance (Sangalang, 2006). Moreover, a teenaged, single parent with limited resources leads a brutal existence filled with disappointment, destitution, and limited social networks, and is therefore more disposed toward becoming abusive and/or neglectful (Afifi, 2007). The neglect often begins in utero, when pregnancies are concealed or ignored and prenatal care is not properly followed, resulting in babies with pervasively low-birth weights (Banerjee, et al., 2009). An unfortunate cyclical pattern can be demonstrated by the high rate of teen parents who have children in the foster care system, and the fact that a large proportion of foster care children eventually become teen parents themselves (Bilchik & Wilson-Simmons, 2010; Pilnik & Austen, 2009; Stotland & Godsoe, 2006). Entering into adulthood is less than seamless for many of these children, who frequently encounter more legal entanglements and higher imprisonment rates. As such, adolescent parenthood is a tremendous economic burden. According to Brown (2010),

In examining the statistics throughout the last several decades, a perplexing trend regarding teenage parenting can be observed. On a positive note, significant strides to overcome teen pregnancy were established during the 1990s and early part of the 2000s which are documented through the following data: 103.6 teen pregnancies/1000 in 1990 compared with 66.2 teen pregnancies/1000 in 2002 (McKay, 2006), and a 41% plummet in teen pregnancy between 1990-2005 (Study, 2010). However, in 2006 this steady decline came to an abrupt stop as teen pregnancy rates spiked by 3%, stumping social scientists and policy makers. Naturally, scholars have sought to make sense of the recent 2006 glitch that followed an otherwise longstanding series of waning pregnancy percentages, and in the process some preliminary speculations to describe this phenomenon have been proposed. For example, Gulli, et al. (2008) focused on media influences that may have descended upon vulnerable youngsters, ranging from 2007's blockbuster movie Juno that featured the plight of a cool, young pregnant girl to the bevy of real-life young Hollywood stars whose pregnancies have been sensationalized, including that of Britney Spears's 16-year-old sister Jamie-Lynn.

Gulli also points out that today's postmodern families have yielded new structures that deviate from the 1950s version of cookie-cutter conventionality, and a wide range of ages-both young and old-at which women conceive is more tolerated than in previous generations. Also, peer pressure on a smaller scale cannot be ignored, and in 2008 Gloucester High School in Massachusetts endured scrutiny when an unprecedented 17 students became pregnant in the course of one school year, spawning rumors that a "pregnancy pact" had been activated (Gibbons, 2008). Throughout the decades, researchers have theorized about the multifaceted etiological factors that play a part in teenage pregnancy, which include the following:

• Sexually active youth (Burns, 2008);
• Nonexistent or inaccurate use of contraceptives (Corcoran, Franklin, & Bell, 1997); and
• A proactive desire to become pregnant.

The last reason correlates with the emulation of fellow teen parents (i.e., family or friends) who serve as role models (Raneri & Constance, 2007), the desire to fill an emotional gap that can presumably be satisfied by the unconditional love that accompanies parenthood (Daniel, 2009), or as an extension of romantic love and longing to start a family with the baby and the baby's father.

Further Insights

School-based Prevention Programs

Sex Education

The public school system is an obvious source to initiate teen-pregnancy prevention strategies. A standard measure that is generally afforded the majority of the student body in each school district is sex education, which usually occurs in tandem with a Health program. Enduring controversy about the nature of sex education plagues the direction that the curriculum is able to take, and it is ultimately imbedded in political discord (Surgan, 2004). The main point of contention exists between abstinence-only sex education (Carroll, 2009) and comprehensive sex education (Braeken & Cardinal, 2008; Quillen, 2009). The abstinence-only stance is rooted in conservative ideals, condemns premarital sex, and asserts that families should be responsible for disseminating information on private matters. Some believe that when school personnel broach sexual matters, they pique the interest of hormonally-driven teens and essentially encourage the consummation of sexual acts.

Comprehensive sex education, on the other hand, presents material on safe-sex, birth control and abstinence-only options and argues that it is naïve to solely focus on an abstinence-only approach, which has proven to be amiss given the prevalence of sexually active teens who have become pregnant and/or contracted sexually transmitted diseases. Likewise, teenagers cite discomfort about striking up birds-and-bees conversations with their parents, which is a topic that parents also find difficult to approach. Hence, although some argue that sex-related conversations are a family affair, the more pertinent question is whether or not families are tackling the matter at all.

School-Community Programs

In addition to sex education, individualized prevention programs also exist to help discourage teen pregnancy among both at-risk youth and mainstream students. Vincent and Dod (1989) reviewed the triumphs of a prevention program titled, "The School/Community Program for Sexual Risk Reduction Among Teens," which was launched in 1983 in a South Carolina county. The program displayed long-range success that was evidenced through the marked reduction in regional teenage pregnancies for the following three years by comprehensively addressing all areas of the participants' lives, facilitated by a full-time health educator. Parents, religious leaders, teachers and school officials all corroborated the program's mission and participated accordingly. For example, teachers agreed to further expand their graduate studies by undertaking three classes that pertained to sex education and family studies, and they implemented their newly acquired material into weekly lesson plans. Family members and religious representatives agreed to attend five informational sessions that helped guide subsequent interactions with the teenagers. Indeed, it is commendable that efforts were taken to extend services so expansively, especially since most programs can only afford to cover only one compartment of the students' lives. Not only was there full-fledged cooperation by residents in the school and community alike, but the program had the ability to invest a substantial amount of time into the project; results were not instantaneous and affirmative findings did not surface until it had been underway for 1.5 years.

"Baby Think it Over"

Another preventative measure that many school systems adopt is the "Baby Think it Over" (BTIO) curriculum (Out & Lafreniere, 2001; Price & Robinson, 2000), often managed by teachers in designated classes, such as Health or Home Economics. The BTIO assignment comes with a baby doll that has a battery-operated, computerized chip that is internally lodged inside its back that randomly causes it to cry without provocation. The task of the student, therefore, is to tend to the needs of the baby in a timely manner by inserting a care plug into the mechanized device upon hearing the baby's distressed sobs. Delayed responses result in point deductions. The mission behind the BTIO project is to take adolescent parenthood off its pedestal by focusing on the reality of demands that come with teen motherhood and fatherhood. The arbitrary demands of the BTIO doll help convey the fact that total investment is mandated from parents, even during the most inopportune times- such as when the doll shrieks at 3:00 in the morning or during a soccer tournament and needs to be cared for by an inconvenienced adolescent. If, for example, the teenager wants to go for a walk, she needs to tote the BTIO doll along in a carriage in the event that it cries. In this type of scenario, students report feeling shamed from bystanders who pass judgment about their "teen parenthood" status; this stigmatization also serves as a pregnancy deterrent. The simulated BTIO role-play activity yields powerful results at curbing students' romanticized perspectives of the responsibilities associated with parenthood (Barnett & Hurst, 2004; de Anda, 2006; Didion & Gatzke, 2004), which makes it a popular middle and high school preventative program.

Programs for Pregnant Teens & Teen Parents

Teenage parents pose an academic threat to themselves based on the fact that their newfound responsibilities suspend the amount of energy they are able to extend toward their lessons, which usually causes them to drop out of school altogether (Hanson, 1992). While this phenomenon inevitably afflicts pregnant teens once they become parents, they are able to temporarily delude themselves with far-reaching ambitions before their parenting responsibilities officially commence. In a study conducted by McCullough & Scherman (1991), 50% of the pregnant teens polled indicated a desire to attend college eventually, although upon the birth of their first child 51% of teen parents did not return to school in pursuit of their high school diplomas. Until they are in the actual experience, it is difficult for adolescents to hypothetically comprehend the complexities of teen parenthood such as transportation, care giving, and financial constraints. Because of this, many national, state-wide, community, and school-based initiatives are set in place to rectify the deleterious effects that are sprung upon young teenage parents, which eventually trickle into the lives of their innocent children and society as a whole.

Smith (1982) delineated an ideal needs-based school curriculum that suits the requirements of teenage mothers, which is comprised of the following elements:

• General education,
• Vocational/career education,
• Parenthood education,
• Health and social services, and
• Infant daycare.

General education is a necessity because it keeps teen mothers on a level playing field with their peers in terms of both knowledge base and citizenship skills, while vocational/career education instills practical expertise that will abridge their entrance into the job market following high school. Parenthood education is indispensible because (as the pithy saying declares) "parenting does not come with a handbook," and seemingly innate responsibilities such as understanding childhood cognitive, emotional, and physical developmental milestones actually take painstaking perseverance to acquire. Health and social services help connect teenage parents with supportive resources and medical assistance to allow for normative checkups - such as immunization shots and routine physicals, as well as to treat childhood maladies that may arise. Infant and daycare services permit teenage mothers, who likely have limited transportation and financial means, to shift between their daily activities effortlessly and with proper supervision for their children. Furthermore, the author suggests that these school-wide services take place within a "least restrictive environment," a term that is usually reserved for children with disabilities who are discouraged from segregating into classrooms solely alongside peers with similar needs (DeMonte, 2010). Thus, the author contends that classes for teen mothers should utilize spaces that often go unused-such as the resource room- rather than be shuttled off to specialized schools, which allocates the taxpayer's monies more efficiently and exposes teenage parents to normal school activities (e.g., sporting teams, clubs).

Warner (1990) reviewed several school-based teenage pregnancy programs including but not limited to:

• North Carolina's Adolescent Parenting Program,
• The School Based Youth Services Program,
• The CYESIS program, and
• The St. Louis Parent/Infant Interaction Program.

The schools offer examples of several generalized services that directly pertain to this particular population. These services include a sweeping desire to increase retention rates since high school diplomas ameliorate future financial and career-related burdens, as well as job training and placement assistance that focus on both current opportunities and future professional exploration. Additional services that are commonplace to teen programs are those that enhance the girls' psychological welfare, operating from the presumption that a healthy, intact sense of worth will equip young mothers with confidence and knowledge to confront their extant circumstances, while warding off the likelihood of additional pregnancies. These enrichment services are executed through individual and group counseling sessions, which bolster family relationships, improve self-esteem and self-sufficiency, encourage healthy lifestyles, instill life skills expertise, and help young parents identify healthy role models. Moreover, parenting skills are a staple in teen parenting programs, which render realistic expectations (Rogeness et al., 1981) amid a controlled environment where rules, boundaries, and structure help teenage mothers reorient their parenting styles to be carefully regulated and organized (Fisher, 1978).

Because of the financial struggles common to teen moms, many school programs are governmentally subsidized and offer free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch, as well as complimentary daycare for their children (Warner, 1990). Programs contain small classroom sizes with low student-teacher ratios and a multitude of human-service workers (e.g., counselors, nurses) so that individualized care can be established, as well as nonjudgmental volunteers who have been carefully screened. Although these unique features require substantial financial funding, several testimonials indicate that they are well worth the expenditure. An example of a valuable teen parenting investment was a program set forth by Lincoln Public Schools, which aided 12 teen parents who were at-risk for dropping out. The program salvaged these kids' resolve to graduate from high school, which presumably saved taxpayers over $648,000 in assistance throughout the following 15 years (Irvine, 1995).

Specialized qualities that school-based teen programs possess include grandparent support (based on the pertinent roles that they often play in teenage parenting configurations), as well as Lamaze classes and field trips (Warner, 1990). For example, an interesting excursion that members of the Teen Parenting/Culinary Arts class from United Neighborhood Houses/Share Our Strength of New York undertook revolved around touring a local supermarket in order to learn basics regarding nutrition, money management, decision-making skills, and smart shopping tips such as "Sweetened juice can be diluted for kids if it's too sweet, and that saves more" (McCulloch, 1999, p. 49). And Ohio's Learning, Earning, and Parenting program, or LEAP, which lasted from 1989-1997 was not an extension of a school program. However, it contained a distinctive attribute that carried sizeable educational ramifications to teenage welfare recipients (Bloom & Fellerath, 1994; Portner, 1996; "Program," 1992). Similar to other programs, LEAP had the likeminded goal of ensuring that teen parents finished high school by providing a striking financial incentive:

An example of a teen parenting program that offers all-inclusive, comprehensive services is the Caring Equation (Robbers, 2008), which is a program that is funded by Health and Human Services (i.e., HHS), and is housed within Northern Virginia's Arlington County Public Schools and targets low-income, pregnant teens. The Caring Equation seeks to fulfill related objectives that fellow teen parenting programs attempt in terms of strengthening school retention rates, cultivating parenting/child development skills, and offering career development services. However, the core and supplemental services they afford students go above and beyond, thus rivaling that of comparison programs. Some of these services involve pregnancy testing and maternity counseling, adoption, legal, domestic violence, and financial counseling, as well as a variety of referrals to relevant programs that cater to sexually transmitted diseases, pediatric care, and housing.

Additional referrals are distributed to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which accommodates the demographically diverse Arlington, VA area as 80% of the Caring Equation's clientele is Hispanic. Perhaps the most distinguishing trait of the Caring Equation is the intense amount of father involvement that is tenaciously pursued. A small portion of fathers willingly participate alongside the mothers of their children, although the majority of fathers are tracked down by staff members and encouraged to attend sessions. While some fathers opt not to partake in the Caring Equation, results of a recent study that assessed father involvement after a six-month interval revealed increased paternal assistance, support, and interaction.

Viewpoints

Measuring Success

Although extensive research has been implemented to examine the efficacy of programs that serve pregnant/parenting teens, in order to comprehensively understand such interventions it is imperative to go directly to the source and investigate how the teen mothers feel about the assistance they have received. Amin, et al. (2006) conducted a study that evaluated the successes resulting from the Laurence Paquin School for pregnant and/or teen parents, a program that was founded in Baltimore City, Maryland in the early 1970s. Quantitative data verifies that against other Baltimore city schools, Paquin School surpasses other pregnant/parenting teens on issues such as aspirations to finish high school and college, as well as elevated grade point averages. Moreover, the researchers were able to glean qualitative insight that teen mothers shared about Paquin School in several categories:

Teaching Sex Education Responsibly

While preventative and reparative programs are equally indispensable in dealing with the gravity of teen pregnancy, the former is often accompanied by controversy and reticence. Comprehensive sex education, as opposed to abstinence-only sex education, is unfortunately viewed by many with caution and skepticism. Another controversy regarding sex education is the age at which to begin educating young children about the consequences that come with sexual experimentation. Many parents worry that if young children are privy to information about sex, such material will serve to actually encourage sexual activity since children seek to satiate their curiosity through direct experience.

The apprehension that parents have is akin to the relationship between exposure to violent media influences and their malicious side effects, which glamorize, entice, desensitize and ultimately cajole youngsters into aggressive behavior. However, one major distinction that needs to be highlighted is that the stance that educators take is entirely different than that which is depicted by Hollywood's illustrious portrayals. School personnel are trained to circulate graphic subject matter factually, and by focusing on logic, reason, and consequences. Hence, this instructional, didactic position serves to squelch, not rouse, children's' exploratory desires. This assertion is substantiated by noting that schools focus on the emotional and biological aspects of sexual activity, thus diminishing any lustful aspect that might enter into the equation, and points out that many British teachers support the incorporation of sex education into elementary schools ("Baby talk," 2008).

Terms & Concepts

Abstinence-only Sex Education: Abstinence-only sex education is rooted in conservative ideals, condemns premarital sex, and asserts that families are responsible for disseminating information on private matters.

"Baby Think It Over": The Baby Think it Over curriculum is designed to take adolescent parenthood off its pedestal by focusing on the realistic demands that come with teen motherhood and fatherhood.

Comprehensive Sex Education: Comprehensive sex education presents material on safe-sex, birth control and abstinence-only options and argues that it is naïve to solely focus on an abstinence-only approach.

Learning, Earning, and Parenting program (LEAP): Encouraged Ohio teen parents to finish high school, and provided a striking financial incentive to accomplish this goal.

Least Restrictive Environment: A term that is usually reserved for children with disabilities who are discouraged from segregating into classrooms solely alongside peers with similar needs. In the context of teen parenting, the least restrictive environment asserts that young mothers should become educated among mainstream students as opposed to being shuttled to a satellite school.

The Caring Equation: A comprehensive teen program in Arlington, VA that proactively includes fathers.

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Silk, J., & Romero, D. (2014). The role of parents and families in teen pregnancy prevention: An analysis of programs and policies. Journal of Family Issues, 35, 1339–1362. Retrieved October 27, 2014, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=97424949

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Suggested Reading

Checkland, D. & Wong, J. (1999). Teen pregnancy and parenting: Social and ethical issues. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Frick, L. (2000). Current controversies — Teenage pregnancy and parenting. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Warren Lindsay, J. & McCullough, S. (2004). Discipline from birth to three: How teen parents can prevent and deal with discipline problems with babies and toddlers. Buena Park, CA: Morning Glory Press.