14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that nowadays girls do not get fooled so easily anymore. A new report revealed that currently, less high school students are having sex, and condom use is on the rise. This triggered a record for the fewest teen pregnancies.
Now more young people are also finishing high school and more little kids are being read to, as found by this governmental approach on the well-being of the nation's children. "The implications for the population are quite positive in terms of their health and their well-being. The lower figure on teens having sex means the risk of sexually transmitted diseases is lower," said Edward Sondik, director of the National Center for Health Statistics.
In 2005, 47 % of high school students (6.7 million) stated to have had sexual intercourse, a decrease compared to 54 % in 1991, and this rate has remained constant since 2003. A 2005 investigation found that of those who had sex during a three-month period, 63 % (9 million) used condoms, a rise from 46 % in 1991.
"The teen birth rate was 21 per 1,000 young women ages 15-17 in 2005 - an all-time low. It was down from 39 births per 1,000 teens in 1991," said the report. "This is very good news. Young teen mothers and their babies are at a greater risk of both immediate and long-term difficulties.", said Sondik.
The birth rate in the 15-19 age category was 40/1,000 in 2005, also a significant drop from the previous decade. "Education campaigns that started years ago are having a significant effect. I think the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the efforts in the '80s and '90s had a lot to do with that. We need to encourage young teens to delay sexual initiation and we need to make sure they get all the information they need about condoms and birth control," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based nonprofit group that focuses on prevention of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The report was made gathering information from statistics and studies at 22 federal agencies.