Children can practically raise themselves now, teenagers with cars and unlimited access to
internet through the latest iPhone, what do they even need parents for anymore? Teenagers
today are acting like adults, and not in a good way. 16 year-olds having sex, getting
pregnant, drinking alcohol, doing drugs, and where are mom and dad? Parental
involvement is a must for children and teenagers to thrive and avoid pregnancy and drug
use.
When children go into the foster care system for one reason or another they are not with
their parents anymore. Maybe they were taken away from them, maybe they went to jail or
prison, or maybe they passed away and there was no one to care for them. The National
Conference of State Legislatures found that teen pregnancy rates are much higher for teens
in foster care. How much higher? By age 19 pregnancy rates for those in foster care are
two and a half times higher than those not in the system. Almost half the girls in foster care
get pregnant at least once by their 19th birthday and 75% by time they turn 21. This does
not just apply to females in the foster care system, 50% of young men in foster care have
got someone pregnant by age 21. For some context on that on 19% of young men that are
not in foster care get a girl pregnant by age 21. For more information about teen pregnancy
among youth in foster care go to:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/teen-pregnancy-prevention.aspx.
The Courier Press talks about how parents deal with “the talk” also known as the dreaded
