Teen birth rate hits all-time low, led by 50% decline among Hispanics and blacks

Post by dpark » Fri, Apr 29, 2016, 3:18 AM UTC

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #98

dpark wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 33 and grew up in the Bible belt. Looking back, I'm shocked at how good my Sex Ed was. We were taught that abstinence was the only 100% effective choice, but also about condoms and birth control pills, as well as things like the sponge (which was not recommended, but still covered) and long term hormonal implants. The biggest misinformation we were given was stuff that was genuinely believed then (and still belie…

> But I am also confused how there are/were actually sexually active teenagers who think things like "Ziploc bags are as effective as condoms". I had many stupid friends in high school :). But the schools were not highly rated as well. I do remember many new mothers in my 11th and 12th grade years and also a few who were pregnant during the graduation ceremony. So I don't think they did a good job but I don't know ho…

Post by dangerlibrary » Fri, Apr 29, 2016, 3:33 AM UTC

eru wrote: post #94

seizethecheese wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This runs counter to the belief that many have that when given higher access to contraceptives, teens will have more sex. Another knock against abstinence-only sex ed!

Perhaps wider access to contraceptives still encourages more sex, but there were other forces even stronger in the other direction?

Post by dionidium » Fri, Apr 29, 2016, 3:45 AM UTC

SmirkingRevenge wrote: post #78

Aelinsaar wrote: post #5

"The first is the most important and may be obvious: Today's teens enjoy better access to contraception and more convenient contraception than their predecessors, and more of them are taking advantage of innovations like long-acting injectable and implantable methods that can last years over a daily birth control pill. But the second cause is something that goes against the conventional wisdom. It's that teens -- des…

If I were gonna bet on it.. the first explanation I would gravitate towards would be that these teens might have been the children of single teenage mothers/fathers themselves.. and lived through the hardship of that situation first hand.

Post by BinaryIdiot » Fri, Apr 29, 2016, 3:46 AM UTC

dpark wrote: post #101

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I am also confused how there are/were actually sexually active teenagers who think things like "Ziploc bags are as effective as condoms". I had many stupid friends in high school :). But the schools were not highly rated as well. I do remember many new mothers in my 11th and 12th grade years and also a few who were pregnant during the graduation ceremony. So I don't think they did a good job but I don't know ho…

Wait, grade school? I certainly hope no one in your grade school was sexually active. If we're talking about things 4th graders believe, they believe all kinds of ridiculous things because they're little kids.

Post by Larrikin » Fri, Apr 29, 2016, 4:00 AM UTC

gozur88 wrote: post #46

tetrep wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Births are what matter, as a pregnant teen can get an abortion, resulting in skewed statistics if you're trying to figure out how many teens are having babies, which (imo) is the thing society should actually care about, as unready parents tend to be a drain on collective/social resources.

>Births are what matter, as a pregnant teen can get an abortion, resulting in skewed statistics if you're trying to figure out how many teens are having babies... That's true, but if your argument is the lower number of births is due to widespread availability of contraception, you have to address pregnancy and not just births.