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LoveSmarts Director's Message
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In 2000, 83.6 in 1,000 women aged 15-19 became pregnant-a 28% decline from
1990, when the teenage pregnancy rate reached a high of 116.9 per 1,000 women,
according to a report released by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI). The
report also details declines, which also took place among all racial and ethnic
groups and in every state in 2000. The teenage birth and abortion rates also
declined between 1990 and 2000.
Declines also occurred among adolescents in all racial and ethnic groups.
The pregnancy rate among blacks adolescents aged 15-19 declined 32% between
1990 and 2000 to 153 per 1,000 women; among white teenagers it declined 28% to
71 per 1,000. The rate among Hispanic teens fell 15% from 1992-2000 (following
a brief increase from 1990-1992) to 139 per 1,000.
In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the
biannual Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. The survey, completed by
adolescents across the country showed a dramatic increase in the percentage of teens
who are abstaining from sexual activity. The percentage of teens reporting an
abstinent lifestyle rose from 45.9 percent in 1991 to 54.4 percent in 2001.
There was also a healthy increase in the percentage of teens who were once
sexually active, but now abstain.
In 2003, the scientific, peer-reviewed journal, Adolescent and Family
Health, published a report demonstrating that the majority of the decline in the
teen pregnancy rate is due to abstinence. The report, "An Analysis of the
Causes in the Decline in Non-marital Birth and Pregnancy Rates for Teens from 1991
to 1995," is the only peer-reviewed, published journal paper that examines
scientifically, the causes of the drop in the pregnancy rate. Other explanations
of the declines have not been independently been reviewed by other
researchers and published in reputable scientific journals.
In 2003, a National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy survey found that
67% of sexually active teens regretted having had sex and wished they had
waited. In addition, a 2003 analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of
Adolescent Health found that sexually active high school girls have a 3 times higher
risk to be depressed and 3 times higher risk to attempt suicide. Many of
these girls need counseling, not condoms. The same analysis found that sexually
active high school boys have a two times higher risk to be depressed and 10
times higher risk to attempt suicide.
What do U.S. parents want their children to know about sexual intimacy? A
December 2003 survey of 1004 parents of children under 17 years conducted by
Zogby International found that
- 79% of parents want sex education programs to teach abstinence until
marriage or abstinence until their child is in a relationship leading to marriage;
- 91% of parents want sexual intercourse to be linked to love, intimacy and
commitment when taught in school sex education programs;
- 93% of parents want teens to be taught that beginning sexual activity at an
early age increases the chances of having multiple sex partners, and the
likelihood of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and of catching sexually transmitted
diseases;
- 96% of parents think that abstinence from sexual activity is best for teens.
Recent studies also show that parents and educational programs can have very significant impact. For example, a study in Family Planning Perspectives journal last year found that inner-city teenagers who 1)had good communication with their mothers, 2) received a clear "no-sex now" message from their mothers, 3) with no promotion of contraceptives (condoms, birth control pills, etc.) were twelve and a half times less likely to have had sex than teens who had none of these three things.
This is further proof that there isn't so much a youth problem in America as there is an adult problem. If parents maintain good communication with their kids and express clearly their expectation that their teenagers delay sex until marriage or at least until they are older, there is a much greater likelihood that teens will choose to do so.
In terms of school-based programs that promote a clear abstinence message, there is encouraging news as well. Best Friends, a program for girls that began in Washington, D.C. and expanded to other cities, tells girls that they can have a successful and fulfilling life and that having sex as a young person just isn't smart. Weekly meetings with a mentor, fun activities, and exposure to successful role models in the community further reinforce these girls' commitment to delay sexual involvement.
The first independent study of Best Friends found that nearly all of its Washington, D.C. participants strongly believe in and practice sexual abstinence. The year-long study found that just under 10% of the girls involved in the program who ranged in ages from 12 to 18 had engaged in sexual intercourse. One percent became pregnant. In contrast, a 1993 survey of 990 D.C. public school girls in the same age group found that 72% had had sexual intercourse with 20% becoming pregnant.
Other abstinence-centered programs such as Sex Respect, Teen-Aid, Postponing Sexual Involvement, and the Institute for Responsible Fatherhood and Family Development have also been shown to be very effective in reducing teen sex and teen pregnancies. (For more information, refer to the Free Teens HIV/AIDS, STDs and Premature Pregnancy Prevention guide.)
We wish parents and teachers much success as they share about these deeply meaningful and important issues with the teenagers they care about!
Richard A. Panzer
Founder and Director, Center For Educational Media, Inc.
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