Morton East’s pregnancy rates have decreased over the last 10 years.  

23% of Morton East high school students reported being sexually active. Corazón Community Services has been serving the heart of the community of Cicero/Berwyn for over 14 years, providing life-changing and life-saving services for families and youth. Monthly, Corazón has served over 600 individuals through direct services and over 2,000 community members impacted via community education/events. Corazón started implementing Sexual Health initiatives in 2009-2010 school year which was the first year in over a decade that Morton East high school was under a hundred pregnancies. One of Corazón’s core health components is teen pregnancies. Ever since Corazón started to give sex education classes at Morton East high school, pregnancy numbers have dropped from 120 in 2008, to 25 in 2018.   

“[Pregnancy] is something that if it happens, it’s not something to shame someone about but it’s about giving and informing them about other options and if someone isn’t at that point yet just being aware how its preventable and it can be a learning experience,” health programs assistant Fabiola Avitia said.  

The school offers many resources to students who missed because of their maternity leave so what type of improvements can they make? 

“They had home bound but it really wasn’t helpful because she wouldn’t come all the time… I feel like they should improve that because she didn’t come,” senior Brenda Arce said.   

Being a teen mom is hard for young women who are in school, especially with the pressure of motherhood and student responsibilities.  

“It’s stressful; it’s hard to do your homework. It gets hard finding time to do your homework and separating [when to be a mom and when to be a student],” senior Brenda Arce said. 

But being a mother and a student can be very rewarding in the long run.  

“I don’t feel as if I’m less qualified, even though older moms have more experience, it doesn’t matter your age. You learn as time goes on. Yeah, I know it is going to be hard, but it’s going to be worth it,” sophomore Diana Bravo said.  

Staff on the other hand may lack perspective and don’t know how it’s like battling school and raising a newborn at a young age. 

“Some teachers don’t understand that we have other responsibilities other than school,” senior Brenda Arce said. 

And that can make a student’s life more challenging.  

 “It makes life and itself a little more challenging, not impossible but it would be more challenging, and it changes the decision of the things you have to do in while raising a child,” health programs assistant Fabiola Avitia said.