When Rosemary Berry told her coworker that 10,604 South Carolina females ages 10-19 were pregnant in 2006, she suspected a mistake.

“She said, ’Rosemary. You said South Carolina. You meant the United States,’” Berry recalled Thursday at a Westview Behavioral Health Conference Center luncheon held to recognize May as Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month.

“I said, ’No, Eleanor. This is in South Carolina.’ And of those 10,000 births, 109 were from Newberry County,” said Berry.

In 2008, in South Carolina there were 9,147 10-19-year-olds who were pregnant and 2,496 were repeat pregnancies, says a report from Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Many of those born into the county in 2006 will soon look to start the district’s 4-year-old kindergarten program, said Berry.

“Where are we going to put them?” Berry asked, noting that current school funding is already lower than usual. “Something has got to be done.”

But national, state and local programs are already in place, some with representatives at Thursday’s luncheon.

Mid-Carolina High Junior Tykerious Coleman is a student role model in a group called Teens In Control.

Teens In Control represents You First, the local Newberry advocacy program that works with other agencies to lower teen pregnancy rates.

In April, You First sponsored a Healthy Relationships and Communications assembly at Mid-Carolina High.

Coleman says the group promotes smart relationship tips like getting out of abusive relationships and avoiding spending all your time with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

“I feel great about it because there’s a lot of people in school that look up to you when they see that you’re a part of something,” says Coleman.

He says after the assembly, about five or six girls asked to join the group.

Yvonne Donald, Advisory committee member for You First who attended the luncheon, also says parents can help with pregnancy prevention by modeling good behavior.

“Often times our children see so many politicians and other people in the spotlight and even clergy doing inappropriate sexual acts,” Donald said. “We need to learn as adults to set an example.”

The other key to impacting teen pregnancy rates is to listen to youth without judging their decisions, she says.

“Children want to talk to adults,” Donald says.