FACTS ABOUT TEEN SEX

These facts paint a pretty gloomy picture. Even the Center for Disease Control says that abstinence until marriage is the only sure way for teens to avoid getting pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease. That's why we are committed to encouraging teens to wait. It truly is the wisest choice!

THE FACTS ABOUT SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES (STDs)

Over 60 million Americans are currently infected with an STD, and 15 million new cases of sexually transmitted infection occur each year. 1/4 of these new STD infections occur in teens aged 15 through 19.

Many individuals infected with the most common STDs - chlamydia, genital herpes and human papilloma virus (HPV) - do not experience noticeable symptoms and do not know that they are contagious. Teens are at greater risk than adults of getting an STD. Why? Maybe it's because teens are more likely to have multiple sexual partners; they may select partners at higher risk; and they may be more susceptible to certain STDs because their bodies are not yet fully developed.

Women are known to be more susceptible to infection with certain STDs, particularly, chlamydia and gonorrhea. Women with STDs are also more likely to experience significant complications from their infection, including the development of pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and cervical cancer.

	The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually.1
	Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20...about 820,000 per year.2
	The younger a teenaged girl is when she has sex for the first time, the more likely she is to have had unwanted or non-voluntary sex. Close to four in ten girls who had first intercourse at 13 or 14 report it was either non-voluntary or unwanted.3
	Some good news...The teen birth rate has declined slowly but steadily from 1991 to 2002 with an overall decline of 30 percent for those aged 15 to 19. 4

	Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma )and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30. 8Teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).5
	The children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights6, are more likely to perform poorly in school7, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.8
	The sons of teen mothers are 13 percent more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22 percent more likely to become teen mothers themselves.9

	The primary reason that teenage girls who have never had intercourse give for abstaining from sex is that having sex would be against their religious or moral values. Other reasons cited include desire to avoid pregnancy, fear of contracting an STD, and not having met the appropriate partner.10
	Three of four girls and over half of boys report that girls who have sex do so because their boyfriends want them to.11
	Teenagers who have strong emotional attachments to their parents are much less likely to become sexually active at an early age.12
	Ninety-four percent of adults in the United States-and 91 percent of teenagers-think it important that school-aged children and teenagers be given a strong message from society that they should abstain from sex.13

Depending on where you get your information, condoms have a failure rate of 15%-25% for a number of reasons including: they can break; they can slip off; or they can be put on incorrectly. Regardless, condoms are not 100% safe, and with only a thin piece of latex "protecting" your teen from possible pregnancy or a damaging STD, is it really worth the risk?

The following is a direct quote from the Center for Disease Control web site regarding condoms:

The surest way to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases is to abstain from sexual intercourse, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and you know is uninfected.

For persons whose sexual behaviors place them at risk for STDs, correct and consistent use of the male latex condom can reduce the risk of STD transmission. However, no protective method is 100 percent effective, and condom use cannot guarantee absolute protection against any STD.

Furthermore, condoms lubricated with spermicides are no more effective than other lubricated condoms in protecting against the transmission of HIV and other STDs. In order to achieve the protective effect of condoms, they must be used correctly and consistently. Incorrect use can lead to condom slippage or breakage, thus diminishing their protective effect. Inconsistent use, e.g., failure to use condoms with every act of intercourse, can lead to STD transmission because transmission can occur with a single act of intercourse.14

Even if sexually active teens are able to escape an STD or an unwanted pregnancy (which, as you can see, is not very likely), they are still going to have to deal with the risk of emotional pain.

Condoms can't protect them from a broken heart! As you know either from experience or from observation, when teen couples become sexually active, most relationships end soon afterwards...and hearts are broken.

In a recent poll released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 63% of teens surveyed who have had sex wish they had waited longer. More than 1/2 of teen boys (55%) and the overwhelming majority of teen girls surveyed (72%) said they wish they had waited longer to have sex.

Regret, heartache, embarrassment, and pain. Help your teen understand that it's just not worth the risk.

Notes

1. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (1997). Whatever Happened to Childhood? The Problem of Teen Pregnancy in the United States . Washington, DC: Author.

2. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2004). Factsheet: How is the 34% statistic calculated? Washington, DC: Author.

3. Moore, K.A., & Driscoll, A. (1997). Partners, Predators, Peers, Protectors: Males and Teen Pregnancy. In Not Just for Girls: The Roles of Boys and Men in Teen Pregnancy (pp. 5-10). Washington, DC. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

4. Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Sutton, P.D., Ventura S.J., Mnacker, F., & Munson, M.L. (2003). Births: Final data for 2002. National Vital Statistics Reports , 52(10).

5.Calculations based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979-1985) in Congressional Budget Office. (1990, September). Sources of Support for Adolescent Mothers . Washington, DC:Author.

6. Wolfe, B., & Perozek, M. (1997). Teen Children's Health and Health Care Use. In R.A. Maynard (Ed..), Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy ,(pp. 181-203). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.

7. Maynard, R.A., (Ed.). (1996). Kids Having Kids: A Robin Hood Foundation Special Report on the Costs of Adolescent Childbearing , New York: Robin Hood Foundation.

8. George, R.M., & Lee, B.J. (1997). Abuse and Neglect of Children. In R.A. Maynard (Ed.), Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy (pp. 205-230). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.

9. Maynard, R.A. (Ed.). (1996). Kids Having Kids: A Robin Hood Foundation Special Report On the Costs of Adolescent Childbearing. New York: Robin Hood Foundation. See also Haveman, R.H., Wolfe, B., & Peterson, E. (1997). Children of Early Childbearers as Young Adults. In R.A. Maynard (Ed.), Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy (pp. 257-284). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.

10. Moore, K.A., Driscoll, A.K., & Lindberg, L.D. (1998). A Statistical Portrait of Adolescent Sex, Contraception, and Childbearing. Washington, DC: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

11. EDK Associates for Seventeen magazine and the Ms. Foundation for Women. (1996). Teenagers Under Pressure .

12. Blum, R.W., & Rinehart, P.M. (1997). Reducing the Risk: Connection That Make a Difference in the Lives of Youth. Minneapolis, MN: Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, University of Minnesota.

13. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2003). With one voice: America's adults and teens sound off about teen pregnancy. Washington, DC: Author.

14. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control & Prevention National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (2003). Male Latex Condoms and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.