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Questions On Sexuality And Sexual Health

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STAGE 1 HEALTH • SACE No. 455219T
Issues Analysis: Sexuality and Sexual Health
TEEN PREGNANCY – By Emily Downing

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 1981 the birthrate for women aged 15-19 was 28.2 births per 1000 women in that age bracket. In 2012, the birthrate for the same age bracket was 16.1 per 1000 women. As seen in the graph below, over that time the birthrate for teens has been declining with no significant peaks.
Above: Graph depicting progression of fertility rates (the number of births per 1000 women) for specific age brackets over time.
The teenage birthrate decline in Australia is due to a wide variety of factors. These are things such as changes to what teenagers learn in school, and the expectation that…show more content…
Schools can choose to have their own courses internally, where they have their own teachers run the classes, or they have the option to bring in teachers from a company that specialises exclusively in teaching sex education, such as Sex Education Australia. These companies are usually sponsored or funded by their state government. There are also numerous easily accessible online resources that teens can find in the safety of their own homes, a comfortable environment that they can feel safe in. Like in many other areas, the internet and the development of new technologies has revolutionised the way students can learn, and the way teachers can educate. The large database of the world wide web is at the fingertips of nearly every teenager, and if used correctly it can be an invaluable information source for teens without access to good sex education.

Teenagers in the 1980s had very few places to go for information if their health teacher was insufficient, especially if they wished to be discrete about their search for knowledge. In most places back then it was considered the norm that a teenager 's parents would be the ones to educate them on how to be safely sexually active. This was not a totally reliable method of educating young people, due to the fear felt by many parents and children alike regarding the extremely embarrassing 'Birds and the Bees ' conversation. Pop culture
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