There was a study done recently, highlighting the challenges faced by teen girls in Arizona. To sum it up, it found we have the 4th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation and the 9th highest rate of high school drop-outs in the nation - when it comes to teen girls. Each week in our state, 65 babies are born to these teen mothers.
What is going on out there? I don't pretend to be from a slightly older generation... but what has changed? I sure don't remember things like this when I was growing up 15 years ago or so.
I'm asking this honestly and forthrightly: what is happening to our youth? Do we not inspire them anymore? Do they just not care? Do we, as an "older" generation find ourselves too preoccupied to care? I'm kind of leaving this blog open for dialogue here... because if you think about it -- what are the kids of these un-wed teens going to be like when they reach teenage-dom themselves? What kind of statistics will we find ourselves mulling over then?
As someone who feels somewhat responsible (can I mentor more effectively, how much more time can I give? etc) I wonder what more can be done. What ideas do you have, reader? How can we help? Is it even our place?
I don't know the answers... which perhaps is the sentiment shared by these teen gals. Maybe they don't know the answers either... and, beyond that, maybe they don't even know the questions to ask... to avoid becoming a statistic.