The Decline Of Gender Vs. The Hook-Up Culture

In recent years, the exact definition of the term “hooking-up” has been one that has puzzled many individuals.

There is presently much controversy regarding teen pregnancy, considering that many countries in the developed world experience a rise in adolescent pregnancies in spite of the fact that effective programs are installed in these areas. Teen pregnancy has been a major issue in Los Angeles in the recent years, but the fact that state authorities have been actively involved in combating the problem has generated positive results. It is probable that the struggle for abstinence and the practice of safe sex have become less important for high school students in Los Angeles in the last few years, taking into account that teen pregnancy rates have gone up significantly.

Over the last few decades the rates in teen pregnancy have been a debate; did they rise over the past few years or did they actually decline? Contrary to some doctors and politicians the numbers associated with teen pregnancy have decline over the last couple of years. Although there are still people out there who believe this to be an issue it’s made more of an issue than it actually is. The ads and commercials are set out to scare teen-agers into believing that were at an all time high for this issue, but realistically its actually the exact opposite. Teen pregnancy rates haven’t dropped on there over the course of the years. There are a few major factors that have contributed a great deal to this change. Those changes include but are not limited to: more resources being available to these teenagers to prevent themselves from becoming pregnant, society is more open to talking about this issue as well as the religion and culture change aspect of families today. Despite the beliefs of others, teen pregnancy rates are at an all time low for the first time in decades.

In the last decade or so, however, the growing awareness of the dangers of AIDS does appear to have contributed to a decline in the rates of sexual intercourse among teens. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that between 1991 and 2005 the percentage of teenagers who are sexually active dropped from 57.4 percent to 46.3 percent among males and from 50.8 percent to 44.9 percent among females. The rates of pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted disease among teens have actually dropped even faster than the rate of sexual activity. So it appears that, in addition to postponing sex, teens are also becoming more responsible in their sexual activities. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 87.5 percent of teens were either abstinent or used condoms. Of course, that means that 12.5 percent of teens were still having unprotected sex, but that is a significant improvement over past decades. Similarly, although the rate of teen pregnancy has declined, more than 11 percent of the babies born in the United States

Increased accessibility to birth control in addition to proper sexual education and understanding the risks of STDs is responsible for the decline in overall teenage pregnancy.

Statistics from recent studies suggest that only 13% of U.S. teens have ever had sex by the age of 15. But by the age of 19, seven in ten teens of both sexes have had sex. Between 1995 and 2006-2008, the percentage of teens aged 15-17 who had ever engaged in sexual intercourse declined from 38% to 28%. Among teens aged 18-19, it declined from 68% in 1995 to 60% in 2006-2008. The pregnancy rate among young women has declined steadily from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in 1990 to 70 per 1,000 in 2005. However in 2006, the rate increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising to

The culture one comes from and the way they are brought up affects the way they ultimately look at love and sexuality. The influences around us can be strong enough to alter our view on this subject matter and the way we comply to certain actions. The socializing agents that affect a person include religion, media and education. Each of these factors has a strong effect on our decisions but can also be a source of confusion. These institutions can have contrasting views when it comes to the way they view sexuality and what they expect from people.

While parents would like their children to wait as long as possible to begin having sex, the reality is that teens are having sex much younger than many parents think. Some teens, or preteens, begin having sex or engaging in sexual behavior in junior high. By the time they are seniors in high school, an estimated 65 percent of teens have had sex, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007. (Dawn, 2009). Unfortunately, a percentage of those teens will become pregnant. After more than a decade and a half of decline (a 27 percent drop from 1991 to 2000), teen birth rates rose again in 2006, which was the last year for which data are available. It is still unclear on what caused teen birth rates to rise again, with supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs and contraception-based programs each blaming the other side for the increase. However, a 2007 study in the Journal of American Public Health attributed the trend in decreasing pregnancy rates to improved contraception use among teens during that time. (Anderson Orr, 2009).

Over the years, the rate of adolescent pregnancy in the United States has been declining by nearly 40% since the 1990’s. (Brown, 2016) Adolescent pregnancy rates have decreased across the nation for adolescents belonging to any racial and ethnic group. (Brown, 2016) It seems that adolescents are making smarter decisions considering that there is 77% decline in pregnancy risk. Adolescent pregnancy risk is positively correlated with greater use of condoms by 58% and birth control methods by 39%.

Teenage pregnancy and disease have not only created a problem for the US in the past, but have also created a problem that the US still struggles with today. For example as early as 1988, “50% of female adolescents and 60% of male adolescents 15 to 19 years of age had engaged in sexual intercourse, more than 1 in 10 teenage girls was pregnant, and 1 in 6 sexually experienced teens had a sexually transmitted

According to the Guttmacher Institute, teen sex statistics have been steadily decreasing since the 1980s (purple). Contraceptive use between the ages of 15-19 has increased from 48% in 1982 to 78% between 2006-2010 (purple). There is a correlation between increased condom use in the states and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the

While the rate of pregnancy in 15-19 year olds has been declining (59.9 births per 1000 women in 1990 to 24.2 births per 1000 women in 2014 (Office of Adolescent Health)), it is still quite high when compared to other developed areas of the world such as Europe. The reasons for rates of teen pregnancy is a complex issue with many causes, however, the leading causes for high rates for teen pregnancy are a lack of contraception availability and lack of knowledge (such as from fact based, comprehensive sexual education). The US is lacking in both (Berk). While nearly all US states teach about the benefits of abstinence, many states do not teach about other effective means

Recent studies have shown that pregnancy rates have declined from 117 out of a 1000 to 64 out of 1000 teens over a teen year period (Nihira, 2012). Not only has it declined but it is becoming brought out more to the public attention how many children are coming out they are pregnant. A couple of reasons why it is declining attributes to the rise of parents giving a more clear “birds and bees” talk. All parents have to go through the talk with their children and depending on if they explain the consequences of growing up to soon most will never know until it occurs (Czarnecki, 2008). The attention of HIV/aids has also helped the decrease in teen pregnancy due to the fact couples are engaging in safe sex more the ever with proper

The United States has one of the highest rates when it comes to teen pregnancy, and one of the highest rates of teen births. It is also a known fact that one in four teenage girls in the U.S. has a sexually transmitted infection (Richards1). In order to lower these pregnancy rates and STD rates, teens

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.