It was difficult for me to sleep last night. I was checking the statistics on our magazine yesterday. The  statistics page gives us two views of where our readers came from.  ‘Referrers’ lists the other sites that reference our site.  ‘Search Engine Terms’ is a list of the key words individuals used to search the web. One of the Search Engine Terms caught my eye. It stated simply, “i am a pregnant teen.” My heart was torn.

My imagination ran wild. A pregnant teen, undoubtedly in despair, turns to the internet for support. I felt helpless – there is no way to link back to that inquiry. The Search list continued to draw me back through the day, drawn back to that one statement, that one desperate reach for help. She was looking for answers – all I had were questions. I wanted to ask her about her support system, about her family, her school, her friends.

I wanted to tell her some things. I wanted to tell her to talk to a trusting adult.  If possible – talk to her parents. Talk to her school counselor. Talk to her minister.   Call the YWCA.   Call Catholic Charities. Don’t call the United Way – they just launder money.  Parents are unstable resources – they love their child so much that they cannot think straight in a crisis. They worry more about their child’s future than their potential grandchild – they worry about education, about career, about securing the future.  And some selfish parents worry about their image in their social group or church. This situation calls for cool heads.

I suppose somewhere in our content we have written about youth pregnancy.  We have several posts on the abortion issue. One of my posts is titled, “Blunt Abortion.” It is about Missouri Governor Matt Blunt’s Anti-Abortion Task Force.  Another post is “Abortion – conflicting messages.”  I hope that pregnant teen did not read those. She would see how little support she has in this country we call America.  She would see that people like me treat teen pregnancy as an academic exercise in being more noble than the next son of a …..

I thought about that pregnant teen all day and all night. She was desperate for answers and she found Governor Blunt. As I write this I just feel plain helpless.

Is an internet search engine all we brilliant, loving adults have to offer the children of America?

We are busy talking about lighting candles – she is living in the dark.