Two years ago, about 6,600 Oklahoma teens gave birth, a number exceeding the combined total of young women enrolling in the freshmen class at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma.
Starting this fall, Tulsa Public Schools will confront, not ignore, the elephant in the room with a comprehensive pregnancy prevention curriculum for students grades seven, nine and 11. The program will start as a pilot in four schools with four more middle and high schools added in January.
Given the state's teen pregnancy rate, fourth highest in the nation and double the national average in some areas of Tulsa, the course could turn out to be the most valuable instruction teens receive all year.
The free and totally voluntary program will be provided by organizations with an understanding of adolescent behavior - Youth Services of Tulsa, the Tulsa Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the Tulsa Health Department.
One of the surest ways for teens to end up in poverty or remain there is to have a baby. Unless they have financial means coupled with a strong support system, they will struggle to further their education and training, to pay bills, to find and maintain employment and to be a good parent.
A baby born to a teen without the means to support that child costs Oklahoma taxpayers thousands annually in services. Multiply that figure times the thousands of teens who cannot support their babies and the importance of being proactive rather than reactive becomes abundantly clear.
Ideally, teens would learn their most important life skills at home. But obviously that doesn't always happen judging from the pregnancy numbers, the frequency of sexually transmitted diseases and other risky behaviors.
"Making Proud Choices: A Safer Sex Approach to HIV/STDs and Teen Pregnancy Prevention," is a long title but not an empty one. The curriculum, which parents can examine before classes begin, offers tools to help teens understand and deal with raging hormones and peer pressure, to avoid risky or downright dangerous behavior and to build productive and healthy lives.
The program, a lesson plan for life, cannot stop bad choices; that's up to the teens.
But by illuminating their futures and educating them on their options, teens are more likely to reduce risks on their own.
Editorials
The 6,300 employees at the American Airlines Maintenance Facility in Tulsa could use some certainty, but they're going to have to wait.
The loss of 12 lives, 13 counting the suspect, in the Navy shipyard shootings Monday is tragic. With each killing spree the natural reaction is to search for the motive or the psychological reason for such a horrific event.
