Did you know that one out of every three girls in the United States will get pregnant at least one before the age of twenty? The rate of teen pregnancy is slowly climbing. We all bear witness to this every day. Currently in Freedom High School, there are sixteen mothers/soon-to-be mothers and fathers enrolled. While the school is not to be held accountable, we need to find a way to educate and further sexual education in order to make teenagers more aware of the consequences of sexual intercourse. Abstinence is the only fool-proof way to avoid pregnancy. This choice, though, is only being taken by a select few. Condoms and birth control are available at any local drug store and, while not one hundred percent effective, drastically decrease chances of pregnancy. However, many are choosing to go without any means of protection. Students need to be educated on the facts and learn that if you are going to repeatedly have unprotected sex, you will eventually get pregnant. There are different ways to handle teen pregnancy, but if a pregnant teen is not equipped with all of the facts, he or she may not be making the choice that is best for her. Currently, several staff members are putting together a curriculum for an “Abstinence Plus” program that will be taught through health classes. Focusing on abstinence is still the main goal for our school, as no sex will lead to no babies, but other means of protection will be presented. We believe that this is a good start for our school. By furthering education, the school is beginning to take action on this growing problem. In 2004, Beaver County had 30-41.2 pregnant teenagers for every 1,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19. At Freedom, most of the student body believes that they know ways to protect yourself and all of the options a girl has when her protection fails her. But this is obviously not fully correct as our pregnancy rate grows here. Accessible contraceptives and education will not completely diminish the number of teen pregnancy, but at least students will have everything they need to protect themselves and make informed decisions.