“Church Looks to Prevent Pregnancy - Myfoxmemphis.com” plus 4 more |
- Church Looks to Prevent Pregnancy - Myfoxmemphis.com
- Birth control battle in Revere - Boston Globe
- We can choose to build bridges - Memphis Commercial Appeal
- Fertility not affected after taking oral contraceptive pill - Sydney Morning Herald
- Teen pregnancy rates are up for Rusk County, region, state - Henderson Daily News
| Church Looks to Prevent Pregnancy - Myfoxmemphis.com Posted: 05 Sep 2009 02:36 PM PDT MEMPHIS, Tenn. - St. Andrew A.M.E. church, in Memphis, is using state grants for a billboard campaign designed at preventing teen pregnancy. The Rev. Kenneth Robinson told sources he anticipates a mixed reaction to the advertisements. Most promote abstinence, but one reads, "Don't make love without a glove." Apart from being a pastor, Robinson serves as Chief Health Officer for the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department and is a former Tennessee Commissioner of Health. His church has a long-standing program aimed at educating young women, but he says some members have been skeptical of the billboard campaign. However, he said, teen pregnancy is a problem that must be addressed.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Birth control battle in Revere - Boston Globe Posted: 05 Sep 2009 10:50 PM PDT Currently, there are 38 school-based health centers in the state, down from 49 in 2006. During 2006, the last year the state compiled full statistics on the centers, 26 percent of all student visits to the centers focused on reproductive health counseling - on subjects such as unprotected sex, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy risks, and prenatal health.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| We can choose to build bridges - Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted: 05 Sep 2009 10:00 PM PDT Memphians are at a crossroad, more so now than in the past. We are beginning to understand that we control our destiny. It makes no difference if you live in Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown or Midtown, we are all Memphians. Curiously, when we interact with one another, one on one, we get along and quite well. Yet we retreat into our collective communities and groups; we find separation and prejudice. The problems within Memphis are systemic to the problems in our collective community, that by not being a part of the solution we exacerbate our problems with ignorance and arrogance. We yearn for leadership and an improved sense of community purpose so long as it requires little effort or change to our lifestyles. When we all stop and consider the quality of life for everyone in our community, we all know that we are capable of so much more. We can begin to make a change with small gestures to one another on a daily basis. If we believe that every small gesture we do for one another yields another small gesture, then the cumulative impact over time builds bridges between us. It's such a simple choice, doesn't cost anything and requires no action from government. So for the long weekend, consider that we are all capable of being better neighbors and the people that we would like to think we are. We can all do better at helping one another, and it begins with a choice. Michael Fahy Germantown Proud to call Memphis home Those living outside of Memphis often write to share their dislike of the city and how they oppose consolidation with such a terrible place. I have another perspective. I am not a native Memphian and lived in a larger city before moving here. Yes, Memphis has its problems -- daunting poverty, a crime rate we all wish were lower, politics that distract from the true business at hand. However, Memphis has a lot to offer if you look. We live in Midtown in a vibrant, friendly, walkable community. Our neighbors know our names. We socialize with them and we keep an eye out for each other. My son goes to kindergarten at our neighborhood school -- a Memphis public school -- where he has wonderful, hard-working teachers and staff. We are very happy with the education he is receiving. Memphis is home to a world-class zoo, several lovely museums, galleries and gardens and a rich music culture. It has several sports teams (college and professional), great restaurants and is home to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Regional Medical Center at Memphis and Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, which are top-notch facilities. We enjoy flying kites in Tom Lee Park, walking the "Mississippi" at Mud Island and going to the Downtown Farmers Market. We have access to all of this within five miles of our home -- something that is unheard of in larger cities. I wonder if those who dislike Memphis so much have ever really experienced the city in which I live. Or do they just come in for Grizzlies games or concerts and then leave as quickly as possible? I realize Memphis is not perfect and that bad things do happen here. It is frustrating when progress or change doesn't come as quickly as we'd like. But this is a good city with caring citizens and a lot of potential. I am proud to now call it my home. Gretchen Stroud Memphis City politics: a long-running joke In a recent interview, mayoral candidate Leo Awgowhat described Memphis politics as a joke. He wasn't far off, but a more appropriate description would be pathetic. As one closely involved in the 1991 city elections, in seeing where the votes were coming from there was justification for a recount, as well as for Justice Department intervention into the process. This, of course, did not happen. From this election forward, there were and are accusations of voter fraud, voting machine manipulation, voting of the deceased, as well as voter residency abuse and a number of other voting abuses. We now find ourselves embroiled in an election for city mayor with 28 prospective candidates. Only a few know the process; the majority are naive and will waste a lot of time and spend tons of money seeking a position they have no chance of obtaining. Just a reminder that a few years ago, the Republican Party requested and received approval to hold partisan primaries in county elections. This move diminished the influence of political power brokers and political hacks. This newspaper spoke out against the primary, as did a few incumbents. We now find within the Republican Party those who would do away with the primary. If we had primaries in city elections, we would have three or four candidates instead of a contingent of 28 who qualified. Was Awgowhat almost right when he said he thought Memphis politics was a joke? Look at those we elected in the past dozen years and check past and present inmate rolls at federal prisons around the area. This doesn't count those who evaded indictment. Doesn't it make you feel proud? Jerry W. Cobb Memphis Work on roots of teen pregnancy As an obstetrician-gynecologist who works primarily at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, I am always looking for insight into the causes of our high adolescent pregnancy rate. Your Sept. 2 letters about Dr. Manoj Jain's column "Tap talk, programs to cut teen pregnancy" (Aug. 31) called attention to several issues that need to be addressed. Abstinence-only programs fail miserably. Data from states that have tracked their effect have shown pregnancy rates go up when this has been the primary message for adolescents. Likewise, increasing access to contraception is not a cure-all. Adolescent pregnancy and unwed pregnancy are problems that arise from social situations. How can a 14-year-old negotiate condom use with an 18-year-old? And who is watching the 14-year-old after school? Welfare-to-work programs have increasingly put mothers in low-paying jobs far from home; she has no one to watch her children. We can prescribe birth control, but who is to go to the pharmacy every month for a pack of pills if no one has a car and the buses don't run near her home? You can blame the girl's mother. But she was likely to have been a teen mother herself and is usually not happy to see her daughter follow in her footsteps. But what skills has the mother been taught to use to teach her daughter any better? And maybe the occasional girl wants to be pregnant. But what alternative role in life (other than being a mother) can she look forward to? My research has found she likely has a career goal but the schools have failed to guide her; she is not likely to get into college or to succeed if she does get in. What has worked for some communities are after-school programs that work on girls' self-esteem and show them alternatives to the life of poverty for which they are otherwise destined. Contraception needs to be available to any girl who wants it. Every letter writer and Commercial Appeal reader should mentor a girl through Big Brothers Big Sisters and try to really make a difference. Owen Phillips, M.D. Memphis Our kids need their childhood As I read Dr. Manoj Jain's Aug. 31 column I was saddened once again that the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is so high. As parents, we strive to protect our children from the sexual pressures of the media, music and peers, but I've also found we may need to shield them from the schools. A local county elementary school has decided that an appropriate social function for 10-year-olds is a school-sponsored dance. Evidently this school sees nothing wrong with encouraging children of this tender age to "couple up." How ironic it will be when these same children decide they have become bored with school dances in high school (been there, done that) and seek to liven things up with drinking, drugs and sex at homecoming or prom. If some think I am ludicrous for making the leap from a dance to sex, then by all means encourage your elementary-age children to attend these functions, dress to impress the opposite sex, start a pattern of serial dating and become emotionally attached to children of the opposite sex before they've had a chance to grow into being an individual. We cannot shelter our children from all the bad influences, but we can certainly seek to preserve their childhoods. Parents, please stand up and start saying no to our sex-obsessed culture and schools that rush our children into adulthood. Otherwise, our babies will continue having babies. Christy Halliday Lakeland Effective parenting is still the key Regarding your Sept. 1 article "Leaders sound off on schools": Yes, it is good to have the right teachers in the classroom. However, as a former city schools teacher, I can guarantee that there are plenty of them on duty right now. But they are being asked to do virtually impossible tasks, and things seem to only be getting more difficult for them with the recent highly publicized changes in policy. Memphis City Schools Supt. Kriner Cash hit it on the head when he said, "Teachers have the greatest single impact (on student performance) other than an effective parent." But the difference in those factors is enormous, to say the least. There is no way a teacher can transform students who get no support at home. Occasional success stories are heartwarming and nice to hear, but they pale next to the stories of failure. And the teachers are often incorrectly used as scapegoats. I thank those teachers who are doing their best under extremely trying circumstances. They deserve a lot better. D. E. Baker Jr. Cordova  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Fertility not affected after taking oral contraceptive pill - Sydney Morning Herald Posted: 05 Sep 2009 05:21 PM PDT TAKING the oral contraceptive pill does not affect a woman's ability to fall pregnant after she goes off it, with four in five women falling pregnant within a year, a study has found. German researchers said neither the length of time the pill was taken nor the type of hormones used had a bearing on pregnancy rates after contraceptive use. The results, published in the US journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, form part of the European Active Surveillance Study on Oral Contraceptives, which followed almost 60,000 European women for five years, with the starting point between 2001 and 2004. Of these, 2064 women explicitly stated that they stopped using the pill because they wanted to fall pregnant. Overall, 21 per cent were pregnant one cycle after stopping contraceptive use. After three cycles, the rate of pregnancy had increased to 45.7 per cent, and at one year (13 cycles) 79.4 per cent were pregnant. Of the one in five women who did not fall pregnant in the first 12 months, 45 per cent did so in the second year (26 cycles) after stopping the pill, giving an overall success rate of 88.3 per cent. --------------------------------------------------- The researchers, who received funding from a pharmaceutical company, said rates of pregnancy were reduced in women older than 35 and in smokers. The researchers, from Bayer Schering Pharma and ZEG-Centre for Epidemiology and Health Research in Berlin, said women who had been using the pill for a long time did have a slightly lower rate of pregnancy than those who had used it for a short period, but this was due to the effect of age, not long-term contraceptive use. "Because of their high efficacy, there is a perception by some women that the use of oral contraceptives may be associated with an impairment in fertility after their discontinuation," they wrote. "These findings suggest that previous oral contraceptive use does not negatively affect the rate of pregnancy."  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Teen pregnancy rates are up for Rusk County, region, state - Henderson Daily News Posted: 05 Sep 2009 07:20 AM PDT Rusk County's teenage pregnancy rates are steadily increasing right along with the region and state as a whole despite ongoing emphasis on abstinence education, according to studies for 2004-06 from the Texas Department of State Health Services Center for Health Statistics . Local teen pregnancy numbers are up in the midst of abstinence education and school district efforts to work with pregnant students to keep them in school. In 2004, Rusk County had a pregnancy rate of 5.7 per 1,000 females, which totaled 32 babies. The rate increased to 6.2 the next year, leading to 34 babies and, in 2006, the rate had jumped dramatically to 7.8, or 43 babies. Medicaid paid for $173,226 deliveries in Texas, at an estimated total cost of $420 million. Approximately 10 percent of the deliveries were to teen mothers age 13 through 17, at a cost of $41 million. For those wondering how often a teenager in Texas gets pregnant, it's pretty often - every 10 minutes, to be exact. Every 10 hours, a 14-year-old gets pregnant, every three hours, a 15-year-old gets pregnant and every 1.5 hours, a 16-year-old gets pregnant. Meanwhile, every 52 minutes, a 17-year-old gets pregnant, and every 35 minutes, an 18-year-old gets pregnant and every 28 minutes, a 19-year-old gets pregnant. In general, Texas school districts teach abstinence due at least in part to the explosion in sexually transmitted diseases. "There are 19 million new infections in America each year, and there are 66 million incurable STDs in America," said Tonya Waite, abstinence program director for the Wellness Center of Longview, which had directed Henderson's teen abstinence program. "One in four females have a STD and Texas is No. 1 in multiple teen pregnancies." Waite said the contraceptive failure rate is 8 percent and 15 percent for condom use, but that statistic is for committed couples ages 20-40. No study has been done on teens.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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Posted by PrettyBoi on September 6, 2009 at 12:15 a.m.
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Gretchen Stroud,
You are absolutely right and thanks for your letter! I stated in a post a few weeks back that many of the people who spew negativity about Memphis obviously have never been anywhere else. I travel often and know that cities such as Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, and even Nashville have horrible crime problems. Just as you stated, Memphis is by far the city with the most amenities for its size and people should appreciate it. As a young Black professional (and native Memphian), there are many opportunities for Memphis to reach its full potential for geographic reasons alone. People should realize that the grass isn't always greener and to appreciate what we have here and lets all strive to make it better.
Posted by wahoo82 on September 6, 2009 at 12:58 a.m.
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Gretchen Stroud, well said. I am hopeful that a new mayor will turn around the perception that many have of Memphis.
Posted by Nightcrawler on September 6, 2009 at 1 a.m.
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I was in Alaska a few years ago and someone asked me where I lived. I told them and they replied, "That's not near Memphis is it", with a scowled look on their face. I told them no but that incident did educate me of what some people think of Memphis.
I'll never forget the look on that person's face as long as I live. So yes, I've traveled a lot too and Memphis definitely has a bad reputation with some folks no matter where one travels on this planet.
Crime statistics and political farce, corruption and incompetence travels far.
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