Frank sex education programs work

Straightforward, explicit sex education is paying dividends: fewer babies being born to teenage girls.

A new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a dramatic drop in the national birth rate for teenagers in 2009 and resumption of a decades-long decline that had hiccupped in 2006-07.

There were 39.1 births in 2009 for every 1,000 females aged 15 to 19. That's the lowest rate since the 1940s when the government began compiling such statistics and an 8 percent decline since 2007.

Connecticut did even better - 21 births per 1,000 girls - ranking fourth behind three other New England states, New Hampshire (16.4 per 1,000), Vermont (17.4) and Massachusetts (19.6).

Teenage pregnancies are expensive, with the CDC estimating the annual public cost associated with teen childbearing at $9.1 billion. The reason, teenagers who give birth are much more likely to deliver low birth weight or pre-term infants than older mothers, placing their babies at greater risk of developing complications and dying.

The reality is that abstinence-only programs are not working. Like it or not, many teenagers are sexually active and frank talk about the consequences and ways to prevent pregnancy is more effective than just saying no.

There's no mistaking that the downward spiral in the number of teen births is a result of thoughtful education and advocacy. Strong teenage pregnancy prevention messages have accompanied a variety of public and private efforts focusing teenagers' attention on the importance of avoiding pregnancy, the CDC said.

Data has shown "that teen sexual activity declined or leveled off in the 1990s through the mid-2000s, and that contraceptive use increased or stabilized." It's a combination of education and providing the right tools.

The Northeast has excelled in lowering teen birth rates because states here have taken measures to create some of the best sex education curriculums in the country and school-based health centers in urban settings allow staff to directly interact and advise young people.

In some parts of the South and West, where religious and social norms make candid discussion about sex taboo, the teenage birth rates are significantly higher.

Sex talk is always uncomfortable, even more so when it involves teenagers. Last year, the local Ledge Light Health District reported findings of an extensive study that uncovered an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among teenage girls in New London and Groton. Among the report's recommendations: more candid discussions about sexual activity and possible repercussions.

The good news is that the teen birth rate numbers are falling again. But that's not reason to be complacent. Needed is more work and forthright conversation.