02:24 PM MST on Sunday, May 21, 2006

By Jane Erikson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

June is when teens are most likely to have sex for the first time, a national survey says.

The survey doesn't say why. But Markie Trejo, a Sunnyside High School sophomore, probably has as good an explanation as anyone.

"You have a lot of free time and you don't have no other way to waste it," he said.

For agencies working to prevent teen pregnancy, that means May is crunch time.

It's the last opportunity to talk to whole groups of teens before school lets out for the summer. It's the last chance to drive home the message that sexual abstinence is best — but failing abstinence, teens need to take steps to protect their health and reduce their risk of unwanted parenthood.

These efforts by Kino Teen Center, Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona and other organizations are driven by statistics.

Sixty-two percent of the state's high school seniors have had sex, as have 28 percent of high school freshmen, according to an Arizona Education Department survey of teens last year.

In Pima County two years ago, nearly 1,700 babies were born to teens 19 and younger.

Trejo, 16, said he has no intention of becoming a teen parent. This summer he's trying to get a job and wants to spend his spare time fixing up his car.

His parents have talked with him about sex and pregnancy. His mother was a teen-age parent and has warned her three sons not to follow her example, he said.

And then there was the night with "Baby Think it Over" — an electronic doll that Sunnyside gives students as part of its sex-education curriculum, considered the most comprehensive in the city.

The doll can be programmed to cry periodically, waking students up at night and demanding to be fed or changed before it will stop crying.

"It cried every two hours," Trejo said. The lesson he learned: "It's gonna be hard if you become a parent."

That's just one of the messages health educators want adolescents to hear, said Kino Teen Center's Kathryne Florez Maldonado.

"We tell kids, 'We're here to teach you how to make choices that are good for you,'" Maldonado said. "If you are having sex, what are the things you need to do to keep yourself safe? What are the questions you need to ask? Are you being pressured into it by your friends? And what are your values? How are you going to feel afterward?"

Such efforts get at least some of the credit for a significant decrease in teen pregnancy rates here and across the country over the last 10 years.

In 2004, the pregnancy rate for Pima County women and girls 19 and younger was 33.8 per 1,000. In 1994, the rate was 49.1 per 1,000, according to the Pima County Health Department.

"The 'why' is widely debated," said Dr. Michelle McDonald, county medical director. "The abstinence-only people would say it's because of their programs, and the comprehensive-sex-education people would say it's because of their programs, and I don't think we really know."

Former Cholla High School student Amber Tolleson said no amount of sex education would have kept her from getting pregnant last July. She gave birth to her daughter, NaomiJade, on April 6.

Tolleson, 18, said she had limited instruction on sex and pregnancy at Cholla, and even wrote an article about the Baby Think it Over doll for her school paper before getting pregnant.

But last summer, "It just happened," she said Thursday, as she sought to soothe her fussy baby with a pacifier.

Tolleson was terrified when her daughter was first born, she said. But now she feels comfortable with the infant and proud to be a mother, she said.

"I want to be as perfect as I can for her," she said.

Still, it's hard to have to get up every few hours during the night, Tolleson said. "And having a baby is very, very, very expensive. Formula costs $14 for a can that only lasts four or five days. And diapers cost a lot, and the cheap ones are no good."

Tolleson lives with NaomiJade's father, who is working to support the family. She recently got her high school equivalency diploma and has started classes this year to become a nurse's aide, then a registered nurse.

Career and money problems are among the many hurdles teen parents must overcome, said Patti Caldwell, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona.

"Research has shown that the earning power of a teenage parent is less than that of someone who delays parenthood until later," Caldwell said.

"Teen parents are less likely to finish school than those who choose not to parent until they get out of high school. And we know that the children of teen parents statistically have more problems with delinquency, are more likely to become teen parents themselves and are less likely to complete their high school education themselves."

Planned Parenthood, Kino Teen Center and other clinics that receive federal funding are required to provide confidential services to minors seeking birth control to prevent pregnancy, prenatal care if they become pregnant, and testing and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Teens can walk into Kino Teen Center and ask for a "brown bag" — a discreet way to obtain a half-dozen condoms at no charge.

Or they can walk into one of three local Women's Pregnancy Centers, operated by the Christian-based Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and be counseled about their ability to choose to save themselves for marriage.

"We talk about it in terms of freedom," said John Tabor, the centers' executive director. "Freedom from sexually transmitted diseases, freedom from pregnancy and broken hearts.

"We're trying to do the right thing. We're trying to be upfront with kids. We recognize that hormones are surging through their bodies, but they have the ability to think things through. We tell them that we expect a higher level of behavior. Most of the kids really embrace that."

Tabor said the approach has proved successful with teens who have never had sex and those who "decide to be secondary virgins. They've been sexually active but they decide to stop and wait until marriage."

Sunnyside High freshman Lucila Nuñez, 15, said girls her age sometimes feel pressured to have sex. But Nuñez spent the five-day Easter break with Baby Think it Over.

"At night time, oh my gosh it drove me crazy," she said. "She just kept crying and crying. I was so tired when I got back to school. It was horrible. I couldn't go out with my friends. I couldn't go running. It was horrible."

Like her classmate Markie Trejo, Nuñez has plans for the summer, including tennis camp and weight training to get ready for volleyball in the fall. Her longer-range goals are to win college scholarships and pursue a career in criminal justice.

"Being pregnant wouldn't ruin your life," Nuñez said. "But it would set you back in lots of things. I just don't want to risk it."

Where teens can find help

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On StarNet: Find an extensive archive of articles and webcasts on teen health issues, including the video "Risky Behavior in Teens: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll," at www.azstarnet.com/teenhealth

Where and when

●Two-thirds of 16- to 18-year-olds say they had sex for the first time in their parents' home, their partner's family home or a friend's home.

●4 percent had sex for the first time in a car, truck or park.

●70 percent of teens say their first sexual experience occurred between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.

●13.7 percent of teens say they first had sex in June, a higher percentage than for any other month.

Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, June 2003.

Resources for teens

●These agencies offer teens confidential counseling, testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, birth control and other services free or for reduced fees. Many accept walk-ins. Call ahead for hours and appointments.

El Rio Teen Clinic

l 1500 W. Commerce Court (southwest of West Valencia Road and I-19). 670-3909

Kino Teen Center

l 2801 E. Ajo Way (near South Forgeus Avenue). 740-4600

Pima County Health Department

l Project Contact: A mobile clinic for homeless teens and communities outside Tucson. Call 887-0715 for days and locations.

l North Family Planning Clinic: 3550 N. First Ave., Suite 300 (near East Prince Road. 887-0715

l South Family Planning Clinic: 175 W. Irvington Road (near South Sixth Avenue). 294-2026

l East Family Planning Clinic: 6920 E. Broadway. 751-9086

Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona

l 884-5562 phone for all clinics

l Archer Center: 1665 S. La Cholla Blvd. (in Fred Archer Recreation Center)

l Jean Hoffman Center: 529 W. Wetmore Road (west of North Oracle Road)

l Margaret Sanger Center: 2255 N. Wyatt Drive (south of Tucson Medical Center)

Other resources Women's Pregnancy Centers

l These Christian-focused centers offer counseling, education and free pregnancy testing.

l 2290 E. Speedway, east of North Campbell Avenue. 622-5774

l 5714 E. 22nd St., east of South Craycroft Road. 512-1196

l 6066 S. Nogales Highway, north of East Valencia Road. 806-0266

For more news, visit www.azstarnet.com or www.azfamily.com