By Paige Orr, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma is making major progress when it comes to deterring teen pregnancy.
After spending years ranked in the top five states in the nation for the highest teen birth rates, new data shows the state has dropped out of that top ranking.
Back in 2014, Oklahoma was ranked second highest in the country with more than 38 births per 1,000 teenage females.
Today, that number has dropped to 17 births per 1,000.
Local organizations said over a decade of hard work and community investment is paying off, but the credit ultimately belongs to the youth.
“We want to give credit and recognition where it’s due and that’s the young people,” explained Heather Duvall, the Executive Director at Amplify Youth Health Collective. “Young people are making decisions to keep themselves healthy. When they have access to information and resources, they’re making decisions about their health every day.”
Duvall said lower teen birth rates lead to significant long-term wins for the community, including higher educational attainment, a stronger workforce and overall economic prosperity across Oklahoma.
In an increasingly digital age where teens access vast amounts of information online, learning how to find credible health resources is critical.
“One of the core components about the education that we support is making sure that young people know how to vet resources,” said Jenny Briggs, the Director of Learning and Impact at Amplify. “They understand what a high-quality website looks like, as well as understanding what some of the risks are of getting online in general. Digital literacy, media literacy, is a big core component of good sex ed.”
Briggs emphasized that effective health education extends beyond the classroom and is designed to encourage open communication at home between teens and their parents or trusted adults.
“Making sure that those folks feel confident in having conversations about health, bodies, safety, relationships is really critical. I think a lot of times people don’t realize that there are developmentally appropriate ways to talk to a child of any age that can lay the foundation for healthy and safe decisions later in their lives.”
While leaving the top five highest rankings marks a significant milestone, health leaders stress that the work is far from finished.
“Excellent progress does not mean we let off the gas and so we want to continue this momentum,” Duvall stated. “We want to continue the investment that we are providing to young people in our communities. We want to make sure that every young person from every corner across the state gets access to this information.”
Last year alone, more than 17,000 students across 91 schools in Tulsa County participated in evidence-based health programs.
For families seeking guidance, Amplify Youth Health Collective offers a free lending library filled with books and resources for parents looking to have age appropriate conversations with their children at home.
To learn more, visit Amplify Youth Health Collective’s website here.
