A Community Problem

A recent report that was nearly overlooked in all the pre-election hoopla covered a survey of 199 local health and community groups on the subject of adolescent pregnancy in Orange County.

The findings--which demand attention--are grim for several reasons. One disturbing discovery was that the number of pregnancies among younger girls in the county is increasing. The latest available statistics, for 1986, show that 40 children were born to mothers ages 10 through 14. The impact of those births affect not only the young mothers, fathers and their families, but the entire community. About 80% of pregnant teen-agers don’t graduate from high school. Many teen-age fathers drop out, too, most winding up on public support or doomed to low-payin g jobs. The death rate for teen-age mothers, and their babies, also is higher than those for older mothers.

The survey found that services to combat teen-age pregnancies are inadequate and that those in existence are hard to find. There is not enough sex education at home or in the schools, it said, and contrary to the unfounded fears of some critics of sex-education programs in the schools, the experts responding to the survey agreed that such programs encourage responsible sexual behavior--not promiscuity.

There is also inadequate prenatal care, financial counseling, baby clinics and child care. And the survey showed that the problem has no economic barriers. The teen-age pregnancy rate in affluent and poor communities is about equal, the only difference being that more teen-agers in affluent communities seek abortions.

The report offered no solutions. Those will be sought in a second study that should produce some specific recommendations next spring. But the initial survey does dramatically indicate that Orange County has a serious teen-age pregnancy problem--and is not doing enough about it. That was the strong consensus of 87.9% of the people interviewed who work with adolescents and know firsthand their needs--and how poorly the county is responding to them.

One of every 27 girls ages 15 to 19 gives birth each year in Orange County. It is not too late for the community to help them by seeking ways to prevent future pregnancies and by providing the compassion and care that is still in such woefully short supply.