No one can say with any certainty why teen pregnancy rates have risen after a decade of decline, but the trend should be of concern to all.

From 1994 to 2004, teen pregnancy rates dropped by 25 percent, to a low of 33 out of every 1,000 girls in 2003. South Carolina had one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the Southeast.

But in 2006, more than 10,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 got pregnant in South Carolina. That's nearly 36 of every 1,000 girls that age, and more than a quarter of those girls had been pregnant before.

Rates, in fact, have increased each year since 2004. And that is a trend the state would like to reverse.

Among other things, unwanted teen pregnancies are an economic problem for the state. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy estimates that only 40 percent of teenage mothers are likely to finish high school. Nationwide, pregnant teens cost taxpayers more than $9 billion a year in foster care, child care and incarceration.

The preponderance of teen mothers -- about 80 percent -- are not married and do not end up marrying the father of the child. That means thousands of children are more likely to be raised by single mothers.

In short, not only families and teen mothers themselves have a stake in this trend. So do all residents of the state.

As noted, no one can pinpoint exactly why teen pregnancies have risen in South Carolina. During the same period, the national teen birth rate also rose, giving the United States the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world.

But at least some critics point to one factor in the rise: The emphasis on abstinence-only education in the schools.

With the encouragement of the Bush administration, Congress doles out $113 million a year to Community-Based Abstinence Education, a consortium of hundreds of nonprofit groups and other local organizations to spread the gospel of abstinence. Another $50 million in federal money is funneled through the states in Title V abstinence programs.

But a survey conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy concluded last year that these programs don't work. Abstinence-only programs fail to affect teen sexual behavior in any way. The study concluded that no evidence exists that abstinence programs delay the initiation of sex, hasten the return of abstinence or reduce the number of sexual partners among teens.

Abstinence, we think, should play a significant role in any public sex education curriculum. As advocates note, it is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

But young people also must be armed with the information they need to make educated choices and reduce the odds of pregnancy if they do engage in sex. Using a condom is highly effective not only in preventing pregnancy but also the transmission of a variety of diseases.

We can ask our children to wait before engaging in sex. But, with clear evidence that they often ignore that advice, we also must give them the information and the means to avoid pregnancy.

IN SUMMARY

Schools need to adopt a comprehensive approach to sex education to inform teens of options.

What do you think about this editorial? Come to community.heraldonline.com and tell us.