Group meeting to consider county's teen pregnancy rate

The Jackson County Teen Pregnancy Coalition will hold a discussion about the issue Thursday, Dec. 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Commerce.

RSVP with Maria Jackson at 770-532-6334, extension 3557.

The meeting is an informal follow-up to the previous “teen pregnancy summit,” explains Beth Heath, Jackson County nurse manager.

“At the last meeting, we had some people say we needed more parental input,” she said. “We want to know what their thoughts are and what they would like us to try to do.”

Heath stressed that the meeting will be informal, discussion-oriented. Participants may also be asked to fill out a survey.

The Rev. Murray Brett of Grace Baptist Mission will speak briefly on “Recovering our Virtue” at the beginning of the meeting.

The most recent statistics indicate that Jackson County has the highest rate of births to teenagers in the 10-county health district — higher than the Georgia average, which is among the highest in America.