When teens have babies

JANE was just about to start her A Levels when she discovered she was preg-nant. All plans for the future were put on hold as she quit school and began making plans for life with a baby.

Her parents were shocked but supportive. Her boyfriend was another matter. Jane - who has asked us to conceal her real identity - split up with him while pregnant, certain it wouldn't work out.

"What scared me more than having a baby was thinking that I'd be with him for the rest of my life. I didn't want him bringing up my child."

Jane never intended to get pregnant and had been on the Pill. "These things happen," she says philoso-phically. However, abortion and adoption were never an option she says, even though the baby halted a promising school career, which had resulted in a clutch of GCSEs.

After six months bringing up her son at the family home in York, Jane was given a house by the council.

She is dismissive of suggestions that young women become pregnant only to get a council house. "If they do this, there must be something very wrong with their lives, like abuse at home, and, clearly, they have slipped through the social services net."

Also, Jane was under no illusions that having a baby would be like playing at house. "I have a much younger brother, so I knew it was going to be hard work. I was realistic about it.

"But it wasn't going to be the end of the world. It wasn't going to stop me doing what I wanted to do. I believe if you want something badly enough, you can get it."

And so it was that when her son was a year old, Jane started night school. He is now three and she is studying to become an advice worker.

The organisation One Parent Families, in Priory Street, York, has been helpful in providing information on courses and access to grants to enable Jane to study and afford child care.

It has also been a way for her to meet other young mothers and share their experiences.

Jane, now 19, says her aim is to build a career as an advice worker, but having more children is not on the agenda.

"My only regret is that I didn't go back to college quicker. I don't regret having him and I wouldn't swap places with my old school friends - most are in jobs they hate."

Britain's teenage pregnancy rate is the worst in Western Europe and the government has pledged to halve it by 2010. About 94,000 teens - 9,000 under 16 - become pregnant each year, double the rate of Germany or France. Concern is also growing over high levels of sexually transmitted diseases among UK teenagers.

This week, Channel 4 is running a series of films under the Generation Sex banner looking at the issue of children and sex. Tonight it will show a film, Borrow A Baby, following the fortunes of three Scarborough teenagers as they look after a real baby for a weekend.

Jane is sceptical about the role of education and the media in reducing levels of teen mums.

"Lots of girls become pregnant on purpose because they have nothing else in their lives. They weren't expected to do well at school, so they didn't. Often the choice is between working in a factory for the rest of their lives or having kids, so they have kids - they see that as their role."

In York schools, sex education is seen as one strand in a programme aimed at boosting young people's personal skills.

Chris Edwards, deputy director of education at City of York Council, said: "The new Healthy Schools programme develops skills so young people can have self esteem and confidence to deal with situations in which they might find themselves. It looks at how to cope if someone offers you drugs or your boyfriend wants to have sex."

Pat Nobbs is the city's advance skills teacher for health education. She welcomes the new approach which still teaches the facts of life and contraception but also looks at relationships and taking responsibility for decisions.

One Parent Families also has a schools programme where staff talk to young people about the issues around teenage pregnancy.

The organisation, now in its 26th year, runs a drop-in centre on weekdays from 10am-3pm for single parents, offering advice, support and information. To meet the special needs of younger single parents, it runs a group for under-21s on Tuesdays from 1-3pm.

Karen Richardson, centre manager, says it is time to challenge society's stereotypical views about young, single parents. "It is not the case that they will end up on the scrap heap," she says, adding that everyone who attended the under-21 group last year has now returned to college.

Indeed, in York, the education authority aims to allow girls to continue with schooling throughout their pregnancy and after the birth, with a host of support mechanisms in place.

Unlike Jane, Karen believes the Channel 4 series could prove useful in the drive to cut teen pregnancy rates.

"It's a brilliant idea. I think the more that adults accept that teenagers are going to be sexually active whatever, the more we can look at the issue realistically.

"We need to look at what they need to know to prevent conception and stay sexually healthy. If these kind of programmes are available for adults and teenagers they may provoke some kind of discussion and greater openness - I think that's part of the problem: we're trying to pretend it's not happening."

She is full of praise for Coronation Street in tackling the issue with the storyline about character Sara Louise being pregnant at 13.

"We found quite a lot of our parents said it opened up discussion with their own children about sex. These things are important to get people talking."

u One Parent Families can be reached on 01904 610268 or on email: advice4lps@aol.com

u Borrow A Baby will be shown tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm.