Project works to improve sex education, reduce teen pregnancies, prevent STDs

Denise Marion poses Thursday July 12, 2018. (The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen)
Denise Marion poses Thursday July 12, 2018. (The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen)

When Denise Marion campaigned to be elected as justice of the peace in one of the poorest districts in Garland County, she noticed a major theme as she knocked on door after door: the number of young mothers, living in sometimes decrepit conditions, with young children.

Marion, now serving her second term as justice of the peace for District 3, said she realized something was very wrong but could not exactly pinpoint what it was. Shortly after Marion was elected in 2014, a study was published concerning various issues in Garland County, including the high rates of teen pregnancies. It noted the community had no organizations trying to address the problem.

"That (study) really caught my eye," Marion said. "Because that is what I was seeing when I was knocking on doors."

In 2015, Marion started the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project. Its mission is to lower the number of teenagers having children in Garland County as well as reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections among teens, including HIV and AIDS, which is present in every single one of the county's seven school districts.

With about 34 pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19, Arkansas has the highest teen birthrate in the United States. Garland County beats the state average with 38 pregnancies per 1,000 girls in the same age range. Data from the Arkansas Department of Education shows that almost half of Garland County high school students have had sex, with 16 percent having sex with four or more people.

The main goal of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project is to advocate for changes in reproductive curriculum taught in area schools. Marion said while schools may teach students about the birds and the bees, there is little, if anything, taught about practicing safe sex as well as education for girls about how to set boundaries and how to say no.

"Currently whatever we are doing is not working," Marion said. "That is the message."

Marion says the problem with abstinence-only education is that it simply does not work. But, she says, parents are opposed to a curriculum that teaches safe sex practices because they feel they essentially give children permission to engage in sexual activity.

"Teens have sex, and I think that is something people just want to ignore," she said. "But when we ignore that, we are abdicating our responsibility. They need our help. Elementary school kids are taught how to cross the street safely. We need to do the same thing with teens to get through the transition from childhood to sexual maturity safely.

"We owe that to them. They are our children."

Marion said about 16 to 17 percent of teen pregnancies are likely to end in abortion. Other statistics paint a bleak picture for the futures of teen moms. Many don't graduate from high school and the children of teenage mothers are more likely to continue the cycle by having children of their own when they are young.

Numerous studies cite poverty as both a cause and a consequence of teen pregnancy, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower grades in school, drop out of high school, have health problems and face unemployment as a young adult.

School counselors and administrators are open to the idea of improving existing curriculum, Marion said. She, along with other volunteers with Teen Pregnancy Prevention, schedule meetings with schools to discuss what existing curriculum is being taught, who is teaching it and what options might be for improving it.

A study published in the September 2017 issue of The Journal of Adolescent Health found that almost all scientific evidence shows that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs "are not effective in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse or changing other sexual risk behaviors" among teenagers.

"Young people need access to accurate and comprehensive sexual health information to protect their health and lives," the study said, adding that abstinence-only programs "inherently withhold information about human sexuality and may provide medically inaccurate and stigmatizing information."

Marion says the Teen Pregnancy Prevention initiative is also working to reach parents by giving presentations about the importance of comprehensive sex education programs, which teach not only abstinence but also about how to have safe sex as well. She is trying to extend the group's reach to area churches.

"We want to build character, make teens feel strong and empowered," Marion said. "We have to take the blinders off and talk about pregnancy and talk about sexually transmitted infections. This is the reality for teens. They are immersed in sex. It is on TV. Is on the radio. It is on their phones. We can't turn it off."

Local on 07/15/2018

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