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Results of a new survey show a dearth of knowledge of basic human biology among America's teens, especially when pants are off and hormones are running high. How bad is it? About half of the teens who got pregnant while not using any form of birth control say they didn't contraceptively arm themselves because they didn't believe that it was possible for them to get pregnant. Another quarter didn't wrap it up because their partner pressured them to go au naturel. Oh, brother. More »
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Lawmakers in Mississippi haven't responded to pressure from groups pushing for comprehensive sex education, so health advocates put the problem into terms they could understand. In addition to the tremendous emotional and financial costs for teens who get pregnant, a new analysis found that these young parents cost the state $154.9 million in 2009. Yet, officials still say teaching kids about contraception should be optional. More »
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Today, the estimable Jessica Grose asks something many of us have wondered: do Teen Moms shows really discourage teen pregnancy - or just exploit for our entertainment? (And is it bad that they make me want a kid?) More »
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17-year-old Xochitl Parra gave birth to a baby boy at home, unbeknownst to her mother, and then walked four blocks to the hospital with the umbilical cord still attached. Parra is a sophomore at Long Beach Poly High in Long Beach, CA, and was afraid that her mother would disown her if she knew that Xochitl was up the stick. Good news all around though: Xochitl's baby, Alejandro, is a healthy little dude and her mom is going to help her care for him so that she can keep going to school. [CNN] More »
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Here we are, worried about the sexualization of 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, when 31 out of 53 girls from the ages of 14-17 from the Yearning For Zion ranch are pregnant or already have children. Although the polygamist Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints have been claiming that they do not marry off 13 and 14 year old girls to older men, the number of very young yet pregnant girls seems to refute these claims. What's more, there are 53 girls ages 14-17 who were taken from the ranch, while only 17 boys in that age group were living with the sect. (The gender divisions in children under 14 were about 50/50.) This gives credence to the tales of "lost boys" of the FDLS: adolescent males who were exiled from the sect to keep the gender imbalance favorable for polygamous unions. More »
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The number of Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints in Texas custody has now reached 460, following the state's decision yesterday that 25 mothers under the age of 18 should not be returned to the FDLS compound, Yearning For Zion. As previously reported, Texas officials raided the YFZ ranch after a tip — allegedly from a 16-year-old inside the compound named Sarah Jessop Barlow — regarding widespread child abuse. Although Sarah has yet to be located (and some believe that "Sarah" is really Rozita Swinton, a pathological liar with an FDLS obsession), Reuters reports that "Texas welfare and law enforcement officials say they have uncovered evidence of widespread child abuse on the grounds, with adolescent girls being forced into unions with much older men." Mothers over the age of 18 were sent home yesterday from the temporary shelter where their children are being held. More »
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