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Adolescent pregnancies in America have dropped by 50 percent since 1991, thanks to increased use of birth control, reduced sexual activity among young women, and the , which serves low-income teens. But in some communities and demographics, teen pregnancy rates remain much higher. Teens 鈥� like adults 鈥� may intend to use contraception, but don鈥檛. 

That conundrum is a key focus of the Teachers College Sex Education Initiative, headed by Aur茅lie Athan, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, and funded by New York City psychoanalyst and 911爆料网 alumna Mary Edlow (M.A. 鈥�67). The initiative, which prepares educators to teach sex education in schools, focuses on 鈥渞eproductive identity formation鈥� 鈥� the question of if, when and how someone wants to become a parent. That question parallels personal exploration of sexuality and gender and is increasingly a part of a comprehensive and inclusive sexual health education.

鈥淓veryone has a psychological relationship to their reproductive health, and it鈥檚 heavily influenced by the families they grew up in, their environmental contexts, the beliefs they hold,鈥� says Athan, who also co-founded 911爆料网鈥檚 Sexuality, Women & Gender Project. 鈥淚n 911爆料网鈥檚 program, we talk with educators about, first, taking stock of these influences in order to ensure that teens are conscious of them in their decision-making, so that there鈥檚 no intent-behavior gap.鈥�

Everyone has a psychological relationship to their reproductive health, and it鈥檚 heavily influenced by the families they grew up in, their environmental contexts, the beliefs they hold.

鈥� Aur茅lie Athan

Working with sex educators in New York City 鈥� a somewhat 鈥渉idden community鈥� of nurses, history teachers, or anyone 鈥渨ho feels there would be a huge loss without sex education, and that it should be implemented K-12, just like we learn mathematics鈥� 鈥� Athan developed a curriculum that also incorporates foundational sex education approaches offered by Answer, based at Rutgers University.

鈥淲e talk a lot about the issue of timing 鈥� that is, if someone wants to have a family, getting them to think about, 鈥業s the timing going to work well with other future orientations that I have? With other goals that I have in mind? And do I have the support to make that a reality in a way that the benefits outweigh the costs?鈥� Because teens may have intentions about parenting, but often they don鈥檛 have literacy on these issues.鈥�

We talk a lot about the issue of timing 鈥� that is, if someone wants to have a family, getting them to think about, 鈥業s the timing going to work well with other future orientations that I have? With other goals that I have in mind? And do I have the support to make that a reality in a way that the benefits outweigh the costs?

鈥擜ur茅lie Athan

Athan brought 50 educators 鈥� the first Edlow Fellows 鈥� to campus for a semester of pilot training and 鈥渢he chance to be in the same room, have a community and talk with each other about their experiences and needs.鈥� She鈥檚 since refined the curriculum through focus groups and input from an advisory board of educators and professionals in the field.

While the Sex Education Initiative is a logical extension of Athan鈥檚 previous research on 鈥渕atrescence鈥� 鈥� motherhood viewed as a developmental phase, much like adolescence and other times of major physical change 鈥� she credits Edlow for influencing her direction. 鈥淚鈥檓 a theorist by nature,鈥� Athan says. 鈥滿ary鈥檚 interest in 鈥楨very child a wanted child鈥� allowed me to move into the real-world space of sex education and ask, what would it look like, to have individuals engage these questions earlier in their lifespan?鈥�

But better late than never. 鈥淲ith so many options now, many of us are confused about if we want to have children,鈥� Athan says, 鈥渁nd then the next question is, when do we do it? Just like we might not want to do it too soon, there鈥檚 a little bit of Goldilocks phenomenon here. We may not want to do it too late, either.鈥�

[Related Reading: Read a paper by Aur茅lie M. Athan, 鈥淩eproductive Identity: An Emerging Concept鈥�, in the journal American Psychologist.]

— Joe Levine