I have remarked in my writings before of my upbringing in my beloved San Antonio. My neighbor had two (or was it three) children before she graduated high school and it was commonplace at my middle school to see pregnant students wobbling down the hallways heading to their classrooms. I can even remember that Sunday morning reading the newspaper comics and flipping to one of my favorite guilty pleasures: Ripley’s Believe it or Not. I loved reading those mini-stories about the 113 year old woman who smoked every single day of her life or the twins that were born days apart. This particular Sunday as I was eating my Apple Jacks, the story was about San Antonio! Surely, it the story would have something to do with the heroics at the Battle of the Alamo. Nope. The story was that the youngest grandmother resided in San Antonio. She was only 32 years old. Oy! Luckily, a recent article that also comes straight from the San Antonio Express News strives to put an end to the city’s notoriety of skyrocketing teenage pregnancy rates. This month, national and local advocacy groups decided to join forces in order to begin a campaign that aims to lower the teenage pregnancy rate and put more of a focus towards family planning amongst the Hispanic teenage population. The new campaign would be responsible for improving support for Hispanic families; in addition, the initiative would provide more information on sexual health as well as plump up sex education courses. Hispanics are notorious for having the highest teenage pregnancy rate of all ethnic groups in the United States. In fact, the teenage pregnancy rate for Hispanics is practically two times the nationwide average amongst all teens. These statistics are provided by the National Council of La Raza’s Institute for Hispanic Health. Other statistics report that over fifty percent of Hispanic teenagers report becoming pregnant before they even reach the age of 20. I find that extremely easy to believe considering that in the early 90s when I was in middle school, girls were falling pregnant left and right. I think many of my family members were actually surprised that I graduated from high school without getting pregnant. It had become almost a right of passage in my neighborhood.

Original Source of Hispanic Teenage Pregnancy Rates On The Rise