I would like very much to make President Bush read this article, holding his eyes open Clockwork-Orange style, so girls don't end up getting pregnant.
Apparently, something about the majority of parents (or at least the adults who set policy) conveniently forget that they spent the majority of their teenage years trying to get laid. Maybe a lack of sex makes people want to keep everyone else from getting it-- I don't know. In any case, people forget that hormones overwhelm kids, making them do such crazy things as wear ruffly little skirts, listen to Mariah Carey songs, and do just about anything to get attention from the opposite sex. Telling kids not to do it is like putting a sandbag on a weak levy-- it will hold the waters back, but only for a little while.
Perhaps the most disturbing statistic is this one:
Half of teen pregnancies occur within six months of losing virginity; however, most teens don't see a doctor for contraception until they've been sexually active for about a year. Almost half of teen couples didn't use a condom during their last intercourse. As a result, 40 percent of American girls get pregnant before leaving their teens.
Forty percent? Let that sink in. Forty girls out of one hundred will get pregnant before their eighteenth birthday. Holy. Shit.
I've said it before, but kids aren't brainless. There's a lot of pressure out there to have sex. But I managed to keep it in my pants until I was ready. And when I was ready, I knew I had to use a condom because I learned it in school. I'm not advocating that ten year-olds should be having sex, but I think that if kids are going to do it, they should be aware of their options. I agree with Dr. Sanghavi-- encourage abstinence, but explain how contraception works.
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