We try to shield it from young people. And many teens won't get much help from their parents, who experts say still feel awkward talking to their children about sexuality. The other thing is parents don't want their kids to be hurt. Having sex and sexuality is really at its core about relationships and feelings and caring, and it puts people in very vulnerable positions. For these reasons and more, the issue of teen pregnancy and its deleterious impact on the fabric of society will not disappear from our nation's political radar screen in the foreseeable future.
Experts agree there remains much work to be done.
I think part of it is that when people feel overwhelmed, they retreat to a path that seems more manageable. She fears that the movement to promote teen pregnancy prevention may be losing ground in the current political environment and harm may be done if young people aren't given the information they need. We're talking about young people who are at risk for death. Today, much is known about what components are successful in teen pregnancy prevention initiatives. One of the leading groups for spreading the word about such successes is Advocates for Youth, which maintains a clearinghouse of model programs, evaluations and best practices nationwide.