CNY Students Notice Teen Pregnancy Trend

By Sara Sultanik / NCC News

March 23, 2010

Syracuse, N.Y - The most recent statistics show that teen pregnancy is on the rise for the first time in decades.  

The Guttmacher Institute for reproductive and sexual health announced recently that their most recent data, from 2006, indicated that teen pregnancy rates have gone up by three percent.  

But what about in Central New York?

In 2005 there were more than 49,000 teen pregnancies in New York State.  2600 of those were right here in Onondaga County.

Employees at a local social welfare agency have said there are upwards of 250 pregnant and parenting teens currently enrolled within the four Syracuse City high schools.

And according to school officials, fifteen girls at Syracuse’s Nottingham High School are pregnant.

And the Students Notice

Sophomore Kahdejah Jones sat in Ms. Lucia Ashley’s Health 2 sexual education class taking notes on the female and male reproductive system.

Kahdejah knows about teen pregnancy first hand, her sixteen year old friend is a mother of five.

“She already had two and then she got pregnant with three,” said Kahdejah.

Kahdejah also stated that teen pregnancy in Syracuse is not thought of as a big deal because a lot of girls get pregnant.  

But Ms. Ashley, Kahdejah’s sex education teacher wants to make sure students in her class see that teen pregnancy is in fact a big deal.  

“Some [teens] take chances that could put them at risk for STDs and pregnancy,” Ashley said, “and we want to make sure they are educated about the risks.”

Ashley teaches a comprehensive sexual education curriculum with abstinence undertone.  But she knows teens, and even pre-teens are engaging in sexual activity.  

“I would wish that they would realize [having a baby] will not solve anything.  It’s not going to make them feel loved, it’s not going to keep anybody, it’s not going to give them what they’re looking for.  It’s just going to further problems,” Ashley claimed.

A Mother in Her Teens

Nineteen year old Tammy Wight gave birth to her baby boy Xavier seven months ago.  

She never took a sex education class, she dropped out of high school before she would have taken the class. 

But Tammy didn’t think taking the class would have prevented her from getting pregnant: “I was in the mindset I’m going to do what I’m going to do...” claimed Tammy, “...I just wanted to party...I thought I was acting like a grown up.”

But nothing has taught Tammy to be a grown up more than being a teen mom.

Some CNY Teens Make Pledge: No Sex Until Marriage

February 17, 2010

By: Sara Sultanik / NCC News

 

SYRACUSE -- Sex. A word that was once taboo now part of our everyday life.  

Our media is flooded with sexual imagery from sex therapists having their own television shows, to vampires having sex, and of course, sensationalized teen sex and pregnancy with shows like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and MTV’s documentary series, Teen Mom.

And according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research institute devoted to learning about sexual and reproductive health, nearly half of all 15 to 19 year olds have had sex at least once.

But some teens choose to steer away from the temptation of having sex and choose an alternative route: abstinence. 

While some teens delay from engaging in sexual activity for many different reasons, in Central New York, some teens have decided to a make a pledge.  A pledge to remain virgins until marriage.

“If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it”

Sixteen-year-old Alexis Wilson of Jamesville made a purity pledge three years ago.

“It holds you accountable for certain situations.  You can look down and say I have my purity ring on I can’t,” stated Alexis, whose father, gave her the purity ring on her thirteenth birthday.  

Alexis claimed, however, that the purity ring, which has the words “True Love Waits”engraved into its silver setting, is not just about sex.  

“For me, it includes drinking for me it includes sex, it includes things that are against gods will for me,” said Alexis.

Alexis, who is a devout Christian, stated purity pledges aren’t just about religion, it is a personal choice.  But she did say that pledges are usually made by more spiritual people.

“God made me pure and I’m going to stay that way”

The purity pledge was more of a religious choice for seventeen-year-old Josh Knight who made the pledge when he was only twelve.

“God made our bodies pure so we shouldn’t be seeing anything that you shouldn’t be seeing because certain parts of the body are sacred.  You shouldn’t be touching those places nothing like that,” stated Josh.

He does not pursue girls for fear that he will be tempted into sexual activity.  He will wait until his wedding night.

“It’s going to create the strongest bond the first time so if you share that bond with your wife,” claimed Josh, “you have a strong emotional bond that’s going to last.  It’s going to help your marriage.”

Do These Pledges Work?

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health released a study in 2008 which found that purity pledges do not work in the long term.  In fact, over a five year span, 80 percent of those who took a purity pledge five years earlier, claimed they never made such a promise.

But Alexis and Josh think they’ll be the exception.

“I think I’ll be different because I want to be an example for my future family, maybe my kids, and I’ll be an example now for my friends,” stated Alexis.

And Josh said, although sometimes he is pressured by friends, his choice remains clear:

“I’m committed to my choice and I’m not going to make a bad choice that’ll make life worse for me just because somebody else pushed me to do it.”

These are only two faces representing the purity movement in Central New York, but it is estimated that there are many more purity pledgers in the area, at least within the Christian community.