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We combed through some of the best pregnancy prevention and sex education sites for teens to bring you a little over 50 things you should know about staying safe and avoiding pregnancy – from the basics to the myths to important statistics:
Pregnancy & Teen Parenting
- You CAN get pregnant or cause pregnancy the first time you have sex.
- Girls CAN get pregnant during their periods.
- Girls CAN get pregnant even before they’ve had their periods the first time.
- Any time a girl and a guy have vaginal intercourse, there’s a risk of pregnancy. No time of the month is completely safe.
- About 900,000 teens experience a pregnancy each year, and most of them are unintended.
- 3 in 10 teen girls in the US will get pregnant at least once before age 20.
- Parenthood is the leading reason why teen girls drop out of school.
- Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer than 2% earn a college degree by age 30.
- Children of teen mothers do worse in school than those born to older parents—they are 50% more likely to repeat a grade, are less likely to complete high school than the children of older mothers, and have lower performance on standardized tests.
- About one-fourth of teen moms have a second child within 24 months of the first birth—which can further delay their ability to finish school or keep a job.
- 8 out of 10 fathers don’t marry the mother of their child. It’s also true that these absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support, often because they are poor themselves and can’t afford legitimate support payments.
- More than half of all mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager. In fact, two-thirds of families begun by a young, unmarried mother are poor.
- Children who live apart from their fathers are 5 times more likely to be poor than children with both parents at home.
- The daughters of young teen mothers are 3 times more likely to become teen mothers themselves.
- The sons of teen mothers are twice as likely to end up in prison.
Abstinence
- Abstinence is the only 100% foolproof way to avoid STIs and pregnancy.
- In 2003 and 2005, 53% of U.S. high school students reported never having had sexual intercourse, up from 46% in 1991.
- Besides pregnancy or STIs, other reasons to wait to have sex include waiting for the right guy or girl, better things to do with your time, against your religious beliefs, want to make sure you’re in a lasting relationship first, or just don’t feel like you’re ready yet.
- More than half of teen guys report that they’re relieved when a girl says she wants to wait.
- 2/3 say they could be happy in a relationship that doesn’t include sex.
- 75% of guys ages 15-18 said they’d rather “wait to lose their virginity with someone they love” compared to 24% who said they would prefer to “lose their virginity as soon as possible.”
- 66% said they would rather “have a girlfriend but NOT have sex” while just 34% said they would prefer “having sex but not have a girlfriend.”
- 3 out of 4 teens don’t think it’s embarrassing to admit to being a virgin.
- In the United States, the typical age at first sexual intercourse is 17. In Canada, the typical age at first sex is 17.3; in Great Britain, it is 17.5. In the Netherlands, the typical age at first sex is 17.7; in France, it is 18.0.
- Most teens who have already had sex wish they had waited.
Contraception
- Though abstinence is the only 100% foolproof way to avoid STIs and pregnancy, modern contraceptives are highly effective.
- Hormonal forms of contraceptive release specific amount of hormones and prevents a woman from ovulating (releasing an egg for fertilization). If no egg is released, pregnancy can’t occur. However, these methods do not protect against STIs. Examples include the pill, patch, shot, and ring. Also, these require a prescription, which are available through a doctor’s office or clinic. These methods only work for girls.
- Barrier forms of contraception act as a wall to keep the sperm from reaching the egg; they also can prevent STIs. There are barrier methods for boys and girls: male and female condoms. Both can be purchased at a drugstore without a prescription.
- For more info on contraception, visit the websites of our sources listed below.
STIs and STDs
- About 3 million teens get a sexually transmitted infection every year.
- Half of all STIs occur in people 25 years of age or younger.
- The U.S. has one of the highest rates of STDs among adolescents.
- STIs can be transmitted during any kind of sex.
- Some STIs can be treated and will go away, but others are incurable.
- For more info on contraception, visit the websites of our sources listed below.
Abuse
- 17% of teens ages 13 to 18 who have had sex say they have done something while under the influence of drugs or alcohol that they might not have done while sober. It’s hard to make good decisions about sex when you’re drunk or high.
- 95% of teen rape victims are assaulted by someone they know – 65% by an acquaintance or friend and 20% by a family member.
- Half of teen girls who have experienced sexual pressure report they are afraid the relationship would end if they did not give in.
- Nearly 1 in 4 girls who have been in a relationship (23%) reported going further sexually than they wanted as a result of pressure.
- 1 in 5 guys say they’ve been pressured by a girl to go further sexually than they wanted to.
- 1 in 5 teens say that most of their friends are in unhealthy relationships – without love, respect, trust, and honesty. Sex isn’t the most important part of a healthy relationship.
- If you’re in an abusive relationship, contact the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline at 1-866-331-9474 (1-866-331-8453 for the hearing impaired) or online at www.loveisrespect.org. They offer help 24/7 immediate, confidential assistance where you can find support as well as referrals to local resources in your hometown to provide you with the help that you need.
Communicating with your parents
- Teens who are close to their parents are 2.7 times LESS likely to engage in sex than teens who are not close to parents.
- Discussing HIV with parents decreases the likelihood that teens will engage in unprotected sexual intercourse.
- Only 54% of students reported discussing HIV with their parents.
- 83% of teens don’t talk to their parents about sex because they’re “worried about their parent’s reaction.”
- More teens say they would prefer to get information about birth control from their parents than those who say they would prefer to get information from health centers, classes, hospitals, private doctors, television, or friends. But, about half have never talked with a parent about condoms or other birth control methods.
- 3 out of 5 teens say that “the average teen” does not have enough information about how to use birth control and almost half say teens don’t know enough about where to get birth control.
For lots more great information, visit our sources: Advocates For Youth, The Media Project, Stay Teen, I wanna know, Sex, Etc.
