I know I have a habit of being tongue-in-cheek about pretty much any topic, regardless of level of importance or severity of the issue, so I apologize in advance for any air of lightness in the post below. It's just tough; I may only be a few years out of the age bracket reported, but I've found myself channeling my inner wizened soul, hand on hip, finger wagging, when I read this stuff about America's teens.
According to new data released by the CDC in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) based on an analysis of PRAMS data, not only is this country facing a serious acronym glut, but apparently one half of teens aged 15-19 who had given birth between 2004 and 2008 were not using any method of birth control when they got pregnant. As someone who was a teen aged 15-19 during that exact same period, I'm pretty confident that procreation logistics were the same then as they are now. Intercourse (Man + Woman) - Contraception = Pregnancy. What could possibly be the rationale behind taking such an obvious risk?
So I read on. And the overwhelming reason unfolded like a horror movie: 26% of non-Hispanic white teens, 31% of non-Hispanic black teens, and 42% of Hispanic teens simply thought they could not get pregnant. Scary stuff, right? It may sound like a broken record coming from us, but clearly the message isn't getting through: you can get pregnant ANY time you have sex. If teens are having sex, they need to know that to prevent pregnancy you must use an effective form of birth control EVERY SINGLE TIME. And the only 100% effective way to prevent pregnancy? Not having sex at all.
I guess the real question is: how can we effectively get the message across? Education? Parents? The media? It's data like this that emphasizes how important it is for us to get up every morning and do all that we do.
"Hear no evil / Day 34" image by Aaron Goselin.
I think more education of both kids and parents is essential. We need to get the message to kids where they are using methods that they will interact with such as text messages with sex education information and sex ed PSAs in movie theaters before movies that tweens and teens are watching. These are just a few ideas from someone who isn't all that creative (me). Parents need to be MORE involved. "We are both working full times jobs." Just doesn't cut it any more. Parents have to make time to develop relationships with their children when they are young so that there is a foundation of trust and respect when they are teens. Communication, Communication, Communication!
There's also a lot of research that shows that finger-wagging, judgment, fear-based messaging and condescension aren't effective strategies for behavior change. So if we want to help young people make healthy decisions for themselves, we'll have to try some different strategies!