More US Teens Pregnant, STD”s On The Rise

Pregnancy, STDs on the Rise Again Among US Teens

One in every three people has an STD by the time they reach adulthood (age 18). This is a staggering number that has many groups rethinking their sex education programs.

Some programs believe in abstinence only teaching. They believe this is the only way to keep teen pregnancy down and STD’s from spreading. Not a bad stance to take, however under the teachings of this method of birth control, there is little to no instruction about what to do if you are going to have sex. The problem is that parents by putting pressure on teens not to have sex before marriage are shutting the door on conversations about the actual issues of sexual activity.

Study after study shows us that in regions of the country where abstinence is the only method of birth control taught, the teen pregnancy rate is nearly double those areas that have taught about and handed out condoms to their students. Keep in mind the following statistics:

- 75% of teens will have sex prior to their 20th birthday.
- The teenage birth rate in the US is the highest in the developed world.
- 1/3 of youths have not received any instruction on methods of birth control before the age of 18.

A report conducted by the CDC has found that children are having sex earlier than ever before also, creating a whole new debate about not only what to teach children about sex, but when. With sexually active individuals as young as 10, lowering the age at which we are teaching our children about sex is imperative.