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Teen pregnancies
at Lanai High
skyrocket
A University of Hawaii
By Gary Kubota
professor says change in the
island's lifestyle is to blame
Star-BulletinTeen pregnancy at Lanai High School soared during the past school year.
Twelve of 97 female students in grades 9 through 12 were or are pregnant.
"The highest we've had before is one or two pregnancies," said Principal Pierce Myers, who has worked at Lanai High since the early 1980s.
For 1998-99, the number of pregnancies at a couple of high schools on Maui totaled 1 percent to 2 percent of the female student population.
Myers said school officials don't understand why the number of teen pregnancies have jumped.
"That's something we're struggling with," he said.
University of Hawaii professor Jon Matsuoka believes the increase in pregnancies on Lanai is because of the absence of parental supervision.
"In my opinion, it's plain and simple: It points to the disintegration of the family," said Matsuoka, acting dean of the UH School of Social Work.
Matsuoka, who conducted a study of the island's transition from a pineapple to tourist economy in the mid 1990s, said the teen-age students apparently didn't have the emotional support to encourage them to delay having children.
He said his study showed in the new tourism economy on Lanai, many parents worked long hours, some at night, and a number worked at two jobs.
Myers said the pregnant girls will remain in school.
"When they leave, we will provide home and hospital instruction and a tutor will be assigned to them," he said.
Myers said the school has been working on developing an optional program called "Baby, Think It Over," where students learn the responsibilities of raising a child, including budgeting, diaper cleaning, and feeding.
Participants are given a doll with a computer inside that cries at any time. The students have a key attached to their wrist that may be turned to make the crying stop.
Myers said information from the computer can be used to assess how well the student cared for the baby.
He said the school also works with other agencies, including the Maui Aids Foundation and state Health Department to talk about the use of contraception, including condoms.
Myers said before the presentations about contraception, the school obtains parents' written permission.
