New Campaign Begun Against Teen Pregnancy

Gov. Pete Wilson on Thursday kicked off an advertising campaign to combat teenage pregnancy and touted it as the largest media blitz ever aimed at the issue.

State and private contributions are expected to generate $22 million in television commercials over the next two years--enough to maintain a broadcast level equal to most statewide political campaigns.

The television message will be bolstered with public support from celebrities such as National Basketball Assn. star Mitch Richmond of the Sacramento Kings and the youthful cast of “Dangerous Minds,” an ABC television program about life at an inner-city high school.

“No kid is going to listen to me--a 60-year-old in a suit,” said Sandra Smoley, head of the state’s Health and Welfare Agency. “But they do listen to role models.”

The media effort will attempt to do what government so far has bungled--reaching troubled youths who often distrust authority and believe parenthood will replace the love missing in their lives.

Last year, after spending $25 million over five years, the state ended a program to fight teenage pregnancy because a study found it to be ineffective. Researchers concluded that the focus on teaching abstinence was lost on students who felt that the program did not recognize what their lives are like.

This time, abstinence is a more subtle message. Sponsors hope to emphasize the difficult consequences of bearing a child.

In one of the television commercials introduced Thursday, that stress is demonstrated by a teenage mother who is unable to go out with friends, get a job or pay her mounting bills.

This time, the state also plans to send its message through sources as familiar as television characters. In a segment of the “Dangerous Minds” program that was broadcast at the kickoff Thursday, a teenage mother is shown warning her friend about the hardships of parenthood.

“Don’t you love your baby?” the friend asks finally.

“I love my baby so much I wish I had waited 10 years to have her,” the mother says.

The Latino community, which according to state statistics accounts for 60% of the teenage pregnancies in California, was also targeted with a Spanish-language commercial featuring singer Vikki Carr.

The television commercials end with a telephone number for a 24-hour hotline that will open May 1. The number--(888) TO-B-THE-1--will direct callers to teenagers services, and offer advice both to parents of teenagers and to youths who face questions about sex and parenthood.

Wilson and Democratic leaders in the Legislature stepped up their attention to teenage pregnancy last year. In his annual State of the State address, Wilson called for the creation of an ambitious new program called the Partnership for Responsible Parenting.

The media campaign launched Thursday is one of four components in the $52-million program, which also includes money for enforcement of statutory rape laws, grants to community groups and an outreach program to match adults with at-risk youths in mentoring relationships.

Wilson volunteered for a mentoring program recently. He has been assigned a youth that he and his wife, Gayle, plan to invite for recreation and counsel. But he has declined to provide many details about his experience out of privacy concerns for the youth.

The focus on teenage pregnancy is in response to California’s alarming rate--the highest in the nation. Last year, nearly 70,000 teenagers gave birth in California.

In Orange County, more than 4,300 girls age 19 and under gave birth last year. In cases where the mother was 13 to 15 years old, the father was 19 or older 62% of the time. The statewide figure is 49%.

Locally, teen pregnancy experts greeted the campaign enthusiastically and called it a groundbreaking effort.

“Governor Wilson’s leadership on reducing unintended pregnancies is a model for the nation,” said Jon Dunn, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties. Dunn called the partnership a “huge leap forward in preventing teen pregnancy in Orange County.”

But how to teach teenagers to avoid pregnancy is fiercely debated in Orange County. Earlier this year, the county’s Department of Education dropped Planned Parenthood from a $600,000 state-funded teen mentoring program in favor of a Fullerton-based group that urges kids to abstain from sex.

Later, education officials reinstated instruction about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases, although they kept Planned Parenthood out of the program.

But while lauding the initiatives in the campaign, Dunn said its goal--to reduce unintended pregnancies among teenagers--should be expanded to include married women. Nearly 60% of all pregnancies are unintended, but 40% are among married women, he said.

“We need to build on this partnership to create a society where every pregnancy is intended, consciously and clearly, at the time of conception.”

Preventing unintended pregnancies among teens, however, may capture more of the public attention because of the public money such pregnancies often involve.

Policymakers warn that the issue has far-reaching consequences, both for state tax dollars and the human lives affected.

Last year, Wilson said, California spent nearly $7 billion in public assistance for families that started with teenage mothers. In Orange County last year, 1,532--or 38%--of mothers age 19 or under received welfare payments. The Medi-Cal public insurance program paid for 1,660 delivers to Orange County mothers under 20.

At the same time, studies show the children of teenage mothers have a higher rate of health problems, drug abuse and gang activity than the youth population overall. Teenage mothers are also more likely to receive welfare, leave school and stay single.

“Tragically, we can already predict the fate for many of these newborns,” Wilson said. “We are telling our children that they have no choice but to respect the awesome responsibility of bringing a child into the world.”