CDC: Fewer Teens Having Sex, More Using Contraception

[cynatnite]

Fewer teen girls in the United States are having sex, and more of those who do are using contraception, according to a new government survey. The study found that more than half of teen girls ages 15-19 have never had sex.

The survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 56.7 percent of older teen girls had never had vaginal intercourse. That's an increase of 16 percent since 1995 and reflects a steady downward trend in teen sex. Of those teens who had had sex, 59.8 percent were using what CDC considers "highly effective" forms of contraception, an even larger increase of 26 percent.

The increase in sexual abstinence and increase in contraception use are both consistent with the declining rates of teen pregnancy in the U.S., which have dropped 44 percent since 1990. Still, U.S. teens have children more often than teenagers in other developed countries.

http://news.yahoo.com/cdc-fewer-teens-having-sex-more-using-contraception-124340590.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Good. Though I am hardly one to comment - I first had

sex at 17 and 4 months, right after I graduated from high school.

Yes, yes, condoms were used. And when I hit college in the fall one of the first things I did after unpacking was head to the student health center for BCP's.

[hunter]

2. Kids who know about sex and contraception are less likely to have the sort of unprotected sex...

... that makes babies.

Gosh. What a surprise.

My very fertile talks-to-God-pro-life mom was unusual because she told us all about sex and contraception years before we were even interested. Maybe age six. What??? Penis-in-Vagina??? You got questions, my mom's got Too-Much-Information answers. She also told us if we happened to have any kids to bring 'em on home, the more the merrier. She loves babies.

Not a single one of us wanted any more babies in the house, even if they were our own. I was still changing diapers when I was twelve.

Not one of us reproduced until we were good and ready.

[Mass]

3. Good for using contraception, but as for having sex,

this article is about vaginal intercourse. I have two sons in their late teens, early 20s. I would be curious to know if the younger teens have the same notion that my sons's generation had that oral sex is not sex?

This said, it should not be a surprise that teenage pregnancy diminishes with appropriate information.

[tularetom]

4. I think kids have simply redefined what constitutes "sex"

I actually paid attention when I heard my granddaughters talking to their friends on the phone during their high school days and things they said were astonishing. Blow jobs? That isn't sex. In the butt? Nope, not sex either. Apparently the only act that actually equates to sex is one that is capable of producing a fertilized egg.

That was a few years back so I asked my 15 year old grandson, knowing he's too much of a nerd to ever get a girl. And surprise surprise. He said the same thing.

I guess my kids have done a poor job of informing their kids, but I think the problem goes a lot further than neglect of parental duties. Our schools need to stop being so afraid of religious wack jobs and start giving kids the true facts at a much earlier age.