But how about this for some simple math: For every 1,000 teenage girls in Texas, 117 of them get pregnant; that's 11.7 percent. It also adds up to 45 - Texas' teen pregnancy rate is 45th in the nation, lower than only a fistful of other states.

And that's not OK. It seems that while our lawmakers have been focusing on math, they have forgotten about the most important equation of all: One plus one sometimes equals three.

The Guttmacher Institute reports that states with the lowest numbers of teen pregnancy - between 67 and 72 pregnancies per 1,000 - all have comprehensive sex education programs that teach about both abstinence and prevention. States with high teen-pregnancy rates, like Texas, teach abstinence-only. Contraceptives are only allowed to be mentioned as a birth control method used by married people - if that.

That's ludicrous. Schools cannot teach morality. Teenagers have been having sex since the beginning of time - and no amount of schooling is going to turn hormones off.

Ideally, abstinence-only could be the perfect program. But since when have humans been ideal? Texas is setting itself up for failure, and it's hurting your daughters.

Last year, I wrote a story for my school newspaper about the difference between private school sex education, which is mostly comprehensive, and public school sex education. What I learned shocked me.

I visited a local public high school that had a childcare and child-planning office to help all of the pregnant mothers - most of whom were girls younger than me. Their family portraits - some with the father, some without - lined the walls of the tiny office. As I interviewed the woman who was in charge, pregnant children walked in asking about breastfeeding and diaper brands.

To me, pregnant teens had always been just a statistic. But I was forced to realize that they are not just numbers. They are girls who don't have the benefit of parents who lead them, and they are further shorted by a school system that doesn't inform them.

I had always been self-righteous about teenage pregnancy, but that day I got mad. Tax dollars can pay for counseling, but not prevention? These girls wouldn't need counseling if they knew the facts. Essentially, by providing childcare and child-planning offices, the state has openly admitted that its policy does not work. Yet no one is doing anything about it. Perhaps I am not the only one who has been self-righteous.

That day, I wanted answers. I asked the child planner what she thought about abstinence-only, and with a touch of bitterness, she told me off the record that without it, she wouldn't have a job. She showed me the school's health textbook. One of the main ways to avoid pregnancy: sleep.

Sleeping is not a contraceptive. In fact, sleeping with someone is quite the opposite. This is what we're teaching, and then we're limiting ways for the poor girls who do get pregnant to find a long-term solution.

Most people in Texas disagree on principle with abortion. It's a sensitive issue. But if we teach safe sex, girls won't need to even consider abortions.

Irving resident MacKenzie Rae Garfield,17, is a senior at The Episcopal School of Dallas and a Classroom Voices volunteer columnist. To respond to this column, send an e-mail to communityopinions@dallasnews.com.

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