Teen Pregnancy A Preventable Epidemic Our natio.docx

Teen Pregnancy: A Preventable Epidemic
Our nation is facing an adolescent reproductive-health crisis,
with one in four teenage
girls having a sexually transmitted disease, and one in three
becoming pregnant before
the age of 20.1 To address this challenge, teens must be able to
obtain confidential and
affordable reproductive-health services. However, anti-choice
politicians have stymied
efforts to give teens the tools they need to protect themselves
against unintended
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We
continue to call on lawmakers
– pro-choice and pro-life alike – to work together to achieve
real solutions – instead of
divisiveness.
The Facts

In spite of a recent decline, the United States still has the
highest rate of teen pregnancy
in the western industrialized world.2 Studies show that the
United States’ teen-
pregnancy rate is more than twice that of Canada and Sweden.3
§ Approximately 750,000 young women in the United States
become pregnant each
year. Eighty-two percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned 4
and more than a
quarter of those end in abortion.5
§ Teen mothers are less likely to complete school, less likely go
to college, more
likely to have large families, and more likely to stay single –
increasing the
likelihood that their children will live in poverty.6
§ In addition to other consequences for young women and their
children, teen
childbearing costs U.S. taxpayers at least $11 billion annually.7
§ A sexually active teen who does not use contraception has a

90-percent chance of
becoming pregnant within a year.8
Potentially due to factors such as decreased access to health-
care services and
information, racial and ethnic disparities persist in the
reproductive health of young
Americans.
§ The problem of teen pregnancy is more pronounced in the
African-American and
Latino communities, where rates of teen pregnancy are higher
than those in
white communities – 15 percent and 14 percent respectively,
compared to five
percent.9
2
§ Fifty-three percent of Latina teens and 51 percent of African-
American teen girls

will become pregnant at least once before they turn 20. In
comparison, only 19
percent of non-Hispanic white teen girls will become pregnant
before the age of
20.10
A Failed Approach
Anti-choice lawmakers and advocates seized on this public-
health crisis as an
opportunity to enact one of their longtime goals: withhold sex
education from young
people in a misguided attempt to discourage them from having
sex. Instead, they spent
more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds on “abstinence-only”
programs11 – programs that
censor vital health information about contraception and safe
sex. The approach has been
a spectacular failure.
§ Research shows that “abstinence-only” programs do not work
and that
comprehensive sex-education programs do. In 2007, a report
commissioned by

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concluded
that students in
“abstinence-only” programs are no more likely to abstain from
sex, delay
initiation of sex, or have fewer sexual partners.12 Furthermore,
an extensive
academic evaluation of “abstinence-only” programs and
comprehensive sex
education programs found strong evidence supporting the
supposition that sex
education can both delay initiation of sex and increase condom
or other
contraceptive use among youth.13
§ Making matters worse, President Bush slashed funding for
after-school programs
that keep teens occupied during the hours when they are most
likely to engage in
risky behavior, like sex, crime, and substance use. 14
Clearly, anti-choice politicians’ response to the issue of teen
pregnancy didn’t work. In
fact, these types of policies only perpetuated the cycle of
harmful consequences to young

women, their children, and communities as a whole:
§ Daughters of teen mothers face a much greater risk of ending
up teen moms
themselves; nearly a third of daughters of teen moms had their
first child when
they were teens.15
§ About one in four teen mothers under age 18 have a second
baby within two
years after the birth of the first child.16
§ Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those with
older parents. They
are more likely to repeat a grade, less likely to complete high
school, and have
lower standardized-test scores. Additionally, less than two
percent of young
teen mothers attain a college degree by the time they are 30.17
3

§ Sixty-seven percent of teen mothers who move out of their
families’ home live
below the poverty level and nearly two-thirds of teen mothers
receive some type
of public assistance within the first year after their children
were born.18
A Better Way
NARAL Pro-Choice America has long advocated for a more
sensible approach to the
issue of teen pregnancy: sex-education programs, better access
to birth control, and
investing in critical after-school programs. These interventions
are proven to reduce
rates of teen pregnancy and STDs, and promote responsible
behavior.
§ Teens must be given the information necessary to protect
themselves against
unintended pregnancy and STDs.
§ Comprehensive sex-education programs work. They delay
initiation of sex,

reduce frequency of sex, and increase contraceptive use.19
§ Research indicates that comprehensive approaches to sex
education help
young people withstand the pressures of having sex before they
are ready
and to have healthy, responsible relationships.20
§ Sex education and condom availability do not increase sexual
activity among
teens.21
§ Teens must have access to confidential and affordable
reproductive-health
services.
§ Research shows that restricted access to reproductive-health
services and
parental-involvement mandates have negative consequences on
teen
health. Studies show that even parental consent for birth
control would
deter teens from seeking other reproductive-health services,
including

testing and treatment for STDs.22
§ A recent study found that 86 percent of the recent decline in
teen-
pregnancy rates was due to more teens using contraceptives.23
§ After-school programs reduce risky behavior by involving
teens in activities that
provide safe settings and positive role models.
§ One study found that the likelihood of teens having sex for
the first time
increases with the number of unsupervised hours teens have
during a
week.24
4
§ After-school programs help reduce the rate of teen pregnancy
by
instilling good decision-making skills and positive role models
in a

supervised setting.25
§ Teenage girls who play sports are more likely to delay sex,
have fewer
partners, and are less likely to become pregnant.26
§ And Americans agree.
§ Ninety-nine percent of Americans agree that young people
should be
provided with medically accurate information about STDs, and
94
percent of Americans believe young people should learn about
birth
control.27
§ More than eight of 10 Americans believe that young people
should be
taught how to use, and where to obtain, contraceptives.28
§ More than 80 percent of Americans believe that
comprehensive sex-
education programs, which emphasize abstinence, but also
encourage

condom and contraceptive use, should be implemented in
school.29
§ Americans want schools to cover “real-life issues,” such as
how to deal
with potential consequences of having sex and the emotional
consequences of being sexually active.30
Legislative
Solution
s
Embarking on a new direction with his first budget proposal for
FY’10, President Obama
recommended eliminating funding for failed “abstinence-only”
programs and called for
a new investment in evidence-based sex-education programs to
prevent teen pregnancy.

Congress followed suit, allocating $114 million to the new
initiative and continuing to
invest in the FY’11 and FY’12 cycles. Unfortunately, anti-
choice lawmakers succeeded in
reviving the Title V “abstinence-only” program in the health-
care-reform law (the
program had expired in June 2009).
Furthermore, pro-choice lawmakers have a serious,
comprehensive plan to prevent teen
pregnancy, embodied in a package of legislative proposals.
Together the agenda
represents a commonsense approach that incorporates honest
sex education, promotes
abstinence (but not censorship), funds after-school programs,
and supports parents.

§ The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act
(S.1782/H.R.3324), authored by Sen.
Lautenberg and Rep. Lee in the 112th Congress, will expand
comprehensive sex
education in elementary and secondary schools and universities
while ensuring
5
that federal funds are spent on effective, age-appropriate,
medically accurate
programs.
§ Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only
Program Funding Act
(S.578/H.R.1085), authored by Sen. Lautenberg and Rep. Lee in
the 112th

Congress, would end the failed Title V “abstinence-only”
program and redirect
funding toward programs that provide comprehensive sex
education.31
§ The Responsible Education About Life Act, known as the
REAL Act
(S.611/H.R.1511 in the 111th Congress), has been authored by
Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). This bill
would establish the
first-ever federal program for comprehensive, medically
accurate sex-education
programs.32
§ The Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Responsibility and
Opportunity Act

(S.1137/H.R.2097 in the 110th Congress) sponsored by Sen.
Robert Menendez and
Rep. Steve Rothman (both D-NJ) would help schools and non-
profit
organizations set up programs that encourage teens to delay
sexual activity and
help parents communicate with their children about sex. In
addition, the
proposal would restore proposed funding cuts for essential
after-school
programs that keep young people on the road to success.33
Conclusion
For too many years, anti-choice politicians have offered up
failed, ineffective

“abstinence-only” programs as their only solution to the
problem of teen pregnancy.
What works is clear: providing teens with medically accurate
health information, access
to reproductive-health services – including contraceptives – and
programs outside of
school hours.
Now is the time to move beyond politically divisive tactics and
chart a new course that
helps teens avoid unintended pregnancy and plan for their
futures.
January 1, 2014
Notes:

1 Press Release, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), Nationally Representative CDC
Study Finds 1 in 4 Teenage Girls Has a Sexually Transmitted
Disease (March 11, 2008), at
http://www.cdc.gov/stdconference/2008/press/release-
11march2008.htm (last visited on Oct. 17,
2012).
2 Guttmacher Institute Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and
Reproductive Health (Feb. 2012) at
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html (last visited
Oct. 17, 2012).
6

Oct. 17, 2012).
Oct. 17, 2012).
Oct. 17, 2012).

Oct. 17, 2012); Kirby, Douglas,
Ph.D., Emerging Answers; Research Findings on Programs To
Reduce Teen Pregnancy, THE
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY
(November 2007).
7 The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned
Pregnancy, Counting It Up, The Public
Costs of Teen Childbearing: Key Data (Jun. 2011) at
http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/costs/pdf/counting-it-
up/key-data.pdf (last visited Oct. 28,
2011).
Reproductive Health (August 2011) at
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html#n10 (last

visited October 28, 2011);
9 Legal Momentum, Sex Lies & Stereotypes How Abstinence-
Only Programs Harm Women and Girls
(2008) at www.legalmomentum.org, pg 23.
10 National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned
Pregnancy, Policy Brief: Racial and Ethnic
Disparities in Teen Pregnancy (June 2010) at
http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/Briefly_Poli
cyBrief_RacialEthnicDisparities.
pdf (last visited Oct. 17, 2012).
11 Sharon Jayson, Study: Abstinence classes don’t stop sex,
USA TODAY, Apr. 13, 2007.
12 Mathematica, Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510

Abstinence Education Programs; Final Report
(Apr. 2007).
13 Leslie Kantor et al., Abstinence-Only Policies and Programs:
An Overview. 5 SEXUALITY RES. & SOC.
POL’Y 6-17 (2008).
14 Sharon Parrott and Jennifer Mezey, Bush Administration
Projects That the Number of Children
Receiving Child Care Subsidies Will Fall By 200,000 During
the Next Five Years; Actual Loss in Child
Care Subsidies Likely Would Be Far Greater, CENTER FOR
BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
(Feb. 5, 2003).
15 The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Why It
Matters: Linking Teen Pregnancy
Prevention to Other Critical Social Issues (March 2010) at

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-
matters/pdf/introduction.pdf (last visited Oct. 18,
2012).
7
Matters: Teen Pregnancy, Poverty,
and Income Disparity (March 2010); March of Dimes, Quick
Reference: Teenage Pregnancy (November
2009) at
http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1159.asp
(last visited Oct. 18, 2012).

17
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Why It
Matters, Teen Pregnancy and
Education (July 2012) at
matters/pdf/Childbearing-
Education-EconomicWellbeing.pdf (last visited Oct. 18, 2012).
Matters, Teen Pregnancy and
Education (July 2012) at
matters/pdf/Childbearing-
Education-EconomicWellbeing.pdf (last visited Oct. 18, 2012).
19 Kirby, Douglas, Ph.D., Emerging Answers; Research
Findings on Programs To Reduce Teen
Pregnancy, THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN

PREGNANCY (November 2007).
20 Guttmacher Institute, Facts on American Teens’ Sources of
Information About Sex (February 2012)
at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Teen-Sex-Ed.html (last
visited Oct. 23, 2012).
22 Cynthia Dailard and Chinué, Teenagers’ Access to
Confidential Reproductive Health Services, THE
GUTTMACHER REPORT ON PUBLIC POLICY (Nov. 2005).
23 News Release, Guttmacher Institute, U.S. Teen Pregnancy
Rates Are Down Primarily Because Teens

Are Using Contraceptives Better (Dec. 1, 2006).
24 Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D., Kerry Franzetta, Krystal
McKinney, Angela Romano Papillo, M.A.,
Elizabeth Terry-Humen, M.P.P., A Good Time: After-School
Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy, THE
(Jan. 2004).
25 Afterschool Alliance, Afterschool Alert Issue Brief;
Afterschool and Pregnancy Prevention (Jul. 2002)
at
http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_briefs/issue_pregnanc
y_11.pdf (last visited Oct. 23,
2012).
26 Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D., Kerry Franzetta, Krystal

McKinney, Angela Romano Papillo, M.A.,
Elizabeth Terry-Humen, M.P.P., A Good Time: After-School
Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy, THE
(Jan. 2004).
27 National Public Radio/Kaiser Family Foundation/Kennedy
School of Government, Sex
Education in America; General Public/Parent Survey (Jan.
2004).
2004).

8
2004).
31
S. 578, 112
th
Cong. § 1 (2011); H.R. 1085, 112th Cong. § 1 (2011).

32 S. 611, 111th Cong. § 1 (2009); H.R. 1551, 111th Cong. § 1
(2009).
33 S. 1137, 110th Cong. § 1 (2007); H.R. 2097, 110th Cong. § 1
(2007).
Week Eight: Evaluative Arguments
ENGL 1302
Composition II
1
At its simplest, an Evaluative Argument is a review, giving an
opinion on the quality (based on your own criteria) of the
subject.
Evaluations have more in common with Strong Response essays
than they do with traditional persuasion, in that they require

minimal research (you have to at least be familiar with what’s
being evaluated!).
Allyn & Bacon claim that the persuasive nature of an evaluation
makes it different from a typical movie or restaurant review that
“simply note the good points and bad points of the thing being
evaluated.”
I would personally argue that this is no longer the case,
especially in the case of media reviews, which almost always
take a side.
What is an Evaluative Argument?
To get an idea about the kind of writing we’re talking about,
you’ll be trying some in your teams.
Allyn & Bacon presents an example of comparing cell phones
which is … quite dated. We’ll be doing an updated version.
In your teams, discuss or demonstrate some of the features (if
possible) on an iPhone and an Android phone.
Which phone do you prefer, and why?
Answer the questions under #3 on page 362 in the text: for each
of those people, which phone would you suggest for them and
why? (Assume the Android phone is the latest Samsung Galaxy,
for ease of comparison)
We’ll take 15 minutes for this, then come back together to
discuss our responses.

Evaluation Practice
Criteria-Match Process
Compose a series of criteria as to what determines quality in
your mind, then line up the evaluation subject against those
criteria and determine whether it meets those criteria or not.
Criteria will be the primary arbiter of “good” or “bad” in this
process.
A subject does not have to meet all criteria to be judged as
“good.”
The met criteria then become the reasonings behind your
evaluative argument.
Example
YouTube: How It Should Have Ended – HISHE Review of
Wonder Woman
https://youtu.be/_yVBXqWZJgs
What are the reviewer’s criteria for his review? Use the table on
page 363 as a guideline for figuring out the implied criteria.
Approaches to Evaluations
Purpose and Context

It’s important to keep in mind the context of the subject being
evaluated, as well as the context and background of the
evaluator. The writer’s inherent biases and/or background will
influence the criteria used.
As an example, the HISHE review of Wonder Woman is from
the perspective of a superhero fan, implying he is at the very
least familiar with the comic book source material.
Special Problems
Different classes – subjects should be compared only to other
members of their class/category. Do not compare apples to
oranges.
Competing standards – perfection vs. reality. Be up front in
regards to whether the criteria being used for evaluation is ideal
or achievable.
Seductive empirical methods – rationalizing everything into
numbers. Good evaluations take the nonquantifiable into
account in addition to anything that can be quantified.
Tyranny of cost – is something automatically better because it’s
more expensive? (Spoiler: no.)
Issues Regarding Criteria
Necessary vs. Sufficient vs. Accidental Criteria
Sufficient criteria – baseline, nominal criteria. The least you

need to get by.
Necessary – what you feel is acceptable.
This is not necessarily the same as sufficient. A job which gives
you a lot of time for your family but pays nearly nothing can be
described as “Necessary but not sufficient.” Not all criteria are
met.
Accidental – added bonuses which are neither necessary or
sufficient, but are nice to have. These are not required, but are
an added benefit.
Issues Regarding Criteria
The development of arguments for evaluation is very similar to
that for classical arguments. Every claim needs to have a
reasoning behind it, and evidence to support that reasoning.
Going one step further, in evaluation arguments there is also an
underlying criterion which is the basis for that claim and
reasoning, and should also additionally be supported by other
evidence and arguments.
In your teams, evaluate the following argument, related to the
previous video argument you saw, and look for the following:
Claim, and the reason for that claim
Evidence to support the reason
Underlying assumption/criterion, based on what’s presented
Evidence or arguments to support the assumption/criterion.

YouTube: The Devil’s Advocrits – Why Wonder Woman Sucks
https://youtu.be/x_nyGKdiVYs
Developing Evaluation Arguments
Allyn & Bacon includes an extended example of an evaluation
argument, showing all of the work that goes into the essay,
starting on page 367.
The materials in most of the rest of the chapter is all related to a
student essay titled “EMP: Music History or Music Trivia?”
which is found on page 376.
Look through these materials, and together with your team
evaluate the final result of this research, the student’s essay
about EMP. Answer the following questions:
How did Jackie Wyngaard (the student) compare the EMP
facility to the criteria presented?
Pick out the reasons why the EMP does or does not meet a
criteria, according to Wyngaard.
Based on the materials presented, without any in-person
experience with the EMP, would you agree with Wyngaard’s
evaluation? Why or why not?
This assignment will take the bulk of the period.
The EMP Example

Your Evaluative Argument essay will be due on April 5th.
There will be two workshop sessions prior to this due date, on
March 22nd (revision) and March 29th (proofreading/editing).
You will be writing an evaluation of a particular subject. There
are no requirements in terms of what you evaluate, but it has to
be something you have good familiarity with. For instance, if
you choose to evaluate a film, you should have watched the film
at least twice to give a fair evaluation.
As a part of this assignment, you should have a clear set of
criteria for your evaluation. I will be asking that you include a
list of your criteria along with your drafts when you turn the
assignment in.
Evaluative Argument Assignment
Essay requirements
3-5 pages, double spaced, 11-12 point font (Times New Roman,
Arial, or Calibri)
A Works Cited page will not be required for this essay, as your
evaluation should only have a single research source (the
evaluation subject). If you do further research, though, a Works
Cited page will be recommended.
The evaluation should be organized so that your criteria for
evaluation can be determined from the context of your writing.

Evaluative Argument Assignment
PSYC313: Child DevelopmentSpring 2018 Moffett
Article Critique Instructions
The goals for this assignment are for students to begin thinking
analytically and constructively about the information they are
reading. This assignment is intended to develop the skills
needed in order to be a critical consumer of developmental
science research.
Article critiques should be 1.5-2 pages in length, double-spaced,
and in 12pt. Times New Roman font. Students are required to
complete 3 critiques throughout the semester due on the
following days: Feb 11, March 4, March 25 by the start of class.
They are each worth 10 points. Electronic submissions will be
accepted through Blackboard. The grading rubric is provided on
the following page. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Students should pick an article from the list provided in the
syllabus.
Students should cover the following areas in their reviews:
· A brief review of the main goals, research questions, and

findings of the article. What did the authors seek to find? What
was their main research question? Briefly, how did they design
their experiment to answer this question? What were their
conclusions?
· Briefly discuss the primary strengths of the article. What are
the strengths in the authors methodology? Was their sample size
adequate? Did they use the appropriate population for their
study? What do you think they did well? Why do you think
these are strengths? What makes these strengths helpful for the
reader?
· Briefly discuss the primary weaknesses of the article. What do
you think they could have done better? Was their methodology
sound? What could they do differently? Did their argument
make sense? Why are these considered weaknesses? Give a
suggestion for improvement.
· A brief discussion about how this article could relate to your
own life. How does this article relate to a personal story from
your own life? How could you apply these research findings to
something that you have experienced? How could you use the
findings from this article to inform/advise others about this
topic?
At the end of each article critique, students will also assign the
article a grade between 1 (extremely weak, I never want to read
this again) to 10 (extremely strong, everyone I know should

read this article!) based on how helpful the article was to the
student’s understanding of the material.
Note: Make sure you are NOT addressing the writing
style/quality, readability, format, layout, or anything else
stylistic about the article. This is not the intention of this
assignment and you will lose points if you address these aspects
as either strengths or weaknesses.
Article Critique Rubric
Name:
____________________________________________________
Grade: ________ / 10
Article Critique # ________ Article Title:
_____________________________________
· General overview of the article (2 points)
· A concise review of the article is provided, including a
description of the authors’ main goals, research questions, and
findings
· An overview was provided but it did not clearly discuss the
main research questions, goals, or findings
· No overview was provided
· Discussion of the primary strengths of the article (2 points)
· A concise description of the article’s main strengths is
discussed, and a discussion of the justification and helpfulness

of these strengths is provided
· A description of the article’s main strengths is discussed, but
little justification for these strengths is provided
· No discussion of the strengths of the article is provided
· Discussion of primary weaknesses of the article (2 points)
· A concise description of the article’s main weaknesses is
discussed, and a discussion of the justification of these
weaknesses is provided
· A description of the article’s main weaknesses is discussed,
but little justification for these weaknesses is provided
· No discussion of the weaknesses of the article is provided
· Discussion of how this article relates to the student’s life (2
points)
· A concise description of how this article relates to the
student’s life is provided, as well as an example of how this
article may be useful to inform others about this topic is
discussed
· A description of how this article relates to the student’s own
life is provided, but little is discussed about the helpfulness of
this article in teaching others
· No discussion of how this article relates to the student’s own
life is provided
· Overall rating of the article (2 points)
· A rating is provided that reflects the helpfulness of the article
in the student’s understanding of the material, and the level of

interest this article has captured
· A rating is provided, but it does not align with the critique
· No rating is provided
2

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