Ask the Loveologist: What’s Happened to Teen Contraception?

I was recently talking to some of my son’s friends who are all graduating from high school and they were telling me that no one uses birth control anymore. The boys said condoms kill all the feelings and the girls believe that the rhythm method is effective and less toxic than the pill. I was shocked and had no idea that the safe sex talk has reverted to the plan B pill in their mind. Is this unusual or should the lack of sexual education we have offered our youth be ringing an alarm bell for us?

The lack of information that teens have received about their sexuality should be alarming for most adults. For much of the last decade, most sexual education in this country included limited anatomical lessons with an overriding emphasis on the contraception method of abstinence. In addition to a recent rise in teen pregnancy, many of the gains that had been previously made in safe sex education including disease awareness and prevention have been slowly eroding.

The most recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed 2800 teens and found that while sexual practices had not changed much since the previous survey in 2002, what had most dramatically shifted was the teen attitude towards the acceptance and approval of pregnancy for single young women. This change in attitude happened for both male and female populations, with over a 15 percent increase in the last five years.

This change in attitude in part translates from the celebrated teen pregnancies of Bristol Palin and Jamie Spears, which has served to glamorize the idea of teens raising babies. The decreased anxiety about teen pregnancy among the younger population is only one contributing factor to the now increasing birth rate among teens. Seventeen percent of young girls, up from 11 percent are now using the rhythm method as a form of birth control, a method which is only 25 percent effective.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

KS G.

6:43PM PDT on Oct 7, 2011

Thanks for the article.

send a green star

Fareena N.

6:03AM PST on Mar 7, 2011

Parents need to take a step further not only should the talk about the "birds and the bees" but also elaborate on safe sex.

Bon L.

5:44AM PST on Jan 9, 2011

Thanks for the info.

Bente S.

5:38AM PDT on Aug 21, 2010

Oh dear! Get these kids educated!

Unwanted pregnancies, abortions and SDTs all follow in the wake of ill-information.

5:37AM PDT on Aug 21, 2010

Kara C.

5:45PM PDT on Aug 12, 2010

Call me what you will but whoever thinks that unprotected sex is ok and the rhythm method works or that you can care for a kid at 17 (or earlier) is retarded!

The "lack of education" excuse is ridiculous, sure there should be more of it but not having any is no reason to not know what is safe. Any idiot can open Google type in safe sex or birth control and find all the information the school system failed to give them.

Kersty E.

4:08PM PDT on Aug 2, 2010

That's really bad. My teenage daughter (if I had one) would have been sex-educated at home and given birth control with her dinners, so to speak.

mr C.

12:42AM PDT on Jul 3, 2010

scary. the plan-b pill doesn't prevent stds.

Karlyn R.

11:38PM PDT on Jun 27, 2010

These kids are making an effort, albeit an weak and ill informed effort. Resorting to the rhythm is a last ditch effort to have safe sex. Please, for the love of all that is wise, talk to your kids about sex. Especially talk to your daughters about masterbation and the fact that they can orgasm WITHOUT A GUY. I worked with teens programs since highschool and I can't tell you the number of girls who came to me and said they NEEDED a boyfriend for sexual fufillment. NO YOU DON'T! "sex toys" are made out to be dirty and evil. (only sluts and porn stars use them) No, my dears, everyone uses them and you should not be ashamed.
@Dia Bryan- I graduated high school 2002 and my class had 2 pregnant girls (that we knew of) and at least 3 mothers of young children.
Girls- why put at risk your futures, health, and reputations just for a penis? You can be fufilled in ALL aspects of your life if you focus on yourself.