I’ve been pleased to see Laura Tillman’s series on teen pregnancy in the Brownsville Herald over the last couple days. (the weekend’s stories, “Knocked Up” but looking for more and At Lincoln Park, an answer, but no solution, and today’s story, Lessons untaught, unlearned). She’s done a good job of highlighting the need for a sound education in human health and sexuality. Unfortunately, most of our local schools have gone with the national trend for “abstinence only education” which is not very effective in preventing teen pregnancies, research has shown.

Disclosure: I joined the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Cameron and Willcy Counties in November of last year, so I have a dog in this fight, to borrow one of the late Molly Ivin’s metaphors. PPCWC’s primary missions are family planning and then providing the medical services and education needed to make effective family planning possible.

I wonder if Ms. Tillman’s series will help the local school boards to re-evaluate their current programs. Young people deserve to learn how their bodies work in time to prevent premature leaps into parenthood. I know the abstinence argument, and from many points of view, it’s important to recognize the value of personal discipline and cultural training, but it’s also important to recognize that sexuality is a basic human drive and, for quite a few centuries, has very often trumped personal discipline and cultural training.

Your thoughts?