--- description: Photos from a 1971 LIFE magazine story on teen pregnancy, "Help for High School Mothers," chronicling the lives of teen moms and moms-to-be. title: Fighting Teen Pregnancy: Notes From a Radical 1970s School Program image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt112b8f90cb6140e7/698779c2e20a87255aa847ea/150114-teen-pregnancy-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [LIFE Photo Essay](/tag/life-photo-essay/) ## LIFE Photo Essay Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Fighting Teen Pregnancy: Portrait of a Radical High School Program, 1971 by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 24, 2013 2:23 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. At Citrus High School in California, honor student Judy Fay works at the blackboard during an English class the school's program for pregnant girls started in 1967. Caption from LIFE. At Citrus High School in California, honor student Judy Fay works at the blackboard during an English class the school's program for pregnant girls started in 1967.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 24, 2013 2:23 PM CUT Recent reports indicating that the [rates of teen pregnancies](http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/teen-births-and-the-complexities-of-culture/ "undefined") across the United States have dropped precipitously over the last few years likely come as a surprise to countless people who might have thought that just the opposite was true. After all, it often feels that all of the news—or all of the discussions, at any rate—around teens center not on positive signs regarding health and behavior, but on dire tales of gun violence, depression, prescription pill abuse and so on. In light of the recent (largely) good news about teen pregnancy rates in the U.S., LIFE.com looks back four decades, to a remarkable cover story in the April 2, 1971, issue of LIFE magazine titled, “Help for High School Mothers.” The article chronicled the day-to-day lives of teen moms and moms-to-be in the otherwise typical southern California town of Azusa: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- A few weeks later, the letters to the editor published in LIFE in response to the story were mostly negative, along the lines of one from a reader in Manitou Springs, Colo., who wrote that “the April 2 cover sets some sort of new dimension of achievement in crass, lurid, inelegant journalistic bad taste. To proffer a picture of this pathetic schoolchild with her grotesque maternity figure over the bold type ‘High School Pregnancy’ simply makes a bad, sad scene.” The vice-president of a senior high school class in Redondo Beach, Calif., on the other hand, applauded the teen pregnancy program at Citrus Hill, but went to note that he felt “that the LIFE story was done in the epitome of poor taste. The entire tone of the article was such that one would think the greatest way of getting through high school is by having babies.” Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at [@LizabethRonk](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined").  Caption from LIFE. At Citrus High School in California, honor student Judy Fay works at the blackboard during an English class the school's program for pregnant girls started in 1967. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Using her son Charles, Linda Twardowski, a recent Citrus graduate, explains the basics of diaper-changing in a childcare class. The girls also are taught prenatal care, cooking and budgeting. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Lupe Enriquez, 17, takes notes on nutrition in homemaking class and gets a playful pat from another expectant mother, Lynda Kump (see frame #5). Like several of the girls in the maternity program at Citrus, Lupe got married after learning she was pregnant. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. During a social studies class, Cheryl Gue, 17, quiets her son Michael with a bottle. Although the sound of crying babies is a normal disruption at Citrus, the more vocal ones are usually hustled out of class. The school is equipped with playpens, cribs and toys. The mothers are required to come to school for the morning child-care courses, but may study academic subjects at home. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Pregnant high schoolers, Azusa, Calif., 1971. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  High schoolers with babies, Azusa, Calif., 1971. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Vicki Conger, 17, with her 13-month-old daughter, Shawn Michelle, Azusa, Calif. 1971. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Sandy Winters, 13, who recently enrolled at Citrus, talks about her courses with principal James Georgeou, founder of the program for young mothers. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Expectant mothers are allowed to take naps in homemakeing class. Here Lori Cardin, 17 and six months pregnant, tries to catch 40 winks despite playful attention from young Shawn Conger. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In the courtyard outside the school, Vicki Conger, 17, takes a stroll with her 13-month-old daughter, Shawn Michelle. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Judy Fay chats with a group of students outside class. Now that there are pregnant girls at Citrus, the boys have cleaned up their language, courteously hold open doors and even push strollers. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Toward the end of her pregnancy, Judy Fay's father, and aerospace worker, drove her to and from school each day. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Judy's parents, Henry and Luella Fay, found to their relief that the neighbors were sympathetic to Judy's plight. 'We have had a lot of compliments because of the way we faced up to the problem,' said Mrs. Fay. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In the canopied bed where she has slept since childhood, Judy cuddles her son Dylan, who was born in late February. 'My son may have been unplanned,' Judy says, 'but he is not unloved. 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