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In this day and age I have a hard time believing teenage girls still think they can't get pregnant the first time or during a certain time. We are failing our kids-both boys and girls- by not teaching them better how to protect themselves.
CDC study: Many teen moms didn’t think they could get pregnant, didn’t use birth control - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-study-many-teen-moms-didnt-think-they-could-get-pregnant-didnt-use-birth-control/2012/01/19/gIQA9P6zAQ_story.html?hpid=z3 - broken link)
The critical piece of information missing from the study is how much sex education they had received, either formally at school, or informally at home. That would be vital in knowing how to address this issue.
What I found fascinating from the actual study, was the Editorial Note:
This report indicates that teens from 19 states who delivered a live infant from an unintended pregnancy have much lower rates of contraceptive use when compared with all sexually active teens.....Inconsistent use of contraception might explain the finding that 21% of teens in this study became pregnant despite use of highly effective methods.
These findings have several implications. First, rates of contraceptive use among sexually active teens might be improved by providing appropriate access to contraception, encouraging consistent use of more effective contraceptives, promoting condom use for protection against sexually transmitted infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and increasing teens' motivation to use contraception consistently.....Increasing teens' knowledge, skills, and motivation for effective contraceptive use could be an important strategy to prevent unintended teen pregnancy and childbearing.
These unintended pregnancies end up being a burden to the rest of society. Somebody is NOT talking to their kids or else giving them the wrong information.
I'm sure that there is still plenty of misinformation out there. But..
When kids do something that they later regret doing, they will often say "But, I didn't know this would happen!"
It's not that they really don't understand the consequences of what could happen, it's just that they never thought that it never would happen - at least not to them.
I'm sure that there is still plenty of misinformation out there. But..
When kids do something that they later regret doing, they will often say "But, I didn't know this would happen!"
It's not that they really don't understand the consequences of what could happen, it's just that they never thought that it never would happen - at least not to them.
This is what I was thinking.
Maybe they think it somehow sounds better to say they didn't think it would or could happen than to say they knew it could happen and they did it anyway.
Well, the kids are already inundated with sex ed classes in school, with free condoms, etc., so if its being suggested that we need to dump more money and waste more time in the public schools on this, my answer is, "NO." That doesn't seem to be working so well, either.
How about beginning to boycott some of the TV shows, music and fashion that glamorizes sex without consequences.
Well, the kids are already inundated with sex ed classes in school, with free condoms, etc., so if its being suggested that we need to dump more money and waste more time in the public schools on this, my answer is, "NO." That doesn't seem to be working so well, either.
How about beginning to boycott some of the TV shows, music and fashion that glamorizes sex without consequences.
Teen pregnancy rates are down. This issue is about teens getting and understanding pertinent information.
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