Berkshire United Way working to reduce teen pregnancies

PITTSFIELD – For every 1,000 young women ages 15-19 in the city, it is estimated that 55 of them gave birth in 2009.

This is according to statistics recently released by the Berkshire United Way.

Compared to the 55/1,000 in Pittsfield, the number is at 27 for Berkshire County and 19.5 in Massachusetts.

Kristine Hazzard, president and CEO of the Berkshire United Way, said it is often thought that urban and suburban communities face higher teen pregnancy statistics versus rural areas, but that thought has been flipped in recent years.

“It’s time we address this issue,” Pres. Hazzard said.

To combat this in Pittsfield and the county in general, the United Way has launched a new campaign, “Face the Facts – Reduce Teen Pregnancy,” as seen on billboards recently posted in the area.

Area leaders are seeing this as more than a problem that simply needs funding for prevention.

“If money could solve teen pregnancy in Berkshire County, it would’ve been solved long ago,” said State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield).

Instead, it is primarily seen as an education issue.

“We need comprehensive sex education,” Pres. Hazzard said.

She presented these statistics and more information at a Pittsfield School Committee meeting, where she and others were advocating for better sex education in the schools.

“We’re willing to help with the costs and the training,” she told the committee.

In her presentation, she also outlined three key things in reducing the number of teen pregnancies: access to sexual health information, access to healthcare and “increasing the perception of hope and opportunity for a bright future.”

“We cannot have that defeatist attitude,” she added.

The Pittsfield Curriculum Subcommittee plans to further look into improving the health curriculum at its next meeting and will share its findings at a later school committee meeting.

“We can see that the solution is collaboration and education,” School Committee Member Katherine L. Yon said.

The United Way’s goal is to reduce the number of teen pregnancies by 10 percent by 2016.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on May 16, 2013. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry