Vast majority who do have sex use contraception.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Teenagers are having less sex these days, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report revealed that the number of teenagers having sex is the lowest it has been in 25 years, and the vast majority of teens who do have sex use contraceptives.
In its survey of about 2,000 adolescents, all aged 15 to 19, the CDC found that 2013, 44 percent of teenage girls surveyed said they had experienced sex, compared to 51 percent in 1988. For teenage boys, the drop was more drastic. In 1988, 60 percent reported they’d had sex compared to only 47 percent in 2013, according to CBS San Francisco.
“Teenagers are doing more of the right thing,†Bill Albert, the chief program officer of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, informed the Boston Herald. “More are delaying sex, and more of them are using contraception consistently and carefully — the only two things that matter with teen pregnancy.â€
Dr. Brooke Bokor, an Adolescent Medicine Specialist at the Children’s National Health System believes teens are better educated about sex than ever before, especially since the advent of the internet.
“They’re looking on the web,†Bokor told the Washington Post. “They’re looking for guidance from parents, guardians and physicians. They can and will make positive decisions for their own health, both sexual and otherwise.â€
The study also found that teens who waited until they were at least 18- or 19-years-old before having sex were more likely to use contraception the first time they did, possibly because they were more educated about sex and pregnancy, said Gladys M. Martinez, statistician at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and one of the authors of the report.
“First sex is a very key point because it sets you up on a trajectory of what you’re likely to do later on,” Martinez added while speaking to CNN.