4 Troubled Teens Blog

Massachusetts Study Links Teen Pregnancy, Dropout Rate

A study in Massachusetts has found that the cities with the highest school dropout rates are also the cities with the highest teen pregnancy rates. Each year, about 10,000 kids drop out of Massachusetts schools, and 25 percent of them are pregnant or already parents.

"Obviously, preventing kids from getting pregnant in the first place is the best solution here. To that end, kids need better sex ed in schools, access to birth control, and reasons to delay sex and pregnancy," the Boston Globe reported in an article on the research. "And the girls who are already mothers need someone to care for their babies while they go to school."

Unfortunately, school budgets are about to get cut again, and child care funds for teen mothers are also expected to be reduced. Some in Massachusetts are protesting this move, saying it will cost less now to ensure these kids get educated than it will cost to take care of them in the future when theyre unemployable.

Labels: pregnancy, dropouts

Posted By: Aspen/CRC