I strongly believe that Akins could really benefit from having a daycare here for pregnant teens. I come from a family where both of my parents dropped out because they were 16 when my mom found out she was pregnant. They didn’t drop out just because they needed to start working to provide for the baby, or because my mom was embarrassed and didn’t want to be seen.

They dropped out because she didn’t know who was going to be able to take care of the baby. My grandmother on my mom’s side told my mother she wasn’t going to help because she simply couldn’t afford to help. My grandparents on my dad’s side said my parents could move in with them but my father had to get a job and my mom had to stay home and watch the baby. She always says that if she had the choice or some help with childcare, she would’ve stayed in school.

Texas spends $1.1 billion on teen pregnancies annually and more than 60 percent of teen moms end up dropping out of school to be a full-time parent according to the Texas Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Texas is No. 1 in the nation for repetitive teen births since 2014 and every year, has about 35,000 young women that are pregnant before 20 years old. Sadly, 84 percent of school districts provide abstinence-only or no sex ed at all. I took health class my sophomore year and we went over sex briefly but it was mostly just about STDs and then we were on to the next section.

I understand that sex is such a touchy subject and a lot of us don’t like to talk about it, but sexual activity has enormous consequences, and if I’m being completely honest, I don’t know many people my age who aren’t having sex. I also understand that teachers are limited in what they can teach because of state laws but something has to change. There are parents out there that don’t talk about sex and the possible outcomes that come with it. I’ve had friends that had been having sex frequently and their parents still thought they were virgins.

Akins does a lot to make sure everyone graduates on time no matter how far behind you might be. We have programs like Twilight, Jump start and DELTA. Those programs are all mostly for kids who didn’t pass the class and didn’t get their credit for the course. We like helping those who were lazy and didn’t get their work done on time or didn’t come to school. So why can’t we help out those who are seriously in need of childcare? I know if we tried, we could really make this daycare happen.

Some people may say that having a daycare here would make us look bad or like we are supporting these students getting pregnant. Having a daycare here means we’re willing to help you graduate no matter what. There are always going to be people out there that want to talk down or be rude but they don’t matter. What matters is the students and trying to get them to graduate and provide childcare for pregnant teens that need help.

A daycare could make a huge difference to these parents that want to complete their education so they can provide for their children. If they had affordable on-campus childcare they would be motivated knowing their children are being taken care of while they are educating themselves to provide a better future for them.