Teenage Birth And STD Rates

Studies show that the national average for an adolescent’s first sexual intercourse encounter is seventeen years old. Despite this number being very close to the average age in other industrialized countries, the United States holds a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction than those countries (Harper et al, 2010, p. 125). It’s becoming evident that while a majority of the nation’s youth is sexually active, they are not doing so with the appropriate knowledge to keep themselves and others healthy.

Teens end up getting sexually transmitted diseases because they are unaware of the consequences of unprotected sex. No abstinence-only program affected the incidence of unprotected vaginal sex (The Australian). Annually 3 million teenagers contract STDs from their partner (Robert Rector). Teens who have early sex not only suffer from STDs, they also have emotional and physical damage. Research shows that young people who become sexually

"Approximately four million teens get a sexually transmitted disease every year" (Scripps 1). Today’s numbers of sexually active teens differ greatly from that of just a few years ago. Which in return, projects that not only the risk of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) has risen, but the actual numbers of those infected rise each year as well. These changes have not gone unnoticed. In fact have produced adaptations as to how society educates its young adults about sex, using special programs, various advertising, and regulating sexual education courses in public schools. One major adaptation is the advancement and availability of

Master of Professional Health Debra Hauser states that sexual education is an essential part of the development and growth of teenagers. In her article “Youth Health and Rights in Sex Education”, MPH Hauser provides a report of teenage pregnancies and STDs incidences, which points out that each year in the United States, about 750,000 teens become pregnant, with up to 82 percent of those pregnancies being unintended. Young people ages 15-24 account for 25 percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S (Hauser). According to Hauser, “sex education teaches young people the skills they need to protect themselves”, such as the ability to recognize patterns of a toxic relationships, learning to value and have control over their bodies, understanding

The reason why STD's are so high among the youth is that some of the tactics don’t work as well as we would like. A big contributor is the scare tactic, where a parent or educator shows you the worst-case scenario of an

Since the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the U.S. in the early 1980s the issue of sex education for American youth has had the attention of the nation. There are about 400,000 teen births every year in the U.S, with about 9 billion in associated public costs. STI contraction in general, as well as teen pregnancy, have put the subject even more so on the forefront of the nation’s leading issues. The approach and method for proper and effective sex education has been hotly debated. Some believe that teaching abstinence-only until marriage is the best method while others believe that a more comprehensive approach, which includes abstinence promotion as well as contraceptive information, is necessary. Abstinence-only program curriculums disregard

Even though teenage pregnancy rates have decreased in the U.S. in recent years, the rates are far behind European countries. Studies have shown that U.S. teenagers have (a) high rates of sexual intercourse at a younger age, (b) high rates of sex without contraceptives, (c) high rates of pregnancy, (d) and high number of multiple sex partners in comparison to European countries like Sweden, France, Netherland (Bell, 2009).

Where in the first world would one expect the teen pregnancy rate to be the highest? Surprisingly, it is the United States that has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any first world country, more than double the rate of twenty other first world countries and almost ten times greater than that of Switzerland. While some of the disparity can be attributed to factors such as income inequality, the presence of abstinence only education has a major impact on birth and STD rates in the United States in comparison to other countries with more comprehensive programs. It is clear that this difference in approaches has a significant effect, and the United States needs to act to ensure the health of its citizens. Urgent actions are necessary

The report states according to the Healthy People 2020, the birth rates of 15 to 17 year olds will decline from 40 to 36 out of 1,000 and that of 18 to 19 year olds will decrease from 116 to 106 out of 1,000 by the year 2020. The national goal is also to increase the number of sexually active teens who use condoms and/or contraceptives and open the lines of communication with parents and caregivers. There are no significant state-by-state trends, the demographics are grouped in race and age. The report reflects past research as far back as 1960 and compares the higher birthrates of the nineties hundreds to the lower teen birth rates of the twenty- first century. While culture was not a factor for these statistical purposes, ethnicity

Sexually transmitted diseases are a major public health concern in America today. The Centers for Disease control estimate that sexually transmitted diseases cost the U.S. heath care system as much as $15.3 billion each year. (Dougherty, 2010) Each year 19 million people become infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Half of the people that become infected every year are between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, and may not even know they are infected. (Dougherty, 2010) One in four of the as many as 12 million new sexually transmitted disease infections that occur each year will occur in someone between the ages of 16 and 19. (Haggerty, 2009) Where by some estimates about half of all people will contract a sexually transmitted disease at some point in their life, almost no one will speak of having one. During the transition between childhood and adulthood biological development drives young people for social status. It is during these times that many teens decide that having sex is a good idea but under education about the consequences of their actions can cause unwanted results. (Haggerty, 2009) Sexually transmitted diseases can be a significant problem as young adults enter childbearing years, causing infertility and pregnancy complications (Kaestle and Waller, 2011)

Low-income students are another group of students that sexual education programs need to cater to. According to Schalet et al., (2014), low-income students make up a large proportion of public school students in the United States, as one in six of students in public schools lives in poverty. This population of students also represents a disproportionate amount of the teenage birth and STD rates (p. 1602). Due to the large amount of low-income students, and this population's tendency to experience pregnancy or STDs, it is crucial that sexual education programs address low-income students in order to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy and STDs.

Half of all new human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV infections in the United States and two thirds of all sexually transmitted diseases (STD) occur among young people under the age of 25 (Starkman, Rajani). It’s estimated that by the end of high school, nearly two thirds of American’s youth are sexually active, and one in five has had four or more sexual partners (Starkman, Rajani). Despite these alarming statistics, less than half of all public schools in the United States offer information on how to obtain contraceptives and most schools teach "abstinence only" education (Starkman, Rajani). Even more alarmingly there is little evidence that abstinence only curriculums are successful in encouraging teenagers from delaying

Compared to every other first world country, America is the highest ranking in rates of teenage pregnancies and STD contraction. What is it about the US and its approach to sexual education that produces such numbers amongst its youth? The prevailing sexuality education system in the US is abstinence-only sex education programs. Abstinence-only-until-marriage education in schools is highly destructive to its students in multiple ways.

Research Question. There were two research questions expressed in the study. One question expressed the concern if engaging in risky sexual behaviors led to a more negative outcomes in adolescence. The second question inquired on which behaviors had a link to certain negative outcomes. The hypothesis indicates that women between the ages of 20-24 (mean= 22) have a higher number of unintended birth rates and or STD’s than those of the age group from 15-19 (mean= 17) (Scott et al., 2011). The research dives in to find what brings about this difference and how it can be changed.

According to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC), sexual risk behaviors place adolescents at risk for HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and unintended pregnancy. An estimated 8,300 young people aged 13–24 years in the 40 states reporting to CDC had HIV infection in 2009. Nearly half of the 19 million new STDs each year are among young people aged 15–24 years. More than 400,000 teen girls aged 15–19 years gave birth in 2009 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). These numbers are disturbing and public health professions are always trying to find interventions and programs to prevent adolescent risky sexual behaviors. It’s important to determine the factors that influence young people’s health. According to Wright and Fullerton (2013) family structure, family connectedness, parental monitoring, and parents’ attitudes and values about sex are essential in making sure adolescent teens make the right decision about their sexual health. Sometimes when a family’s structure does not fit the norm, such as a two parent household, it can lead to the only onset of sexual intercourse. Other characteristics, such as lower socioeconomic status (SES), have also been related to earlier adolescent sexual initiation in the United States