Groups discuss pregnant teens

Deirdre Newman

Groups that are involved in preventing teenage pregnancies got

together Wednesday to find ways to focus their efforts in an area

that has one of the highest teen birth rates in the state.

he discussion were the need for more volunteer opportunities for

Newport-Mesa students to do their required service learning hours at

the agencies represented and for more emphasis on parent-child

communication.

“I think it’s [a lack of] family communication that’s causing

teens to join gangs and become pregnant,” said Dolores Castaneda of

Girls Inc, which hosted the meeting held on National Teen Pregnancy

Prevention Day.

The issue is an urgent one, since the 92627 ZIP code has the

dubious distinction of producing one of the highest percentages of

teenage pregnancies in the state. In 2001, nearly 8% of girls 15 to

19 in this ZIP code gave birth.

About 30 representatives from groups such as Planned Parenthood,

Girls Inc. and Save Our Youth huddled together to share their ideas

and experiences with preventing teenage pregnancies.

The group identified cultural and gender differences as

contributing to the high pregnancy rate.

“I think it takes two to tango,” said Oscar Santoyo, executive

director of Save Our Youth. “You have to focus on the male side, as

well. The male is just as responsible on this issue. ... It’s all

about respect. Sometimes that’s lacking.”

The representatives also emphasized that volunteering at their

agencies has the potential to change students’ lives, but expressed

difficulty in getting students to choose their organizations.

Santoyo suggested making the experience as productive as possible

and giving the students some practical skills, like learning a

computer program, to take with them.

“Students see [the requirement] more as a negative than a

positive,” Santoyo said. “We need to turn that around.”

The various representatives said they had gleaned valuable

information that will be useful in the future.

“It was very informative to learn what other agencies are doing

[to prevent] teen pregnancies,” said Georgina Maldonado, who works

with Maternal Outreach Management Systems, known as MOMS.

Leda Albright, the executive director of Families Costa Mesa, said

the discussion expanded the range of organizations she can now refer

her clients to.

Discussion leader Donna Fleming, executive director of Camp Fire

USA, said her personal goal is to find common ground among the

various groups.

“It’s easy for people to split over approaches to teen pregnancy

prevention, where people get caught up in abstinence only versus

comprehensive sex education,” Fleming said. “People get polarized

where they don’t really need to get polarized.”

The group doesn’t have any plans for another meeting, but members

will continue to share ideas, Fleming said.