Young parents find support

Georgia's high-school graduation coaches have been charged with keeping at-risk students in school so they can earn high-school diplomas.

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Samantha Hansen and Daniel Dawson attend a lunch for teen parents with their son, D.J. Dawson, 4 months, at Evans High.

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Jim Blaylock/Staff

Heather Williams, 19, holds her son, Daniel Williams, III, 1. Ms. Williams, who was five months pregnant when she married in 2006, said being a parent has made her become more mature.

However, when Lauren Swearingen, the graduation coach at Evans High, started identifying the school's at-risk population last year, she discovered that teen mothers were being overlooked.

Not any longer.

Ms. Swearingen has encouraged these girls to stay in school and she has connected them with community resources to help provide for their children.

In addition, recognizing that the girls could help each other in ways that no one else could, she helped launch a teen moms group at the school.

"It is not about condoning past behavior, or condemning," said Ms. Swearingen. "While poor decisions have been made in the past, they don't have to continue. They can take a tough situation and turn it into something positive."

Ashley Johns, 17, who has a 2-year-old daughter, Breanna, is leading the group for her senior project.

The 12 girls meet about once each month. They range in age from 14 to 19 years old, and their children range in age from 6 months to 2 years old. Some of the girls are expecting.

"I can look at these girls and know what their day can be like," Ashley said at this month's gathering for the group. "We all have a child.

"That's one thing that separates us from someone else. We can still play tennis with everyone else. We can still go to the movies with everyone else. But we go home to a different life."

She has shared her story with ninth-grade health classes at Evans High and eighth-grade health classes at Columbia Middle School. Some of the teen moms also plan to speak to eighth-graders at Evans Middle School.

Ashley's face lights up when she talks about Breanna, but do not expect her to sugarcoat her experience as a teen mother.

The missed Friday night football games because she did not have a babysitter. The mornings before school when she is trying to get a grumpy toddler ready for day care. The belief that an unplanned pregnancy could never happen to her.

She found out she was pregnant the day before she started her sophomore year.

"I cried my eyes out. I was scared to death," Ashley told an Evans High health class in September. "My parents had goals set for me. I had goals set for myself. Everyone thought I had let them down. No one thought it would be me."

Mary Beth Pierucci, the director of public policy for Planned Parenthood of Georgia, said surveys indicate that teens want more information about sex education.

"Parents are the primary educators for their children with regard to sexuality, and they really need to step up to the plate," she said in a telephone interview.

She also said local health departments offer a number of resources to teens and parents.

Mary Stacy, the East Central Public Health District youth development coordinator, said its programs emphasize abstinence and prevention.

"If we can do anything to prevent a teen pregnancy, we would love to do it," she said.

Ms. Stacy, who works in Richmond and Columbia counties, said the Richmond County Health Department offers pregnant/parenting support groups in some of the high schools, adult mentoring programs and peer advocacy.

"A lot of times, teens hear things better from their peers," said Ms. Pierucci.

Samantha Hansen, 17, an Evans junior who has a 4-month-old son, D.J., with Daniel Dawson, 18, said it helps to get together with the teen moms group.

"You have people your age who you can talk to about it. They understand what you're going through," she said.

She said it is difficult to juggle schoolwork, a part-time job and her responsibilities as a mother.

Mr. Dawson also attended Evans High at one time.

"I had to drop out. I didn't have a choice. When she said she was pregnant, I dropped out, got my GED and went to Augusta Tech," he said.

However, he also has discontinued his classes at Augusta Technical College.

"The bills got high, so I had to get a job," Mr. Dawson said.

Heather Williams, a 19-year-old senior, was five months pregnant with her son, Daniel Williams III, when she got married in July 2006. She said becoming a parent has helped her mature.

"I take school more seriously now than I did before. I'm trying to make a future for him," Ms. Williams said as she held her 1-year-old on her lap.

Renee Maggs, a labor and delivery nurse, recently became a mentor for the group.

"A lot of times these mothers can get a lot of negative feedback from themselves, society, their parents," she said.

Ms. Maggs said the teen mothers that she sees in the labor and delivery room often are in a state of "ignorant bliss" and do not realize what lies ahead for them.

However, Ms. Maggs jumped at the chance to get involved to "support the girls so they know they're loved and cherished and valuable and don't cut themselves short."

Reach Betsy Gilliland at (706) 868-1222, ext. 113, or betsy.gilliland@augustachronicle.com.