From the Chicago Tribune editorial board, good news and good perspective on teen sex:
American teenagers are awash in temptation, particularly the kind
that involves pleasures of the flesh. They are exposed to racier images on
television than ever before. Popular music celebrates carnal passion with
unceasing gusto. And the Internet offers an endless array of graphic sexual
fare. From watching “Glee” or “Gossip Girl,” you get the idea that high school
is just one hookup after another.
This salacious environment
is a lot for impressionable youngsters to deal with, but our kids are dealing
with it surprisingly well.
So says the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that when it comes to
having babies, adolescents are not only doing better than they used to be, they’re
doing better than they’ve ever done since 1946. The birth rate among teenagers
fell by 8 percent from 2010 to 2011.
It wasn’t a fluke. The
previous year, it fell by 9 percent. These represent just the continuation of a
long and very impressive decline over the past two decades. Since 1991, the
number of babies born to women ages 15 to 19 has fallen by 49 percent, despite
an expanding population of teenagers.
Nor is the phenomenon
peculiar to any one group or region. Among non-Hispanic blacks, the rate has
plunged by 60 percent since 1991. Among Latinos, it’s 53 percent. Teen births
have been falling across the country. If the rate had stayed where it was two
decades ago, there would have been 3.6 million more births since then than
there actually were.
There are some collateral
benefits from the improvement. Premature births have fallen among all women,
and so has the number of low-birth weight babies – both of which make for
healthier infants.
What accounts for the
dramatic progress? A combination of less sex and more contraception has played
a big part. Since 1991, the proportion of high school students who have ever
had sexual intercourse has declined from 82 percent to 60 percent – a drop of
more than a quarter. Adolescents are also less likely to have had several
partners.
The ones having sex have
gotten more careful about the consequences. Among those who have sex, the use
of condoms has risen by one-third. Lately, other types of birth control also
appear to have gained in popularity as well. Some 14 percent of sexually
experienced teen girls have used emergency (plan B) contraceptives. But
abortion has gotten less common.
The picture we get is not
the raunchy abandon so often depicted in popular culture. It’s one of growing
awareness of the downside of sex, more willingness to postpone it, and taking
measures to prevent it from causing pregnancy.
Those steps are what
parents, teachers and public health professionals have been urging on
adolescents for decades now. Surprise: They’ve been listening.
2 comments:
Plan B is an abortion?
Is it not?
This is best site for teen sex information. The best London escorts for only £150. You can have your choice of beautiful escorts to accompany you.
Post a Comment