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With Texas currently ranking third in the nation for having the highest number of birth rates in women aged 15 to 19, it is self-evident that our youth need to be educated on how to properly use contraceptives (Collins). I am baffled that public schools in Texas still neglect to educate Texas students on how women become pregnant, even though the state of Texas has the highest number of birthrates in teenage girls, and taxpayers in the state of Texas spend more than one billion dollars--each year--to finance teen childbearing expenses (Collins). When I graduated from Burleson High School this past spring, 21 out of the 177 graduates were currently pregnant, or had already delivered a child. While this statistic is daunting, the statistic unfortunately worsens with the knowledge that some of the young women who were originally supposed to graduate with the rest of my grade level, got pregnant and dropped out of high school all together. These women have been eradicated from the 21 women who graduated my high school while pregnant or already raising a child. .
Out of the 21 graduates that have since become mothers, only 9 of these women went on to college. Raising a child is an intimidating task at any age but when students are faced with this responsibility in their youth, the importance of acquiring a scholarly education diminishes. As a current student, I have been told my entire life that my education comes before any other responsibilities, and that most activities that are not related to furthering my education are simply a distraction. I am confident that many parents and educators in Texas have taught their children the importance of higher education in bettering generations to come and with more emphasis, bettering themselves first. However, it is hypocritical to overlook the positive impact that educating Texas students on how to properly use contraceptives will serve to future generations, and will influence the importance of any one student's scholarly education.