disturbing facts about teen sex and pregnancy

• Share:

Dec 10 2:47 PM posted by Team Ricki

The Ricki Lake Show guest Marisa Nightingale from TheNationalCampaign.org provided some disturbing facts about teens and sex on the “Teen Dads” episode.

TheNationalCampaign.org provides resources to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy.  Here are some statistics and trends that are plaguing teens, according to the organization, along with additional resources for teen boys, girls, and their parents.

Basic Facts:

·  Teen pregnancy has declined by more than 40% since the early 1990’s

·  Still, the U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any comparable Western nation

·  Nearly 3 in 10 girls will get pregnant at least once by age 20;  1 in 6 will be a teen mom

·  85% of teen pregnancies are unplanned

·  Teens who have sex on a regular basis and do not use protection have an 85% chance of pregnancy within a year

·  The more than 40% decline in teen pregnancy over the past 2 decades was due to more teens waiting to have sex AND more teens using protection when they do have sex.

·  Teen pregnancy is 100% preventable
 
·  Many teen boys have never had a parent or trusted adult talk with them about sex, pregnancy and prevention - until they’re already sexually active. Girls have those conversations with parents much earlier.

·  Many guys and young men say that even if they have a condom handy, they won’t use it unless the girl insists on it. Guys need to protect themselves no matter what their partner says (or doesn’t say!)

·  Many teen boys feel more pressure to have sex than girls do; pressure comes from their friends, from girls, and even from adults/parents. 

·  More than half of teen boys who’ve had sex say they wish they’d waited longer.

·  50% of teen moms say that the fathers of their babies did not visit the children at all in the past month.
 
·  Teen moms are more likely to live apart from the father of their child than older mothers; and teen moms get very little child support.  About 1 in 4 teen moms received child support in the past    year;  Among those who did receive child support, payments averaged only about $2,000 per year.

Resources For Teens:

·  Our online destination for teens – www.stayteen.org – information about sex, pregnancy, abstinence, birth control, relationships, and more. Lots of fun quizzes, videos and blog posts by teens for teens.

·  “StayTeen” PSAs – short public service ads made by our own Youth Leadership Team, which have aired on Fox, Lifetime, TeenNick and elsewhere. These aremade by teens for other teens, encouraging them not to grow up too fast. See more at: http://stayteen.org/youtube-channel-video/PLDF18CBE3A8763395/0

·  Teen-friendly guide to birth control: http://www.stayteen.org/birth-control-101

Resources For Parents:

   Facts, tips and info for parents, educators and others at www.thenationalcampaign.org