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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Problems Aren’t Solved In Vacuum

Anne Windishar For The Editoria

The trouble with teen pregnancy is people want to shake their heads about the problem, but when it comes to asking tough questions about it, they start running scared.

It’s too personal. It’s too embarrassing. It’s “private.”

Spokane has its own case of head-in-the-sand mentality shaping up right now. Take county Commissioner Phil Harris. He’s balking at an eight-page survey produced by the Spokane Regional Health District and several social service agencies which would be sent to 5,000 households in the area. He says the survey is intrusive.

Of course, any survey that asks questions about people’s opinions on sex and sex education is bound to be interpreted as intrusive by some people - especially if it’s aimed in part at teens. But are those questions inappropriate?

No, not when you consider the larger good. In Spokane County in 1994, the pregnancy rate for girls between 15 and 17 years of age was 49.9 per 1,000. About 21 girls per 1,000 had an abortion. Just one in 40 of the county’s pregnant girls gave their child up for adoption.

The statistics are almost meaningless until you attach them to real people and the impact an early pregnancy has on their health and welfare. Most teen moms provide for and raise their children alone. Many drop out of school. Some turn to public assistance, beginning or perpetuating a cycle of dependence that is difficult to escape.

It is to our community’s benefit that we examine what attitudes and misinformation are contributing to the problem of teen pregnancy, no matter how difficult those questions are to ask. Which is worse - asking a few potentially embarrassing questions or ignoring teen pregnancy and its devastating effects?

Which brings us back to the survey. The questions are mostly innocuous. They’re designed to get a general feel for what the community knows and thinks about sexuality. The results could go a long way toward tailoring education programs that fit Spokane and its needs.

Granted, there are no guarantees that this survey will solve our community’s teen pregnancy problem, but that certainly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Throughout the process, there should be room for constructive criticism and concern, but provincial attitudes shouldn’t stand in the way of solutions.

Spokane County stands to gain from gathering local information about this serious problem. The results of the survey - if scientifically reliable - could inspire people to invent better remedial efforts at several levels - homes, neighborhood centers, churches, schools, public health clinics.

Even Phil Harris ought to see the potential in that.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Anne Windishar For the editorial board