MetaChat - State-By-State Teenage Birth Per 1,000

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07 January 2009

State-By-State Teenage Birth Per 1,000 (interactive map at bottom of the page)

post by: matteo at: 11:48 | 18 comments

So much for "abstinence only".

posted by sakura 07 January | 13:30

Some experts have blamed the national increase on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that does not teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception. They said that would explain why teen birth rate increases have been detected across much of the country and not just in a few spots. There is debate about that, however. Some conservative organizations have argued that contraceptive-focused sex education is still common, and that the new teen birth numbers reflect it is failing.

Heh, that's funny. I feel everyone's pain on that one. As long as both programs are out there, each side can take credit for the good stuff and lay blame for the bad stuff.

I also think it's odd the numbers are for 15-19 only. 19 is sort of past teenage years, yes? You're generally out of high school; you can even get married at 19. And what about 13, 14? Are those numbers somewhere else?

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 07 January | 13:43

This infographic is so incorrect. 41.9 births to teenagers per 1,000 births does not equal 41.9%. The graphic leads one to believe that 68.4% of the births in Mississippi are to teens.

posted by These Premises Are Alarmed 07 January | 13:44

Interactive map is interactive - when I clicked on Maryland, it turned Alabama black. Hmmmm.

posted by mygothlaundry 07 January | 14:01

At the interactive map, I find it funny that everywhere there's exactly one teenage birth by a cat.
Also, those 44.1/1000 in Alaska... I know who one of those is!

posted by qvantamon 07 January | 14:48

Oh lord, I don't have time to get into this here right at this second, but suffice to say that I work in the pregnancy prevention field, and I really really hope that the clip I heard on NPR about a performance improvement cabinet position will bring about a federal overhaul of this abstinence-only sex ed nonsense. That was a long sentence. But seriously, abstinence-only ed doesn't work, has been scientifically shown not to work, and yet gets all sorts of federal funding. Yuck. And what people don't get is that the alternative to abstinence-only education is....ABSTINENCE as well as good and medically accurate info about STDs and contraception.

posted by Stewriffic 07 January | 15:29

Woohoo, Arkansas is 4th-to-last! Take that, Texas and New Mexico!

posted by box 07 January | 15:35

Similar to TPS, I think the numbers should be for the 13-17 range. 18 & 19, although still teenagers, are legally adults. I don't want to think about the 12 and unders.

posted by deborah 07 January | 15:45

Correlation with abstinence-only sex ed is easy to harp upon, but what about correlation with poverty? I somehow suspect the major pattern wouldn't change even with sane sex ed everywhere.

posted by Firas 07 January | 17:35

This infographic is so incorrect. 41.9 births to teenagers per 1,000 births does not equal 41.9%. The graphic leads one to believe that 68.4% of the births in Mississippi are to teens.

Oh, funny! That's how I read it, and I didn't bat an eye!

Correlation with abstinence-only sex ed is easy to harp upon, but what about correlation with poverty? I somehow suspect the major pattern wouldn't change even with sane sex ed everywhere.

EXCELLENT point, Firas. Really, this is a very complex issue with complex biological, geographical and sociological influences.

I just remember what a joke the abstinence only program was to me when I knew half the kids in my sophomore class were already sexually active. I switched schools in high school, and thereby sex-ed programs. The info was FAR more engaging and the attitudes of the teachers far more realistic when they acknowledged that people will eventually be sexually active and need to know this stuff.

posted by sakura 07 January | 18:03

I want to see correlation with quality of education.

posted by plinth 07 January | 19:45

I always sort of wonder about the whole 'education about condoms' thing. I mean, look at a condom. It's pretty bloody obvious how it works, isn't it?

(that said, I did sex ed in primary school, at a point when we all found it quite boring... not even giggleworthy)

posted by pompomtom 07 January | 23:04

I somehow suspect the major pattern wouldn't change even with sane sex ed everywhere.

Your point that economics plays a major role is well taken, but wouldn't change? That strikes me as more than overstatement. If you don't give kids good information, they won't know how to act responsibly. I've heard stories of some of the things kids who don't have proper sex ed believe about how to avoid pregnancy, and some of that shit is scary.

It's pretty bloody obvious how it works, isn't it?

My opinion is that this is an important enough topic that it needs to be taught at the level of the slowest possible student.

posted by middleclasstool 07 January | 23:11

Essential article on this topic: Red Sex, Blue Sex: Why do so many evangelical teenagers become pregnant? I thought I remembered discussing it here but it was on MeFi. It addresses some of the correlation questions.

posted by Miko 07 January | 23:19

miko, I haven't read the article but the poverty correlation thing is something I got from a letter to the editor about it in the next issue. (ps I love that magazine so deliriously much.)

posted by Firas 08 January | 02:43

Do read the article - the poverty thing is important, but it's also important to note how the social mores reinforce the continued poverty by encouraging women to have children young, thus cutting off educational and employment opportunities. Vicious cycle style.

posted by Miko 08 January | 13:39

That's a really good article, Miko.

posted by gaspode 08 January | 13:48

Yeah, it made me think about things differently.

posted by Miko 08 January | 17:46

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