Brizeida Rojas
C/O Mrs. Yonahara
Southeast High School
1200 37th AVE E
Bradenton, Fl 34208

School Board of Manatee Country
Teen Pregnancies
Dear School Board of Manatee Country

Hello I’m Brizeida, a student from Southeast High School. I’m writing today about something that should have our attention. Each day that goes by, we see more girls end up pregnant. I believe that something can be done to prevent at least half of the pregnancies here in Manatee count, since most of the girls that have sex at a young age end up pregnant.
The issue is that students no longer feel stigma, a symbol of disgrace or infamy attached to pregnancy among students, they really do not think about the consequences or what others will think since everybody thinks of it as something really common now a days. This reinforces their opinion over this conflict, and they believe everything’s okay.
Another issue is that the schools are not teaching as much information about the consequences of having sex at a very early time in their life as they should be. And when they do give advice about it and precaution, they are implying that anything and everything is okay emphasizing on using contraceptives, but they are not giving in-depth education on their use.
In 2008, according to The Bradenton Herald newspaper, (www.Bradenton.com) there were 190 girls ages 15 to 17 who gave birth in Manatee County. For the past 12 years, most of Bradenton and all of Palmetto, have had the highest teen pregnancy rates in