Preventing teen pregnancy

AUGUSTA, Ga. - "I'm Pregnant" - it's something no parent wants to hear from their teenage daughter.

In Georgia there are 62 new teen pregnancies each day.

But one group is working to bring those numbers down.

"We live in a sex saturated world. It's all around us and we have to educate our children," said Mary Stacy with the East Central Health District.

Mary Stacy is the Youth Development Coordinator for East Central Health District.

The group is tackling teen pregnancy. They met Wednesday to look at the stats and brainstorm on how to reduce the numbers.

They're getting some help from Academy of Richmond County senior Tempestt Sims.

She volunteers to spread the message about abstinence.

"I feel like it's really affecting our community and we should really speak on the issue because not speaking on it isn't going to solve anything," said Sims.

Stacy says education regarding sex and pregnancy starts at home with the parents.

She says, the sooner, the better.

"Don't wait until they're teenagers to start talking to them. When they're as young as 2 use appropriate anatomy terms, teach them good and bad touch," said Stacy.

Another way to educate teens is putting them in real life scenarios by going to the Web site, stayteen.org.

There, they take a quiz to see how much they know about sex and risky behavior that could lead to pregnancy.

Whether you're a teen or adult, most agree on one method of prevention: Communication is the key.

Georgia has the 8th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. South Carolina ranks 13th in the nation.