Teen births in county hold steady
Black girls had fewer babies than their peers in 2006
BY TERRY FLORES tflores@kenoshanews.com
Births to Kenosha County teens continued to hold steady for a second year in a row and one striking reason is that black girls had fewer babies than their peers in 2006 compared to years past.
Last year, of the 61 births to teenagers under 18, black teenagers gave birth to 8 babies, the fewest number of infants born to black girls in eight years and the fewest number of births for girls in the 18 and under demographic group, according to figures released this week by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. In 2005, black teenagers in 18 and under age group gave birth to 18 of 60 infants born to all girls. In 1999, the number births to black teenagers was 27.
In 2006, white teens gave birth to 35 infants, while 18 babies born were to Hispanic girls, an increase from 31 and 8 births the previous year, respectively.
Overall, Kenosha County’s most current birth rate for teens remained stable at 17.2 births per 1,000 girls under 18 while the pregnancy rate was
22.5 per 1,000. In 2005, the birth rate was 17.0 per 1,000 and pregnancies 22 per 1,000.
While the county’s birth rate to teens, has continued to show a downward trend since 1999 when the rate was 31 births per 1,000, the rate still continues to be slightly higher, compared with the rest of the state. In 2006, the state’s birth rate for girls 18 and under was 16.37 per 1,000.
Local experts and leaders said Thursday the continued decline in the number of births to teens, especially, among black teens is encouraging. Though none of the programs has been studied to show specifically how effective each has been on the teen birth rate, a number appear to be paying attention to teen behaviors, targeting selfesteem, the importance of education both academically and socially, and the consequences of having sex and babies before a person is ready.
Gary Brown, executive director of Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services, said it appears that teens themselves are also paying attention, if not acting responsibly.
“Can they (the numbers) go lower? We’d like to get it down to zero, obviously there are lots of issue to deal with. For black youth, to me, if you look at that (figure) that’s the biggest story. There’s a trend there. That says a lot of good things about black youth in the community,” Brown said.
The Rev. Michael Coleman, Kenosha NAACP president, said the data on the black teen birth rate “put a smile on my face.”
“It made me happy to see such a decline. The picture is a lot better than what it used to be and what was disturbing is the fact that number for the non-Hispanic white females, that’s also a disturbing number,” Coleman said. “I’d like to see those decline.”
Coleman said the idea that the teen birth rate is just a “minority problem” is a common public misconception.
“I think the data across the board speaks volumes and that the stereotypes held against all African American teenagers is false,” he said. “Our teenagers are thinking about more than just hip-hop, rap, doing drugs and having sex.”
Among the empowerment programs for black, Hispanic and American Indian teens locally and build on minority teenagers’ self-esteem are in the Kenosha Unified School District.
Sonya Stephens, adviser to the SISTAS group said not only do girls focus on academic achievement, they learn social skills to prepare them for life after their education. SISTAS stands for Sisters Involved Strategically Toward Academic Success. Other programs include: BROTHAS (Brothers Reaching Out Toward Higher Academic Success); HERMANOS (Hispanic Educational Resource Modifying Academic Nominal Occurring Success); HERMANAS (Hispanic Educational Resource Modifying All Negative Academic Stereotypes) and NASA (Native American Student Association) a combined group for girls and boys. Although the groups pay attention to specific racial or ethnic groups anyone can join.
“First of all, the mission of our group is to mentor students in academic, social and life skills, but what we try to do is establish a foundation for lifelong learning. So when we make our sessions they are centered on those things,” Stephens said.
Coleman said the empowerment initiatives are well worth what is happening among students of color.
“They’re not only on the right path, they’re going beyond that,” he said.
As for births to Hispanic teens, the current numbers appear to be reflecting the growing Latino population in the area.
