NETWORK CELEBRATES DECLINE OF TEEN PREGNANCIES IN CAPE COUNTY

Charter members of the Teen Pregnancy and Responsibility Network remember the volatile meetings their group had 10 years ago.

It was March 1986, when many people in Cape Girardeau County were comfortable believing the teen-agers in their midst weren't having sex. AIDS was considered a big-city problem and teachers talking about condoms in school was unthinkable.

But a few men and women, mostly involved in counseling, medicine or family services, knew a trend was starting that had to be stopped. Barb Mayfield, TPRN's first chairman, said they formed the network and waded through months of arguing before settling into a plan.

"We had the manager of the abortion clinic attending and the manager of Birthright attending," she said. "We had a lot of passionate people."

Once everyone realized they had the same goal, helping teens learn responsibility, the meetings became productive. TPRN started teaching abstinence and sexual responsibility, using speakers, drama, posters, peer groups, essay contests and videos.

The numbers prove their effectiveness. KidsCount, a report by the Citizens for Missouri's Children, listed trends for Cape Girardeau County in its 1995 report. They included fewer mothers without high school diplomas, fewer babies with low birthweights and fewer births to teens.

In 1993, when KidsCount began, there were 129 babies per 1,000 Cape County girls ages 15-19. In 1995, there were only 94 per 1,000, the 12th lowest teen birthrate in the state.

The network is on its fourth printing of "It's Your Life, It's Your Body," available in Cape County schools and health agencies. It contains the latest information about resisting peer pressure, sexually transmitted diseases and resources available to concerned teens. At least 6,000 copies have been distributed.

Old and new network members gathered Tuesday at the Cape Girardeau County Health Department to celebrate their successes over the last 10 years and honor charter members.

With them was Carrie Peter, a nationally recognized speaker on AIDS and HIV. TPRN helped coordinate her visit to the county, where she spoke at Cape Girardeau Central High School and Oak Ridge High School on Monday.

Peter contracted HIV when she was about 18 years old and found out in December 1987, when she was 20. She had participated in a Christmas blood drive, and Red Cross testing showed she was HIV positive.

After more than four years of silence, the Jefferson City native started traveling around the state to talk with teens about her illness. She looks healthy, but declines to shake hands or hug people for fear of getting sick. It has happened before.

"My message is that, if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," Peter said. "A lot of people want to know if I preach abstinence or safe sex, but I feel that kids need all the information they can get to make the right choices."

TPRN members said they hoped to have Peter back in Cape County again. In the meantime, they are hoping for another 10 years of drops in the teen pregnancy rate.