Safe Teen Raising Teen Pregnancy & STI Awareness Elizabeth Guillen Reality Check #24 Pregnancy: It Happens STI

 Raise Awareness on Increasing Teen Pregnancy Issues  Educate Teens on the Dangers of Unprotected Sex  Educate Parents on How to Talk to their Teens about Sex  Survey Parents and Teens and Compare their Views on Sexual Education

 Teenage Females Ages  Teenage Males Ages  Parents of Teens

 1 in 7 sexually active teens aged 14 and younger gets pregnant each year  resulting in 17,000 pregnancies each year and ~7,000 births.  More than 1/3 of teen girls who had sex before age 15 did not use contraception.  31% of boys and 24% of girls who had sex before age 15 report that they already had 7 or more partners during their teen years.  Most parents are unaware of their teens’ sexual activity.  For the first time in 15 years teen pregnancy is on the rise again.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey Sexual Behaviors % Who have ever had sex % Who had sex before age % Sexually active (in the past 3 months) % Who have had 5 or more partners % Who were ever forced to have sex % Who experienced dating violence Contraceptive Behaviors % Who used condom at last sex % Who used other birth control method

 Each year, 1 in 4 teens contracts an STI.  One in two sexually active persons will contract an STI by age 25.  HPV (the cause of genital warts and cervical cell changes) is the most common STI.  In a national survey of U.S. doctors, fewer than one-third routinely tested their patients for STIs  About half of all new STI cases in 2000 occurred among young people ages 15 to 24.

 More than 760,000 girls under the age of 20 get pregnant each year and more than 420,000 teens give birth.  Every hour, more than 87 teens gets pregnant and 50 give birth.  The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rates in the entire developed world  Teen childbearing costs taxpayers $9.1 billion annually.

47% of teens say that parents influence their sexual decisions. Only 34% of parents believe that they have any influence on their teen’s sex decisions. 88% of parents admit that they don’t know how to address their teens about sex. The lack of communication between parents and their teens leads teens to address sexual issues with their peers.

“People these days are afraid to talk about SEX! They know that the consequences of sex are an ever-growing problem with the youth but they continue to ignore the subject. People need to stop being so afraid of that three letter word and face the facts, because teen pregnancy is surely becoming a pandemic. STD’s are going to be the new Sars. Pretty soon we won’t be running from the avian flu or the swine flu, but a little something called HIV. Yea, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. But Vegas was kind enough to send a little custom-made souvenir back with you, enjoy your herpes! “ -Hispanic Female, 18 “Even though teens know about contraceptives, they aren’t very accessible because of the embarrassment levels.” -Caucasian Female,18 “I think every teen should be stuck with a child for a week. Should make them think twice.”-Hispanic Female, 17

“The sex talk shouldn’t be sugar-coated. Most Teens are having sex these days anyways. So parents should teach their kids early before they get the wrong information from their peers” -Caucasian Female “I think there are one too many pregnant teens in this country. It’s ridiculous and unnecessary. “-Caucasian Female “To me, it is important that teens wait until marriage to have sex. It will benefit them emotionally and physically.”-Hispanic Female “I feel that the liberty that is given to adolescents and the lack of fear in this society, ant the feeling of invincibility among teens is being very hurtful to their lives” -Hispanic Male

Programs that embrace the Abstinence Only message DO NOT WORK. Effective Programs: Programs provide clear messages about STI s and Pregnancy Address Peer Pressure Teach communication skills Reflect the age, Sexual Experience and culture of the young people in the program Educate about abstinence AND methods of contraception