Focal Point: Love Child

Original air date: June 18, 2008

Studies show that teen pregnancy costs North Carolina taxpayers more than $300 million a year. Most of that money is spent on the children of teen mothers, from health care and other support services when they are young to welfare and incarceration when they are older.

Black girls have the highest teen pregnancy rate among the major racial and ethnic groups in the United States and double the rate of white teens in North Carolina.

Although that rate decreased dramatically between 1990 and 2002, it is on the rise again.

Focal Point: “Love Child” takes an in-depth look at the disproportionate number of teen births in the black community with candid interviews and revealing insight from teen mothers and young men.

Watch the documentary

Focal Point: Love Child

Focal Point extras

Two local film students helped WRAL gather the opinion of black male teens about teen pregnancy in their community. Here’s what the teens had to say:

• On why so many black teenagers get pregnant ...
• On why it is often with older men ...
• On advice to other young people ....

Online resources

• National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
• StayTeen.org
• Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina
• Plain Talk

Host: Gerald Owens
Writer/Producer: Clay Johnson
Photographer/Editor: Jay Jennings
Research & Production Assistant: Laura Riddle