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Show Counselor blames parents 'What can we expect?' of children becoming pregnant." It is up to them to teach abstinence from premarital sex and to teach methods to help their children be able to do such. Blattner was quick to point out that this type of stand is not taken simply because of the teachings of the LDS Church. Abstinence, he said, is the most simple and the most effective answer. An August 1981 study commissioned by the Utah State Office of Education, "Teenage Pregnancy: A Comparison of Certain Characteristics among Utah Youth," seems to support Blattner's onininn and the suggestions it gives to parents read somewhat like a religious text: "1. Assume a major role in providing sex education to their children in the context of their own values. "2. Manage family activities so that early dating will be less compelling. "3. Support wholesome same-sex friendships. "4. Support young people in developing appropriate opposite-sex friendships. , "5. Maintain parent-youth communication com-munication and open, honest interpersonal in-terpersonal relationships. "6. Maintain consistent disciDline. The following is the third in a three-part three-part series examining unwanted pregnancies in single women in Iron County. Previous articles have examined the extent of the problem and the difficulties faced by women who have found themselves in such a situation. Today's story deals with possible ways to avoid the problem, which experts ex-perts say has reached epidemic proportions and has profound effects on individuals, families and society. By BRUCE LEE Record Editor "What can we expect?" That was the response of Robert Blattner, a counselor at LDS Social Services, when asked why pregnancies in unmarried women is becoming such a problem. His office handles a majority of the counseling situations in Iron County involving unmarried pregnant women. r "Nationally," said the report, "the most popular, and almost universal, solution to such questions (concerning premarital sex and pregnancy) was to increase sex education in the schools and provide girls with contraceptive devices and teacji them how to use those devices. There is not much said in the national literature about the basic "7. Support optimum scholarship and ; maintain genuine interest in student 1 school success. "8. Plan and dream together (parent and youth). "9. Encourage participation in spiritual training in the religion of their choice." "10. In the context of family values, assist youth to deal with problems related to premarital intimacies, going steady, necking, petting and sex ac- , tivities. "11. Encourage high, but attainable scholastic, career, personal and . spiritual goals for each child." j0 spuuuai goais tor each child." -Robert Tripp, another counselor at LDS Social Services, agreed. He noted that children today see premarital and extramarital sexual relationships on television, in the movies and in books and magazines. It appears as acceptable, ac-ceptable, but they have no one to show them the other side of the coin, and they many times have no one to talk to "Young people should know that there's not one good reason to have sex before marriage," he said. Both Blattner and Tripp said that the schools are not the one to solve this problem. "The school really is not in a position to control it," said Blattner. However, there are things the schools can do and are doing, to some extent, to help. Blattner and Tripp don't advocate sex education in schools, "but the problem needs to be addressed a little more directly than we do." LDS Social Services and the Iron County School District are working See PREGNANCY on p. A4 "What can we expect?" he asked again. "Sex and pregnancy aren't being dealt with realistically." What can we expect, he asked, when our children are dating very early, when they are steady dating with one boy or girl, when they are alone a lot? And therein lies the rub, he continued. It is up to parents to solve the problem In tholfecnr?!- solution that is, encouraging young people to refrain from sexual activity before marriage. It is as if that possibility were considered inadequate and totally impractical." The report then goes on to say that the major responsibility for teaching children how to avoid premarital sex and pregnancy lies with the parents; Pregnancy continued from page Al together in one small way on the problem. LDS Social Services is presenting an "outreach" filmstrip and discussion in family relations classes.' According to Blattner, he and the Iron County PTA Council wanted to present the program to all high school students in the county, but the school board restricted it to the family relations classes. A young woman who just recently had an out-of-wedlock child seems to sum up the problem and the solution: "The relationship between the child and the parents must be that the child goes to the parents first with everything," she said "They must communicate." "I know that's a really hard place for a parent to get to," she continued. "But if they don't, the parents will be the last to know about anything." |