This month is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, and with the rates of teen pregnancy rising again for the first time since the '90s, the subject is more important than ever. 

Nonetheless, as admirable as the goals of this one-month-long campaign may be, I believe that the theme on which it centers is a mistaken one.  Behind the high numbers of teen pregnancy there lies an obvious problem – our adolescents do not have the fundamental tools they need to make healthy decisions.  And when that is the case, pregnancy is just the beginning. 

Believe me.  Our national and local rates of adolescent pregnancies are higher than those in most of the world.  Nationally, there are approximately 71 pregnancies for every thousand women between the ages of 15 and 19.  In New York City, the rate goes up to 83 for every thousand.  As Latinas, our rates are higher yet, five times higher than the rates among white, non-Hispanic adolescents. 

And perhaps even more significant, these adolescents are not getting pregnant because they want to.  According to the Gutmacher Institute, 82 percent of teen pregnancies are unwanted.  Eighty percent of the teens interviewed said that it is important to avoid pregnancy, but only 43 percent of those who were sexually active used contraceptives regularly. 

What these numbers tell us is that teenagers are not having safe sex – a problem that has consequences that go far beyond pregnancy.  Although the group between the ages of 15 and 24 represents only a quarter of all sexually active persons in the United States, it does represent almost half of all new cases of sexually transmitted diseases each year.  In New York the situation is worse.  Among New York women, can you guess which population has the highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia?  Adolescent girls. 

It is time we start looking for real solutions.  We know that sex education in the schools has a positive effect, helping teens to postpone their first sexual contact and to make more healthful and well informed decisions if and when they begin to become sexually active. 

We know that when parents have honest and open conversations about sex and sexuality with their children, the children listen.  And we know that adolescents need access to affordable and reliable contraceptives and reproductive health.  We know all these things work, but too many parents avoid talking with their children, and New York City still does not require that comprehensive sex education be taught as part of students' curriculum. 

This month, instead of concentrating only on teen pregnancy, let us focus on our teen children and make sure they have all the tools and information they need to make the correct decisions in their lives. 

Haydee Morales is Vice President for Education and Training at the International Margaret Sanger Center of New York Planned Parenthood.