Two years ago funding was cut for programs in public schools to help raise awareness of and curb teenage pregnancy.

The money is back. There is federal funding for a number of programs that help prevent teen pregnancy. The point is to get the programs in the schools now.

Here’s why.

Of the 18 counties that make up Alabama’s Black Belt, Dallas County ranks second worst in teenage pregnancy. The county also ranks second worst statewide.

Those are more than statistics. Those numbers mean children, who are ill equipped emotionally and intellectually are becoming parents. Those numbers also mean more at-risk babies are coming into this world. At-risk means babies of low birth weight and a higher chance of dying in infancy.

Still not convinced? Then, think about the tax dollars going to pay for those teenage parents and their babies — $178 million total in one year. Broken down, that means $40 million for public health care, $27 million for child welfare; $16 million for incarceration and $59 million in lost tax revenue because of decreased earnings over the children’s career.

So let’s see the programs begin again in the schools; solid programs, such as those that advocate abstinence.

Then, allow those programs to expand to other agencies that deal with children, such as the YMCA.

Children need to know. We need to make the information available to them.

Only then, will the trend of decreasing births to teens become significant and the weight will come off the shoulders of the taxpayers.