Abstinence Facts Study Guides

ABSTINENCE FACTS Abstinence – making a conscious decision not to engage in certain behaviors Abstinence Until Marriage – making a conscious decision to refrain from sexual intercourse and intimate sexual contact until marriage Promiscuous – adj. 1. Characterized by or involving indiscriminate mingling or association, especially having sexual relations with a number of partners on a casual basis. 2. Consisting of parts, elements, or individuals of different kinds brought together without order. 3. Indiscrimate; without discrimination. 4. Casual; irregular; haphazard. - Dictionary.com ON THE OTHER HAND…… • One study showed 63% of teens wish they had waited • 14% of sexually active girls attempted suicide vs. 5% who have not had sex • 6% of sexually active teen boys attempted suicide vs. 0.7% who haven’t had sex • In 2005 – o 47% of high school students had sexual intercourse o 14% of high school students had had four or more sex partners during their life o 34% of currently sexually active high school students did not use a condom during last sexual intercourse o 23% of high school students who had sexual intercourse during the past three months drank alcohol or used drugs before last sexual intercourse  Average Length of High School Relationships – 10 weeks SAFE SEX ISN’T …… • Using a condom • Oral sex • Anal sex • One girl or guy at a time or one relationship at a time  The only sexually transmitted condition you cannot get through oral sex is: pregnant  SAFE SEX IS …… Married, monogamous sex Some Benefits of Marriage  More emotional and physical stability  Live longer  More wealth on average  Better, more satisfying, more frequent sex  Lower risk of infant mortality  Better fathers • More stable communities What’s Worth Protecting? • Mind • Body • Heart • Future • Family and friends • Spirit Teen Pregnancy • In the US 2,500 teen girls will become pregnant TODAY • 8 out of 10 adolescent mothers end up in poverty • Only 3 out of 10 teen moms earn a high school diploma by age 30 A Typical Day in North Carolina: Births 2007 Average Number Per Day Year Total 359 130,886 Births to Teens (Ages 10-14) 1 238 Births to Teens (Ages 15-19) 41 15,061 Low Birthweight Babies 33 12,100 148 53,848 Category Live Births Births to Unmarried Women HEALTHY STRATEGIES • Talk • Meet family • Hang out in groups • Don’t pressure each other • Don’t put pressure on yourself • Go to public places – not bedrooms, etc. • Stay with friends • Dress respectfully • Manage amount of time spent together • No one 2 years or older than you Useful Facts About Teen Pregnancy * In 1 year supplies for raising a baby would cost more than: 1,217 movie tickets, 649 new CD's, two used cars, or 139 new pairs of sneakers. * 4 out of 10 girls get pregnant by the age of 20. * Only 50% of high school teens have actually had sex. * A sexually active teen that is not using protection has a 90% chance of pregnancy within one year. * Less than 1/3 of teenage mothers complete high school. * 93% of teens and 94% of adults feel that teens should receive strong messages regarding abstinence, but this does not mean abstinence only; just first. * 23% of adults feel that teens should not be sexually active, nor should they have access to birth control. * 63% of teens surveyed say that they wished they had waited to become sexually active. * While adults believe that it is teen friends who most influence decisions concerning sexual behavior, 31 % of teens say that parents are actually most influential. * 51% of teenage males say they often hear that sex and pregnancy are "not a big deal." * 83% of teens believe they are getting a clear message that teen pregnancy is wrong. * 39% of adults believe that it is embarrassing for teens to admit that they are virgins, when in fact only 19% of teens themselves have this same feeling. However, broken down by gender, 24% of males feel that it is embarrassing while only 14% of females agree. * 88% of teens are determined not to get pregnant, or not to get someone pregnant. 64% of teens wish they were receiving more information about abstinence and birth control protection. 54% of teens have never thought about how having a child would change their lives. THE FACTS The average teenager watches 3 hours of television per day which comes to 20,000 hours by the time they graduate from high school; more time than spent in the classroom. Teens list television as one of their primary sources for information about sex. 78% of all teenage dialogue on TV involves comments about their own or someone else's interest in sex. Three out of four primetime shows include some kind of sexual content. While teens might learn about the mechanics of sex from their parents and/or the classroom, they often learn sexual behavior from the media. 40% of teens say they get ideas from TV about how to talk with their partners about sexual issues. Four out of ten 15-17 year olds say they have learned a fair amount from TV about sexually transmitted diseases. 70% of parents of teens say they have had a converstation about a sexual issue with their child because of something one of them saw on a TV show. How Teens are affected by sexual health issues: In the U.S., two young people aged 13 to 24 contract HIV every hour. Half of all new HIV infections occur in young people aged 13-24. 45% of parents of 8-12 year olds say their child has at some point asked a question about sex or AIDS because of something they saw on TV. Every year, there are about 3/4 million pregnancies in the United States among teens aged 15-19, 78 percent of these pregnancies are unintended. More than 3 million Americans, including three million teens every year, are infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STDs). A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study revealed that most sexually experienced teens have never talked about STDs with a healthcare provider; 70 percent said that they have never been screened for STDs. While teens might learn infertility among 20 to 24 year old women has tripled since the 1960s, mainly due to the consequences of sexually transmitted diseases. Television is an effective medium for communicating valuable information about reproductive health issues, adolescence, and sexuality. How Teens Learn About Sex Parent-Child Communication and Sexuality Education Parents and daughters communicate far more frequently than parents and sons on sexual facts, sociosexual issues and morality. Most teens say that they would prefer to get their information about pregnancy and birth control from their parents--but less then half of teens have had such a conversation. Sex education programs have been found to increase parent-child communication about contraception. Teens who reported previous discussion of sexual matters with parents were more likely to communicate with their partner about AIDS than those who had had no such discussions. Three out of five teens say that they do not have enough information about how to use birth control, and almost half say they don't know enough about where to get birth control. In public opinion polls, more than 8 in 10 parents want sexuality education taught in high schools. Fewer than three percent of parents remove children from sexuality education classes. Seventy-four percent of adults favor condom availability in high schools and 47 percent favor condom access in jr. high schools. Only twelve states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico require sexuality education teachers to be certified. In most states, sex ed is taught by teachers of other subjects, including home economics (36 states), classroom teachers (32 states), and physical education (32 states). Beginning in 1998, and continuing until 2002, 50 million dollars from the federal government will be available to states to support programs which teach that abstinence is the only appropriate choice for adolescents and that physical and emotional harm are likely to result from premarital sex. Five states prohibit or restrict discussion of abortion in sex ed classes. Eight states require or recommend that homosexuality be discussed as an unacceptable lifestyle and/or as a criminal offense under state law. Researchers have not found that sex education increases the risk of early sexual activity. Adolescents participating in several programs that combine abstinence information about contraception have tended to delay having sex. The Facts Because young girls reach puberty at increasingly younger ages (due in part to better health and nutrition) and marriage often occurs later for many adults, young people are sexually at-risk for a much longer period of time than were young people of previous generations. Although fewer are choosing to have sex according to recent studies, the United States continues to have the HIGHEST teen sexually transmitted disease (STD) and adolescent birth rates of any industrialized nation.. Sexual Relationships and Sexual Risks In the United States, almost one-third of 15-year-olds and 71 percent of 18 year-olds have had sex. Almost one million teenage women become pregnant each year. Almost 20 percent of male teens report never using condoms, while only 30 percent use them at every sexual encounter. A sexually active teenager who does not use contraception has a 90 percent chance of pregnancy within one year. Half of teen pregnancies occur within six months of first sexual intercourse. Seventy-five percent of 15-17 year-old teen women and their partners use a contraceptive method. Teenage girls are more likely to use a family planning clinic rather than a private doctor due to confidentiality, cost and accessibility. The reasons teens most commonly reported not using contraception are: they didn't expect to have sex; they didn't think pregnancy would occur; and they didn't know where to get birth control. Each year, four million teens contract a sexually transmitted disease. In 1996, chlamydia was the most frequently reported infectious disease. Chlamydia is more common among teens than older men and women. One in four new HIV infections in the U.S. occurs in people 21 or younger. Statistics on Teen Sex -Nationally, more than half of teenagers are virgins until they are at least 17 years of age (Sex and America's Teenagers, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1994). -In the U.S., 7 in 10 women who had sex before age 14, and 6 in 10 of those who had sex before age 15 report having had sex involuntarily. (Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996). -Nationally, one-quarter of 15 year old females and less than 30% of 15 year old males have had sex, compared with 66% of 18 year old females, and 68% of 18 year old males who have had sexual intercourse. (A Statistical Portrait of Adolescent Sex, Contraception, and Childbearing, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Washington, DC, 1998). Statistics on Teen pregnancy -Nationally, nearly one million young women under age 20 become pregnant each year. That means close to 2800 teens get pregnant each day.( Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996). -Approximately 4 in 10 young women in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before turning 20 years old.( Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996). -Teen childbearing alone costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually for social services and lost tax revenues. (Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy, Prebecca Maynard (ed.), The Urban Institute, Washington, DC, 1997).