The rate of adolescent pregnancies in Alexandria has fallen by 21 percent over the last decade, according to new city statistics.
It’s dropped from more than 54 pregnancies per 1,000 families in 1999 to 43 pregnancies per thousand in 2008.
Nationwide, teen pregnancy rates have been dropping as well, albeit slower than in Alexandria.
“On a national level there’s been a lot of attention brought to issue, and I think people [are more able] to talk about sex nowadays than they were 15 years ago,” said Lisa Baker, director of Alexandria’s Office on Women.
The city created the Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy to fight teen pregnancy in 1999, when its average was five pregnancies per 1,000 higher than nationwide. Now, Alexandria’s rate is on par with the national average of 42.5 per 1,000.
Still, the city has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Northern Virginia, where the average is just 16.5. Baker said that’s why her group must “keep the message up.”
ACAP’s members include the Alexandria Health Department and community organizations that provide after-school programming.
ACAP employees train workers to talk to youths about sex and provide information to parents on how to address the subject with their children.
Debby Dimon of the Alexandria Health Department calls ACAP a “comprehensive” program that promotes abstinence in young people while giving them options if they choose to have sex.
The group distributes condoms and provides a text messaging service where youths can submit questions on sex.
This dual approach is key to solving the problem of teen pregnancy, said Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution’s Center on Children and Families.
“We’re learning now that the programs that …. emphasize [abstinence’s] importance while giving the message that if you [still decide] to do it to be sure to use a condom or family planning method are most successful,” he said.
ACAP members also aim to teach “youth that they have other options for their future,” Dimon said.
That’s another effective method in reducing teen pregnancies, Haskins said.
“If kids think they have chance to go to college and grow up and get a good job, they’re less likely to get pregnant.”
