AP Science writer can't do math.

Well, he IS a reporter. He should have known better because he covers science for one of the largest press organizations in the world, but I guess we can forgive him because he writes for idiots - the American public.

Aside from making fun of his idea of percentages, does anyone else gets annoyed by the hyperbole around teen births rates that include adults?

I really don't care about the birth rates for "teenagers" who are adults and who have completed high school and possibly even gotten married. At 19, you're responsible for yourself and should be able to have children if you want without some blowhard decrying your inability to live up to his standards.

Let's break out the 18s and 19s from this data.

Group the kids into 12-13, 14-15 and 16-17, if you insist on grouping. (I'd rather see what happens year-by-year, though). In this way, you have three groups that differ in more important ways and you don't lump adults with children: minors at puberty, minors just under the age of consent, and minors just over the age of consent.

Then I'll get the rage going if it's warranted.

(Those are numbers per thousand. The national average is 41.9 per thousand, or 4.2%)