ACPeds
Parent Talk
Keeping parents up to date on the latest news in child and teen health
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According to
data
recently released by
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), teen birth rates have dropped to an all-time low!
The report showed that 60% of teens surveyed had never had sex, making teens less likely to have sex today than they were 25 years ago.
While this is good news, there is still plenty to be done because
about 4 in 10 American teen girls will still get pregnant at least once before age 20
, amounting to nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year.
Teen pregnancy is a major public health issue, nationally and globally. According to the
CDC
, “the
children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and to dropout of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult.
”
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Parents, teachers, and pediatricians need to do their part in reducing and preventing teen pregnancy.
What can parents do?
Parents, guardians, and caregivers can do wonders by just talking with their teens about sex. It can sometimes be uncomfortable but once you get past the discomfort, you’ll be so glad you did.
Research
shows that
when parents talk to their children about sexuality their children have sex at a later age and have better communication with their future romantic partners
.
- If your teen is already sexually active, encourage him or her to choose celibacy.
- If abstinence and celibacy are absolutely not an option, then encourage your teen to use effective birth control methods to prevent pregnancy along with condoms to protect against (most but not all) sexually transmitted diseases.
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What can teachers do?
Teachers should keep the lines of communication open between themselves and their students’ parents.
- Notice a teen is displaying promiscuous behavior, especially behavior that could potentially be dangerous to the teen? Let the parents know.
- See a child exhibiting sexual behaviors at an extremely young age? Talk to the parents about your concerns because the child may have experienced sexual abuse or been exposed to sexually explicit media.
- Know your class will receive a sex ed presentation? Welcome the parents to attend and encourage them to talk to their kids about their own values and beliefs when it comes to sex. Also, whenever possible, advocate for sexual risk avoidance education instead comprehensive sex education.
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Kids and teens spend most of their time at school so teachers are in a great position to serve as an advocate for children and families in the classroom
.
What can pediatricians do?
Pediatricians especially can ask their teen patients about their sexual activity and if the patient is sexually active, the pediatrician can encourage the parents and the teens to learn more about...
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A call to action
In a 2010 CDC
study
, researchers found that,
“the most common reason for not having sex was that it was ‘against religion or morals,.’ The second and third most common reasons for females were ‘‘don’t want to get pregnant’’ and ‘‘haven’t found the right person yet’.’’
This goes to show that teens are thinking about their decision to have sex and parents have the greatest capacity to influence their thinking.
If you feel a certain way about sex, tell them. If your religious beliefs have certain standards about sex, share them.
Even if for whatever reason you don’t care if your children become sexually active, you still need to talk to them about “safe” sex (which really isn’t that safe) and healthy relationships
. Talk to them about your experiences, your expectations, your thoughts on abortion, and please don’t leave out information about the different venereal diseases that are affecting young people every single day.
For more information
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American College of Pediatricians | admin@acpeds.org | www.acpeds.org | 352-376-1877
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