The Supreme Court's past and expected future rulings on abortion cases will add controversy and costs to schools. Estimates the costs of teenage pregnancy; reviews the legal history of abortion; and offers guidelines on how schools can help reduce teenage pregnancy. (MLF)

Schools should adopt a character-based approach to sex education and teach students about respect, responsibility, and self-discipline. (MLF)

Presents a broad overview of recent trends, programs, and ideas aimed at solving the problem of unintended adolescent pregnancy. Asserts that the general problem of teenage parenthood results from a lack of options available to poor youngsters who, often, are members of minority groups. (KH)

Looks at issues surrounding teenage pregnancy and describes different school-based approaches to sex education. Stresses that parental involvement is critical to the success of any effective program for reducing teenage pregnancy. (RWB)

Critics who advocate encouraging pregnant teenagers to marry are mistaken. Teen marriages are distinctly less stable than marriages that occur after age twenty. Later marriers are less likely to be on welfare and are likely to have more education and fewer children. A hasty marriage makes a bad situation worse. (BJV)

Reviews issues surrounding adoption as an option for resolving teen crisis pregnancies. Examines the decision-making processes and social psychological consequences of adoption as a distinct phenomenon, including adoption rates and characteristics, factors influencing the adoption decision, birth mother response to adoption placement, and social…

The work of Joseph Gusfield provides the framework for analyzing the two different perspectives taken by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) to combat teen pregnancy. Gusfield first analyzed how the problem emerged and then identified "ownership" of the problem. According to Gusfield, the…

New studies demonstrate that many teen marriages are more resilient than had previously been believed; current policies promote single parenthood for teen mothers in the face of very little systemic information about young fathers and their potential for being providers, husbands, or parents. Marriage is a feasible option for many pregnant…

Recommends sharing of ideas among the church and mental health systems when confronting the problem of education about teenage pregnancy in the African-American community. Specifies three decision steps in initiating dialogue between mental health educators and African-American pastors: acknowledging, networking, and developing relationships.…

This paper attempts to refute current emphases on supposedly increased numbers of "students at risk." It is claimed that such terminology usually includes students who drop out, who become teenage mothers, or who are illiterate. Data are presented in tabular form demonstrating that all three of these "risk behaviors" are at their lowest in…

Proposed welfare reform could be detrimental to the education and employment opportunities of poor rural women and children. Describes the educational experiences of women who have attended the Low Country Human Development Center (LCHDC) (South Carolina). For the past 20 years, the LCHDC has provided pregnant teenagers with a high school…

Pregnant and parenting teenagers account for a sizable and growing proportion of the population served by public schools. Pregnant and parenting students face significant barriers to academic achievement, largely because traditional school environments often conflict with the competing demands of pregnancy and child rearing. Moreover, the children…