Most Conception Ain’t Immaculate
As the father of two sexually mature daughters, the onset of their sexual activity would be of concern to me as it would to any adult. But unlike too many parents, I refused to fall into the trap of just promoting saying “NO!” when sexual activity beckons. Why? Saying “NO!” won’t work with teens and sex any better than it did with Bush and the invasion of Iraq.
I still remember what it was like being that young, in spite of my advanced years, maybe because that part of my life is still more pleasant than some of my later experiences.
But that aside, I still remember the issues involved in deciding when I was going to begin sexual activity. One thing that I also remember is that those girls I knew who did get pregnant early tended to have very religious parents who stuck very closely to the “NO!” paradigm.
One has to wonder why the daughters didn’t listen. Could there have been a better course for the parents to follow?
Recent research indicates that the correct answer to this question is “YES!”
According to the results of a study conducted by Dr. John S. Santelli of Columbia University, pregnancy rates for 15 to 19-year-old girls fell by 27% between 1991 and 2000, and 38% between 1995 and 2002.
What brought about this parentally-marvelous event? It wasn’t saying “NO!”
The study found that 86% of the decrease was due to improved use of contraception methods. Just 14% of the drop in conception among this age group since 1995 had been because they had abstained. What this indicates is that teens have been heeding the message that if they won’t abstain, then they should be smart about sex.
“NO!” parents are still ignoring the evidence that they are shouting into the winds of change. A spokeswoman for the national abstinence campaign leader group Focus on the Family said she could not comment on the study because the organization had not seen it. But, she said:
“If sexuality education is taught in a condom-plus-abstinence format, the message is mixed and nondirective. Students are left confused as to the best health choice.”
According to this educator, teens, unlike their blindly moralistic parents, aren’t all that confused:
“It is remarkable that teens are becoming better contraceptors even as there are efforts afoot to reduce the information and skill-building that they receive about contraception,” said Freya L. Sonenstein, a professor and director of the Center for Adolescent Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Some of this information has to be coming from the elder sisters of teen girls, or even from media star role models such as Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johansson, who has been among President George Bush’s critics on the issue. She was quoted by Cosmopolitan magazine recently:
“We are supposed to be liberated in America, but if our president had his way, we wouldn’t be educated about sex at all. Every woman would have six children, and we wouldn’t be able to have abortions.”
There is scientific support for her contentions being the correct ones:
“The current emphasis of US domestic and global policies, which stress abstinence-only sex education to the exclusion of accurate information on contraception, is misguided,” warn doctors in a report just released online by the American Journal of Public Health. [See abstract of this report here.]
Lest American studies be tainted by liberal thought, one can look across the pond at a parallel British study which found similar results. England’s teenage pregnancy rate is at its lowest for 20 years.
Gill Frances, chairwoman of Britain’s Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, said, “It is a myth that abstinence is a better approach and this US study confirms … that providing young people with good information, advice and contraceptive services, is the way to reduce teenage pregnancy.”
One should use one’s God-given mind and understand what this study has learned. Dr. C. Everett Koop’s website puts the lesson into understandable Red State ‘Mer’kin:
“Abstinence promotion is a worthwhile goal, particularly among younger teenagers; however, the scientific evidence shows that, in itself, it is insufficient to help adolescents prevent unintended pregnancies,” the researchers wrote.
Family planning professionals agree. Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said it was clear that the abstinence-only approach to sex and relationships did not work.
“If we are expecting young people to make responsible decisions about their sexual health, they need information and support to do it. Robust contraception services, comprehensive sex and relationship education and a mature attitude to young people’s sexuality are the key components in bringing down teenage pregnancy. Simply telling them not to have sex isn’t enough.”
So far, this post seems to indicate that those promoting abstinance have no role to play in preparing their teens to wait until they are ready for sex. That isn’t the case at all:
“While it may be useful to think about the delay of sexual activity and increased contraceptive use as unrelated behaviors, research tells us that the older teens are at sexual initiation, the more likely they are to use contraception,” Sonenstein said. “Thus, prevention efforts should emphasize both the need to reduce sexual activity and to use contraception when activity occurs.”
What “NO!” parents might want to look into is where their teens get motivated to indulge in sex before they are ready. Are they, for example, being inspired by their media idols’ behavior in their real or stage lives? Is the pervasiveness of sex-as-advertising having an effect? Or, most importantly, is their relationship with their kids as close and as open as it could be?
What it looks like to me is that parents who feel strongly about morality-only abstinence ignore the fact that their children are growing up and have legitimate questions regarding sexuality and reproduction. They deserve to have their questions honestly answered, for the knowledge they gain will serve them in good stead all of their reporductive lives. An informed understanding of the consequences of sexual activity will make it much easier - and much more self-explanatory - to understand why delay is desirable than just saying “NO!”
The best part is, “NO!” will then emanate from within the teen until it really is time to start - by any standard.
There’s information on the hazards of teen pregnancy at the March of Dimes website.