One In Five
		Jesse Smith
		http://slicer69.tripod.com/


Dear Parents Of Nova Scotia,

	Once again teenage pregnancy has reared its ugly head. Well, that is
teenage pregnancy among girls, it seems the boys still manage to avoid entering
into the family way. The Chronicle Herald announced this past week the risk of
pregnancy (among teenage girls) was as high as one in five. The risk? It sounds
as if the reporter views getting knocked up as a sort of disease, like chicken
pox or the flu or mono. The risk of getting pregnant is as high as one in five?

	I think that statement is a bit like claiming the odds of getting struck
by lightning is about one in a thousand. Sure, on average it probably is. However,
chances of being hit go up a lot if you stand outside, in the rain, on high ground, holding
a large, mettle rod. I'm sure you get my drift. Unlike contracting chicken pox or
catching a cold, getting pregnant involves a little more than casual social interaction on
the part of the subject. In fact, this writer is quite sure a girl would have to engage
in... would, that is, be required to partake in certain.... okay, would need to have
relations of an intimate kind, in order to become pregnant. Okay, I realize there
are other ways to get the bun in the oven, but in most cases (aside from the occasional
semen waterfall, toilet seat or miracle) they've been having sex.

	(Gasp!)

	I know, I know, not our little girls. Oh no. When they go to parties or have friends
over or go camping, our little ones, surely, are not the "bad kids" getting...close. Or so we
all thought, right? Until, that is, the C.H. dumped this shocker in our laps. In fact, not
only are all these girls having (please don't faint) sex, if they're, you know, with
child, they weren't doing it safely. Which means, not only are our little ones hopping
into bed together, not only are they producing children faster than China, but (please
sit down, this isn't going to be pretty) they are also exposing themselves to sexual transmitted
infections. (No longer are they called "diseases".)

	At this point, perhaps we should look at this situation and discuss a few things. I'm sure
most of us agree starting a family at fifteen isn't a wise choice. So, what are our options? Well,
like it or not, sex is going to happen. Kids will be kids and teenagers will, well, fu- er,
participate in sexual intercourse. I like to think the best you can do is open a non-judgemental
form of communication with your children. Encourage your children to ask questions and answer
them as best as possible. Perhaps this is a radical idea, but you might be amazed how many
sexual myths you can destroy by simply telling your children "Yes you can get pregnant the first
time", "Withdraw is not a form of birth control", "It's okay to talk to your doctor about sex",
and "Being a parent isn't always fun."

	Our children are trying to grow up faster all the time. Perhaps we should start engaging
them in fair and informative dialogue now, before they become statistics.

One of the other four,
Jesse Smith