National Day to Improve High School Graduation Rates

by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Today is the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. There are so many reasons it’s imperative to prevent teen pregnancy, but I want to draw your attention to just one: EDUCATION. Girls who get pregnant as teenagers are less likely to graduate from high school than those who delay childbearing. In fact, in a survey of high school dropouts conducted by the Gates Foundation, almost one-half of the females surveyed said that pregnancy and parenting responsibilities were factors in their decisions to drop out.

So pregnancy prevention doubles as a dropout prevention strategy. Schools that want to boost their graduation rates should invest resources in teen pregnancy prevention, including by offering sex education classes that give students medically accurate and comprehensive information, so that teens can make informed and responsible decisions. They can choose to have children later in life, but now is the time for them to focus on their education.

It works the other way too. Dropout prevention doubles as a pregnancy prevention strategy. Girls who are engaged in school, do well academically, are involved in sports or other activities – or who have strong goals for the future and beliefs that they will achieve those goals – are less likely to end up pregnant than those who are disengaged or otherwise show signs of dropping out. And once they have dropped out, certain groups of girls are more likely to get pregnant as teenagers. So schools that make serious efforts to keep girls in school will also reduce the likelihood that those girls will get pregnant.

It is critical that schools recognize the roles they can play and work to solve this problem from both sides. It’s also vital that policymakers make sure schools have adequate funding to address these problems effectively. Girls who drop out face high rates of unemployment, low wages, poor health and limited (if any) access to health insurance. They are more likely to need to rely on public support programs. Their children are more likely to have health problems and to drop out themselves. And so it goes . . .

We must put the brakes on this cycle, by preventing teen pregnancy and by helping girls to stay in school and graduate. Of course that’s not the end of the line – these days, the jobs most likely to pay a living wage and benefits are those that require a college degree – but it’s an essential first step.