Not yet adults themselves, most likely still in school and facing few job options, they must suddenly confront the responsibility of caring for a child. Teen-age girls who have children are less likely to finish high school and more likely to end up on welfare, reports the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. They also risk having children with lower birth weights who perform badly in school and have a greater chance of suffering child abuse or neglect. Several local programs aim to prevent those problems. The West Texas Girl Scout Council offers a program called Teen-age Parents Survive for teen mothers and their babies.
Summer camps bring the young mothers and their children together for additional parenting education.
For more information, contact the council at 670-0432. Experts say teen mothers often come from disadvantaged families. The Early Head Start program works with low-income families and parents with disabled children. Nancy Wilkinson's 18 students regularly flip through the pages of American Baby and Baby Talk. Wilkinson teaches the PEP class at Cooper High School.