TEEN NETWORK MARKS GAINS

The Teen Pregnancy and Responsibility Network recently celebrated a decade of service to Cape Girardeau County. The notion was controversial 10 years ago. But the group forged ahead, and it thinks the last 10 years have brought real progress in building teen responsibility.

The network promoted both abstinence and sexual responsibility. Peer pressure was addressed head on. The problem of AIDS was discussed openly.

The numbers are encouraging. KidsCount, a report by the Citizens for Missouri's Children, listed a number of encouraging trends in Cape Girardeau County in its 1995 report: fewer mothers without high school diplomas, fewer babies with low birth weights and fewer births to teens.

The network has worked hard to build teen responsibility, and that has paid off in lowered teen birth rates. That benefits not only teen-agers, but taxpayers and society as a whole.