What Does The Future Of Our Childreh Hold?
Researcher Says Media Could Influence Sexual Activity Among Teenagers
By DAVID L DILLARD
Chronicit Staff Writer
As pregnancies continue
among even younger and younger
women, some professionals think
the programs adolescents watch on
television-and the music they listen
to could accelerate their interest in
sexual activity.
Joyce Wheeling, coordinator of
the Adolescent Pregnancy Preven
tion Council in Winston-Salem,
believes that media reinforces sex
ual activity because of its highly
sexual content
"I think some music and televi
sion, like MTV (Music Television),
does have an influence (on sexual
behavior among teens)," she said.
"All types of media, including mag
azines, uses sexuality to sell every
thing. That adds to the problem."
Barbara Huberman, executive
director of the North Carolina
Coalition on Adolescent Pregnancy
(NCCAP) in Charlotte, said the
media has a tremendous impact on
adolescent behavior.
"A lot of their influences come
from the programs they watch on
TV and influences through other
forms of the media," she said. "I'm
not bashing the media, but they are
contributing to the problem."
The media influence on teen
age pregnancy was taken serious
enough to invite a communication
researcher to make a presentation at
the council's annual meeting last
May. ...?
"Media are important sex edu
cators," said Jane Brown, director of
graduate studies in the School of
Journalism and Mass Communica
tions at UNC-Chapel Hill. "You
bring what you already know to the
experience, and some don't have a
sophisticated sense. Media could
provide a frame of reference for
those who don't have it"
Brown contends that kids are
more susceptible to sexuality in the
media because they "start looking to
complete their sexual scripts."
"The majority get some educa
tion after they have already started
sex," she said. "Media is constantly
suggesting (sex) as an important
behavior and puts it high on the
agenda."
Brown, who presents her
research to Planned Parenthood of
the Triad councils across the coun
try annually, cautioned that media
images are not interpreted the same
way by everyone.
"We often jump to conclusions
that there is one unified effect,"
Brown said, "but it depends very
much on who the viewers are."
Huberman believes that educa
tion alone, especially from the
media, is not sufficient enough to
totally offset the problem.
"Education by itself is not
going to change behavior," said
Huberman. "Knowledge is one of
the most important facton, but this
is a complex problem and it will
require a complex solution."
Future of Crack Babies Not Bright, Says Medical Professionals from page A1
birth to a child.
"They count 10 toes and 10 fin
gers (on their babies) and they think
it's all right to continue using
crack," said Margaret Brown, a sub
stance abuse counselor at Step One
who works with drug-abusing moth
ers.
Crack ? the crystallized form
of cocaine that is smoked ? has
plagued inner_cities- since the mid
1980s when it first surfaced. Over
the years it has also become the
scourge of suburban and rural areas
and smaller-sized cities. As evi
dence, the Chronicle in May
reported the story of an infant
caught in a custody fight between a
crack-using mother and the woman
she had given her child to.
Since crack is still considered
by health professionals and social
? workers as relatively new on the
scene, little is known of the long
term health affects the drug poses
on infants born to crack-addicted
mothers. Health and social workers
agree, however, that a crack
addicted woman giving birth could
threaten her child's ability later in
life to perform normally in some sit
uations, such as classroom settings.
Dr. Robert Dillard, professor of
pediatrics at Bowman Gray School
of Medicine and director of the neo
natal unit at Forsyth Memorial Hos
pital. said that of the 33 babies at
any one time in the neo- natal unit at
Forsyth, "three to five" of them are
crack babies ? and an "overwhelm
ing" number are black.
There is no agency in Forsyth
County that keeps records of the
number of crack babies born each
year, but Dillard said that the prob
lem is acute.
"Just from anecdotal evidence,
there's a serious problem in the
county," he said
It's such a common problem, he
said, that the hospital does not
report crack babies to Social Ser
vices "unless there is something
quite pathologic or obvious. We
don't refer the majority of the cases
we identify," he said.
Surprisingly, Dillard said,
many mothers will admit that they
had been using crack. The hospital
social worker will determine if the
case warrants repotting to social ser
vices.
The most serious problem that
crack poses in the uterus is prema
ture birth, which results in a less
th an -normal birth weight and the
inability of the immune system to
affectively fight off disease, he said.
While a baby born to an alcohol
abusing mother has more immediate
and detrimental effects, a "crack
baby* can soon shake the immediate
problems, Dillard said, but what
poses the dilemma is how the child
is affected later during adolescence.
A premature baby usually sig
nals that a mother is a drug user,
Dillard said, and if doctors are sus
picious, then a hospital social
worker gets involved
"We make it clear to the mother
-that we're not policemen," he said.
"We're only interested in the well
being of the child. We won't call the
police."
Dillard said that if a woman
admits to using crack but maintains
a job and keeps her children in
school, the woman will not be
reported to the Department of Social
Services. Instead, a hospital social
worker may ask that a special nurse
be provided to visit the woman's
home.
On the other hand, a mother
who is homeless and is a heavy drug
user will almost certainly be
reported to social services, Dillard
said.
Forsyth Rates High in Teen Pregnancy from page ai
pre-teenage category, 33 of the 36
pregnancies were to African Ameri
cans.
Nearly half of the 15- to 19
year-olds who became pregnant in
Forsyth County had abortions, while
21 of the 33 black pre-teenagers
chosc to give birth.
Barbara Huberman, executive
director of the North Carolina Coali
tion on Adolescent Pregnancy
(NCCAP), said that over the last 25
years the number of teen-age preg
nancies has not shown much
increase. Instead, she said, the trend
is showing an increasing number of
women who are choosing to give
birth. Huberman said more youths
are giving birth because today's
women are not ostracized as much
for becoming mothers at an early
age.
"It s more acceptable to be a
single parent these days," she said.
"They are not looked down upon as
much, and opposition to having
ahpftions gets a lot of "Mifl atten
tion."
Huberman said the high preg
nancy rates run across the board, but
blacks get most of the media atten
tion because whites opt for abor
tions. She noted that abortions are
less acceptable in black families,
citing that two-thirds of white teen
agers have abortions compared to
only one-third of black teen-agers.
Althea Jones, a volunteer with
Planned Parenthood of the Triad,
said most black teen-agers decide to
have the babies because of their tra
ditional customs of the extended
family.
"We're taught to look after one
another and take care of our own
problems," she said. "Most black
families support each other and try
to keep it in the family."
Huberman said North Carolina
has one of the highest proportion of
working mothers, thus leaving the
children with a lot of free time. This
"unsupervised time" is what Jones
says helps contribute to the prob
lem.
"There is the absence of a
father figure, and working mothers
are trying to provide for the family,"
she said. They feel they need atten
tion and something to identify with.
Having a baby gives them some
thing that will love them and they
can give love back to." Throughout
the state, there was a total of 769
pregnancies to 10- to 14-year-olds
and 24,299 pregnancies to IS- to
19-year-okls, according to NCCAP.
Joyce Wheeling, coordinator of
the Adolescent Pregnancy Preven
tion Council, said its goal is to off
set the increasing number of preg
nancies, especially among
pre- teenagers.
"It's a primary concern to pre
vent adolescent pregnancy, but also
to spread an awareness of it,"
Wheeling said. "Education is the
key to prevention.''
In African-American communi- .
ties, many teen-age women are
already sexually active before they
receive sex education, Jones said.
"A lot of times the parents
either were not equipped or just did
n't talk about it," she said. "They
thought that talking about it might
encourage it, and if they didn't say
anything about it, it wouldn't hap
pen. But by the time they get to col
lege, especially first generation col
lege students, it's too late because
some are already pregnant "
Axioms like "it's all right for
my son, but not my daughter," says
Jones, has kept many young black
men sheltered from responsibility.
"This double standard is talring
black men away from reality. They
contributed to the pregnancy," she
said. "If black men are taught
(responsibility) from their mothers,
we could eliminate a lot of this."
" The Adolescent Pregnancy Pre
vention Council is seeking the assis
tance of parents, businessmen, min
isters and all concerned citizens to
meet July 13 at 3 p.m. at the Big
Brothers/Big Sisters Office at 107
Westdale Ave.
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Brenda Evans, a social work
program manager for social ser
vices, whose office investigates
complaints of child abuse, said that
from July 1992 to May of this year,
there was a 37 percent rise in the
number of drug-related cases over
the previous 12 months.
"We don't investigate every
case where a parent is on drugs,"
she said.
If the hospital contacts social
services and says that a drug-abus
ing woman is about to deliver, but
that woman is living with her grand
mother, said Evans, "we say that
that grandmother is a stable enough
force" in the household.
In some cases* the mother is
confronted with her problem and
told to get treatment or risk losing
custody of her child. Every effort is
made to avoid removing the child
from the parent, Evans said.
Brown, the Step One counselor,
said drugs are a serious problem
among young African-American
mothers.
The girls who are here are a |
mere fraction of who are out there,"
she said.
She was critical of blacks who
she said are notorious for not getting
help earlier. \r
"Historically, black people
don't do appointments. It's the same
thing with crack addicts. When they
finally come in for treatment, they're
at a crisis point in their lives," she
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