Pregnancy, Sex Education and TV

After reading the letters of Nov. 17 in response to Archbishop Roger Mahony’s pastoral letter (Metro, Nov. 7), I too wanted to respond. Ten years ago I was a pregnant teen-ager.

My pregnancy was a direct result of sexual ignorance. I was very upset to learn that Archbishop Mahony and his fellow churchmen condenm school-based clinics. While I appreciate Mahony’s right to express himself, I feel the official prejudices of his church outweigh the facts. Perhaps it is time to put our religious beliefs aside and concentrate on solutions.

The facts are that the teen-age pregnancy rate in this country is now the highest of any in the industrialized world. In the United States more than a million teens get pregnant every year. Who are these teen-agers and what are their backgrounds?

They are everyone’s daughter, sister or neighbor. Their backgrounds range from extreme wealth to extreme poverty. However, the one thing they have in common is the consequences of pregnancy and their ignorance about it. Unfortunately, most of the consequences are tragic: high rate of school dropouts, broken families, welfare and abortion.

There is an appalling lack of comprehensive sex education in schools. Is it the schools’ responsibility to teach kids about sex? Obviously they are not learning about sex in their homes. “When it comes to sex, there is a terrible breakdown of communication between parent and kid,” states Planned Parenthood. They do learn, however, the hard way--by experience. So why not try campus clinics that will be centers for teaching kids to take responsibility for their own actions?

LISA RODRIGUES

Los Angeles