An Innovative Whiff of Reality

Although still unsure which approaches work best, activists trying to reduce teenage birth rates have introduced an intriguing strategy to San Fernando Valley schools. They turn young people into parents--at least temporarily. The idea: Caring for lifelike baby dolls reveals how ill-equipped most adolescents are to take care of a child, making them think twice before taking careless risks.

Nationwide, teen birth rates have fallen 12% since 1991. The most dramatic drop--20%--was reported among African American teens, but Latino birth rates fell only 4.8%. Despite the drops, thousands of teens end up pregnant every year. Young mothers run higher than average risks for health problems, dropping out of school and living in poverty.

Combating that requires strategies beyond just preaching abstinence and making birth control available. At Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, for instance, students take care of dolls that cry and demand attention, demonstrating how much effort it takes to keep an infant clothed, fed and happy.

But as pregnancy prevention advocates point out, programs like the one at Madison often can be too late as children as young as 13 become accidental parents. Indeed, the factors contributing to teen pregnancy start well before high school or even junior high. To children without a sense that they have meaningful futures ahead of them, there’s not much difference between becoming a parent at 15 or at 30.

Only when young people have hope--that school means something and that jobs will be available when they finish--will traditional messages used to combat teen pregnancy resonate with youths most at risk. Until then, advocates rely on innovative programs like the one at Madison and hope kids echo the sentiments of 12-year-old Tiarra Hirsch: “I’m not ready to be a mom.”