Teen pregnancy rates drop sharply
In the article I published on this blog on February 26th 2004 about the report that 50% of sexually active teens will get an STD, I mentioned that teen pregnancy rates are down. Below is a link to a story reported yesterday, March 8, 2004, by United Press International about a story reported in the New York Times on Saturday. The UPI report says in part
"The rate of pregnancies for teens has fallen below any level previously recorded in the United States, with the behavior of males changing dramatically.
The New York Times Saturday reported more than half of all male high school students reported in 2001 they were virgins, up from 39 percent in 1990. Sixty-five percent of sexually active high-school males reported using condoms.
The trends are similar though less pronounced for female high school students."
The bad news in this story is that the percentage of teens who do get pregnant who are unmarried has gone up dramatically over the years to 79 percent for women aged 15 to 19 from 67 percent in 1990 and 21 percent in 1965.
So while the overall rate of teen pregnancy has gone down which is a good thing, the percentage of kids getting pregnant who are not married has gone up which may not be a good thing.
The report coyly says that researchers don't know what is causing the shift. As a Social Worker who works in prevention and who has been working on this issue over the last 20 years, I would like to give lots of credit to all the prevention educators out there who have been busting their butts making the "No Me Not Now" and other campaigns a part of our culture which has created a norm that casual and promiscuous sex is not a good idea. It appears that kids are getting the message and acting on it.
Prevention educators alone don't get all the credit. Church groups and other segments of our society have encouraged a more disciplined and responsible attitude toward sexual intercourse on the part of young people.
The decrease in the teen prenancy rate is a further example of how well designed public health programs do have an impact although it may take 5 - 10 years to see their results.
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