Nearly one million teenage girls get pregnant each
year, and more than four out of 10 young women get pregnant at least once before
they turn 20. [National
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (1997). Whatever Happened to Childhood?
The Problem of Teen Pregnancy in the United States. Washington, DC: Author.
]
The federal
government spends about $40 billion annually to help families that began with a
teenage birth. [Flinn,
S.K., & Hauser, D. (1998). Teenage Pregnancy: The Case for Prevention. An
Analysis of Recent Trends and Federal Expenditures Associated with Teenage
Pregnancy. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth.]
The U.S. has the
highest rates of teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion in the industrialized
world. The U.S. teen pregnancy and birth rates are almost two times more than
Canada's, four times more than France's and Germany's, and more than eight
times more than Japan's. [Singh,
S., & Darroch, J.E. (2000). Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: Levels
and trends in developed countries. Family Planning Perspectives, 32(1), 14-23.
Teens are showing signs of being more conservative
sexually. Six in ten teens (58 percent) said sexual activity for high school-age
teens is not acceptable, even if precautions are taken against pregnancy and
sexually transmitted diseases. [National
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). The Cautious Generation? Teens Tell
Us About Sex, Virginity, and "The Talk". Washington, DC: Author.]
The trend among teens is abstinence. Fewer
than one-half of high-school students surveyed have had sex. [Terry,
E., & Manlove, J. (2000). Trends in Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use
Among Teens. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
In fact, since
1991, the teen birth rate has declined 20 percent.
The overall U.S. teenage pregnancy rate declined 17 percent between 1990 and
1996 (the most recent year available), from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged
15-19 to 97 per 1,000. The national teen birth rate declined 3 percent between
1998 and 1999, reaching a rate of 49.6 births per 1,000 women ages 15-19. [Curtin,
S.C. and Martin, J.A. (2000). Births: Preliminary Data for 1999. National Vital
Statistics Reports. 48(14).]
The vast majority
of teens (87 percent) surveyed said they do not think it is embarrassing for
teens to admit they are virgins. [National
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). The Cautious Generation? Teens Tell
Us About Sex, Virginity, and "The Talk". Washington, DC: Author.]
63 percent of teens who have had sexual intercourse
said they wish they had waited. More than one-half of teen boys (55 percent) and
nearly three of four teen girls (72 percent) surveyed said they wish they had
waited. [National Campaign to
Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). Not Just Another Thing to Do: Teens Talk About
Sex, Regret, and the Influence of Their Parents. Washington, DC: Author.]
Sixty-four percent of teens said they advise
younger siblings and friends who are in high school not to have sex."
[National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). Not Just Another Thing to
Do: Teens Talk About Sex, Regret, and the Influence of Their Parents.
Washington, DC: Author.] More importantly, many
are saying wait for marriage.
Thirty percent of teen pregnancies end in abortion
and 14 percent end in miscarriage. [Henshaw
S.K. (1999) U.S. Teenage pregnancy statistics with comparative statistics for
women aged 20- 24. New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute.]
All methods of birth control have a failure rate,
ranging from 0.05 percent for Norplant to 9 percent for the sponge and calendar
rhythm. The only way to make 100-percent
sure that you won't get pregnant or get someone pregnant is to not have sex.
[Hatcher, R.A., Trussel, J., Stewart, F., Cates Jr. W., Stewart, G.K., Guest,
F., and Kowal, D. (1998) Contraceptive Technology, 17th revised ed. New York ,
NY: Ardent Media, Inc.]
