As a society we don't want to talk about youth having sex, or the fact that nearly half (46%) of all 15–19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once. Or the fact that of the 18.9 million new cases of STIs each year, 9.1 million (48%) occur among 15–24-year-olds. Or that a sexually active teen who does not use contraceptives has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year. We just don't want to talk about it.

And it seems to me that the stigma around teen pregnancy results in many things including a lack of dialogue between parents and children about sexuality, teens not getting in to see doctors so they have adequate prenatal care and real options, illegal abortions, pregnant girls dropping out of school, children living in poverty, and a host of consequences to the children of teen parents. There's a real lack of dialogue.

Many people know of the YWCA as a leader for social justice, so it's obvious that we would take on a leadership role in the teen pregnancy discussion. We want to talk about it.

In 2008, we held a series of eight community conversations about raising sexually healthy children.

Last year we applied for and received a strategic planning grant from The Rhode Island Foundation to develop a statewide, science based, comprehensive plan to prevent teen pregnancy and support young families.

During the past nine months we held community meetings, consulted with local, regional and national experts, met with young families, parents, educators, and health officials, and conducted research and gathered data. We also formed The Rhode Island Alliance, a non-profit whose mission is to reduce rates of unwanted pregnancy among teens in Rhode Island and to support pregnant and parenting teens and their children to optimize health and educational outcomes.

But we cannot do this work alone, more people need to be involved, more people need to be engaged in a statewide conversation about developing strategies and action plans for reducing the rates of teen pregnancy and empowering young families. Maybe you're uncomfortable talking about sexuality, teen pregnancy, and adolescent development, but it's necessary . . . if you truly want to shape the future for our children and their children you need to talk about it. Just sayin'.

Deborah L. Perry, Executive Director
YWCA Northern Rhode Island

photo by Agapao Productions

Source: Guttmacher Institute, www.guttmacher.org

The Rhode Island Alliance

Vision: Teen pregnancy in Rhode Island will be reduced by 50% by 2015.

Mission: To reduce rates of unwanted pregnancy among teens in Rhode Island and to support pregnant and parenting teens and their children to optimize health and educational outcomes.

Fundamental Principles:

• We will advocate for both pregnancy prevention and for the unique needs of pregnant and parenting youth and their children.
• We view teen pregnancy and childbearing as a complex societal issue. It is multifaceted and requires a comprehensive approach but has its primary roots in poverty. Any comprehensive solution to the program is ultimately tied to issues of social justice and the ability for people to earn a living wage. It is also related to our cultural discomfort with helping adolescents understand their emerging sexuality.
• We are committed to accountability for resources. We are committed to evidence-based intervention and high quality evaluation.
• We believe that adolescents are valuable members of our community. Sexuality is a normal part of development. Teens deserve accurate, complete information, access to confidential healthcare, and a voice in how pregnancy prevention resources are allocated.
• We believe that raising healthy adolescents is the responsibility of the whole community.
• We believe that a substantial strategic investment in teen pregnancy prevention and in support of parenting youth and their children is warranted. Because our unique size, geography, and health infrastructure, we have an opportunity to lead the nation in our efforts to reduce pregnancy and to optimize health and educational outcome for teen parents and their children.

For more information contact Shanna Wells, The Rhode Island Alliance program manager at shanna@ywcanri.org.