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 The Chronicle welcomes you online! Please feel free to respond to these editorials or letters to the editor by sending your letters to the editor.

We condense letters; most, as published, won't exceed 300 words. A letter must include the writer's name and city, which will be published, and an address and telephone number for verification, which will not be published. Writers may be limited to one letter every 30 days. Open letters, letters to third parties and poetry are not considered. Letters from people living outside the Chronicle's circulation area usually are not considered.

Teen sex challenge

Web posted May 11, 2000

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Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff

It's cause for concern that 152 girls ages 14 to 17 get pregnant every year in Aiken County. That's one almost every other day -- and appears to be the highest number among all South Carolina counties.

Most of these pregnancies involve fathers over age 20 -- and most never claim parental responsibility.

The ``age of consent'' in South Carolina and Georgia is 16, yet many boys don't realize they can be charged with criminal sexual conduct by engaging even in consensual sex with minor girls. This was recently highlighted by the arrests of two South Aiken High School basketball players accused of illicit teen sex.

The arrests have sparked public debate and sent a message to law enforcement and pregnancy experts that many South Carolina teens are ignorant of the law.

The topic of teen sexual abstinence is something that makes all too many boys and girls roll their eyes. After all, the post-Woodstock ``If it feels good, do it'' lobby has preached the opposite message (with Hollywood a willing conduit) for over 30 years.

But Betty Ryberg, president of the Aiken County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Council, emphasizes there's no time like now to counsel teens that they do have a choice -- abstinence. It's the healthy, responsible and moral option.

In this regard, it's good to see the Aiken council adopt an on-going national campaign discouraging sex at any age until marriage. The ``Not Now, Not Me'' campaign started in Monroe County, N.Y., and led to a 20 percent decrease in teen pregnancies the first year. Knowledge is power, and it's good that Aiken County's civic, school and law enforcement leadership have initiated public service messages reinforcing ``Not Now, Not Me.''

Other counties in our two-state area experiencing growing teen pregnancy rates would do well to emulate this program -- and to get the word out that sex with minors is widespread and destructive.