Gerald Harris
MC301 Contributor/Staff
With the new year comes new laws, and one particular law aims to drive down the teenage pregnancy rate in Mississippi.
According to Business Insider, Mississippi is the poorest state in the U.S., with 695,915 people living below the poverty line. It also ranks last in its rate of child poverty with 33.7 percent, and next to last in hunger and food insecurity.
Susan Reimer of the Baltimore Sun, interviewed Melissa Schettini Kearney of the University of Maryland and Phillip B. Levine of Wellesley College, about their studies of the relationship between pregnancy and poverty.
According to the report, pregnancy is a symptom of poverty, not a cause, the researchers found. They are not poor because they had babies as teens. They are just still poor.
A new study from Center for Disease Control, reports Mississippi has the highest teen pregnancy at a rate of 50.2 percent.
According to the Department of Human Services website, Mississippi was ranked 2 out of 51, including the District of Columbia, on 2011 final teen births rates among females aged 15-19.
With this collection of staggering data, Gov. Phil Bryant signed Senate Bill 2563 in the 2014 Mississippi legislative session with overwhelming support from both democratic and republican legislators.
The bill states that public colleges and universities are required to develop a plan for addressing unplanned pregnancies for their students.
Tanisha Clay, sophomore, biology major from Madison, Tenn., said “I think this could be a positive law if it is sustained, because teen pregnancy is a big issue and education is key to preventing early pregnancies.”
Jackson State University is one of the first universities in Mississippi to embrace the new legislation.
“One of the things that we will be doing is working with the IHL board for the Legislature to provide every state institution with $50,000 for pregnancy prevention efforts,” said Phillip “Flapp” Cockrell, Jackson State University associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students.
By connecting every aspect of the university, in the proposal submitted by JSU to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, a comprehensive program addressing unplanned pregnancies would begin July 1, 2015.
Under its provisions:
The Division of Academic and Student Affairs, Student Government Association, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Athletics, Student Health Center, Latasha Norman Center for Counseling, and Housing and Residence Life would deliver educational programs and resources throughout the year to inform students about available on-campus/off-campus resources.
Programming initiatives would be offered during orientation sessions, welcome week activities, university success courses, commuter student activities, and campus-wide and residential hall programs.
With changing dynamics in the world today, Jackson State will also introduce new technology, including iPhones, iPads, website alerts, social media notifications and apps would be used to educate students about ways to prevent unplanned pregnancy. Furthermore, marketing will include handbills, posters/flyers, and the establishment of a student health advisory council.
Cockrell added, “We do outreach programs within the classrooms, though the Latasha Norman Center, as well as the health center. This spring, we will have Healthy Awareness Week that will include ways to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancy and promote healthy activities.”
Randrika Henderson, senior speech communication major from Jackson, Miss., said, “I agree with this law because it will allow for more awareness to incoming freshmen. It will also allow for an earlier intervention to prevent pregnancy among students.”
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