The Virginian-Pilot
©
By Jaedda Armstrong
NORFOLK
If you're going to do it, use a condom. That's the advice Rodriguez Pettaway has for all teenage boys out there thinking about having sex. He knows what he's talking about. At age 19, Pettaway has a 1-year-old son.
"You have to stop doing a lot of things you used to do, and you're not going to want to stop," said Pettaway in a phone interview. He used to hang out anytime he wanted, he said. Now, the baby comes first.
Pettaway was one of the guests who spoke out against teen pregnancy at the Attucks Theatre on Friday night.
Students from across South Hampton Roads did step chants incorporating teen pregnancy prevention themes at the Step-Up to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Step Show Competition.
The Norfolk Better Beginnings Coalition hosted the contest for National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. This is the third year the coalition has hosted such an event, but it's the first step show.
"Teens need to know the danger and perils of having sex when you're not ready," said Terrance Afer-Anderson, the coalition's chairman, who became a father at the age of 19.
"I thought I was ready, but I found out I wasn't in the worst way," said Afer-Anderson. "The baby only lived for four months."
The show included a song performance by Michael Lee, a student at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach.
"Everybody's going out, but you have to stay at home. Can't go out with your girls, just talk to them on the phone," he sang. Recently, national birth rates for teens increased for the first time in about 15 years, rising about 3 percent from 2005 and 2006, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At the same time, the number of teen pregnancies in South Hampton Roads remained stable except in Norfolk. The city had 875 pregnancies in 2005. That decreased to 783 in 2006.
The step teams kept the crowd hyped while sending a positive message, said Tianna Smith, a 15-year-old student at Maury High School.
"I hope events like this will help teens see that they have their whole life ahead of them - so don't rush it."
Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 446-2346, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com
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WORK FOR BENEFITS
Another good idea in stemming the tide of illegitimate pregnancies amongst teens is to not automatically qualify them for WIC and EBT or Food Stamps and public housing. Make them WORK for these benefits.
Maury
And if that doesn't work, maybe these kids should be made to watch countless reruns of 'paternity test results' on Maury and see the drama of their peers in other parts of the country... kids should not be raising kids and kids should not be having kids... what's the rush??