10 Captivating Facts COVERED About Contraception And Sex Education
You WILL be shocked by these intriguing facts about sex education and how it relates to contraceptive use in America, especially in the lives of adolescents! I hope to inform YOU on some of the information teenagers today lack, so wrap yourself around this!
1. The majority of parents of school-aged children are in favor of both comprehensive sex education and abstinence education during the middle school years! (The more information taught in school, they less they have to teach their own kid!!)
The parents' view on what sex education should be like in public school differs from what the reality is of sex education in public school. The majority of parents (89.3%) with at least one child aged 5 to 18 believe that both abstinence and other ways of protecting from pregnancy and STDs should be taught in middle school. A little under 10% believe only abstinence should be taught in schools, and about 1% believe neither should be taught in schools at all. There was a slight preference of comprehensive sex education over abstinence, because of the belief about how effective the information would be on the child. Almost three quarters of parents believed that comprehensive sex education would influence adolescents to use contraception if they decided to have intercourse.
In addition, nearly universal agreements were made about the importance of parenting responsibility (95.9%), and teaching reproductive anatomy (98.6%). The more controversial topics even were voted to be taught in schools, with 66.6% of parents in favor of sexual orientation education and 63.4% of parents in favor of abortion education. With the exception of puberty development, in which parents preferred to be taught in the elementary years, and abortion, preferred in the high school years, the majority of parents wished for this information to be taught in grades 6 to 8. Parents also prefer that sex education goes into the topics of rape, how to get tested for STDs, condom use, and homosexuality.
Eisenberg, Marla E., Debra H. Bernat, Linda H. Bearinger, and Michael D. Resnick. "Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Perspectives from Parents of School-Age Youth." Journal of Adolescent Health 42.4 (2008): 352-59. Web. 31 July 2014.
2. Sex education in school does not influence adolescents’ decisions to have sexual activity or to stay abstinent! (Especially after the lesson on STDs!!)
One may wonder about the potential dangers of giving adolescents information on safe sex; maybe that they will think it's okay or that nothing can go wrong. However, research disproves this assumption. The way to prove this is to test the likelihood of people to have sex who have had sexual education prior to their first intercourse versus those who did not have sexual education prior to first intercourse. There was found to be no association between sex education and the act of sex, with the exception of one subgroup of 18-19 year old white women. This subgroup showed a higher rate of sexual activity from those who had not had instruction (71%) compared to those who had instruction (55%).
Moreover, it has been shown that the pregnancy rates are lower for young women who have had sex education. These women have been taught their options of contraception and the correct way to use contraception. The question of if the rates are lower because sex education courses result in greater contraceptive use or whether these courses tend to attract teenagers who would have used contraceptives is still unanswered. What is known for a fact, though, is that sex education is not linked to increased sexual activity but is associated with higher, more effective contraceptive use.
The biggest factors that influence adolescents to have sex are peers and the media. Teenagers of 13 to 18 admit that they are most likely to get information about sex from their friends. Also, abstinent teens are more likely to be friends with other abstinent teens, and vice versa of those who have sex. Teenagers who have sex have an increased likelihood of believing that most of their friends or people in their school have sex too, even if they do not know for sure. As for the media, over half of the shows on television today display some form of sexual content, yet not all of it is detrimental. Many high school students have reported that they have learned about responsible sex and pregnancy prevention from television. Unfortunately, about 25% of adolescents have reported that they have seen unwanted pornography on the internet that they did not want to find. Many images and videos are available all over the internet to adolescents.
Zelnik, Melvin, and Young J. Kim. "Sex Education and Its Association with Teenage Sexual Activity, Pregnancy, and Contraceptive Use." Family Planning Perspectives 13.3 (1982): 117-26. Web. 1 Aug. 2014.
3. The approach the Netherlands takes to sex education is more effective than the United States’ approach! (You win this time, Netherlands)
The Netherlands and the United States have two very different opposing views on teenage sexuality. The Netherlands tends to normalize teenage sexuality, the parents of Dutch teenagers are more accepting of their wants and desires for sexual activity with a trusted partner. In fact, it is common for a sexual partner to sleep with the teenager overnight when the parent is familiar with him or her. Boys and girls are equally as likely to be able to spend the night. In the Netherlands, sex is an open topic for discussion. Teenagers there are given extensive information about contraceptive usage and safe ways to have sex. Dutch health care policies removed barriers, such as pelvic examinations and consent from parents, so that contraceptives were more readily available to the public. Real behavior and teenage sex life is realized in the Netherlands; therefore instead of trying to prevent it and force abstinence upon them, helpful information about have sex in a safe, responsible way is the alternate course of action. In most cases, sex in the Netherlands is performed in a monogamous, healthy relationship. Two thirds of 15 to 17 year olds and three quarters of 18 to 20 year olds reported their last sexual encounter to be in a relationship. A survey released in 2005 shows that the Dutch teenagers felt their first sexual experience was "well-timed, within their control, and fun."
In America, teenage sexuality is viewed very differently. Parents take a more stern, oppressive approach when it comes to the timing of their children's first sexual encounter. The majority of American parents do not allow a boyfriend or girlfriend to spend the night, especially when their child is a girl. They believe the child should be separated from home before they begin having sex. A common phrase of the American parent would be "not under my roof!" This shows how they feel a responsibility to keep the child sex-free, at least until they are independent. In addition, American parents find it hard to believe that teenagers have the ability to fall in love, therefore feeling the need to stop the action themselves so that their children don't perform sexual activity before they are ready. This may be related to the reason that American girls get labels such as "slut" when having sex as a teenager, and Dutch teenage girls do not. People in the Netherlands believe that the Dutch girls are in love with the boy whom they have sex with, and people in America cannot fathom that the American teenage girl really feels love. Sex is not an open, discussable topic as it is in the Netherlands, and contraception is not as readily available for those who do want to have sex. Sex education in America is more focused on teaching teenagers to stay abstinent, rather than teaching teenagers how to have safe sex. Consequently, American teenagers are not informed about contraception and how to use and obtain it. This is the reason America has a higher percentage of unwanted pregnancy in comparison to the Netherlands.
Schalet, Amy. "Sex, Love, and Autonomy in the Teenage Sleepover." Contexts 9. (2010): 16-21.Web. 2 Aug. 2014.
4. Over half of young men and a quarter of young women show unawareness of effective contraception use! (How can it work if no one ever taught you? We're not born with this knowledge!)
This one may be quite a shock! Men in particular show extreme gaps of insight about the major types of contraceptives. Frost, Lindberg, and Finer's particular study graded young men and women on their knowledge of contraceptives, and half of the women and 20% men received an A or B, 25% of women and 60% of men received a D or F. Over 50% of young men and 25% of young women admitted to knowing little to nothing about the four main forms of birth control (the condom, the pill, injections, and the IUD- intrauterine device, which is a small t-shaped device inserted into the uterus). Furthermore, it is highly agreeable among both genders that social norms coincide yet shield against unintended pregnancy. Almost 9 in 10 men and women say that their friends think birth control is important. However, these young people admit that contraceptives can sometimes be a bother. About a quarter say that using a condom every time to have sex is a hassle, and 2 in 5 said that using birth control every time does not matter.
These American statistics show that young people are not correctly informed of risks and the importance of contraceptive use. Some useful information is available about a few of the myths about contraception that you may have heard from unreliable friends, who may not be fully informed. For example, some young women may not want to go on the pill simply because a friend blamed their 15 pound weight gain on the pill. However, the estrogen and progesterone are in very small doses in today's birth control pills, so this is not a reason to abstain from using the pill. The advantages and statistics of the pill exceed the disadvantages. It is more effective than the condom and less of a hassle when in the position of initiating sex.
False information is one of the biggest reasons our statistics of unintended pregnancy as a country is so much higher than those countries who accept teenage sex. The fact that 40% of young people say that using contraception for every sex act is not important should raise awareness about the amount of information not getting transferred between professionals and those who are ignorant on the subject. This unawareness can and should be fixed with better sex education techniques all over the country!
Frost, Jennifer J., Laura Duberstein Lindberg, and Lawrence B. Finer. "Young Adults' Contraceptive Knowledge, Norms and Attitudes: Associations with Risk Of Unintended Pregnancy." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 44.2 (2012): 107-16. Web. 31 July 2014.
5. Essentially all (99%) sexually active women have used at least one form of contraception! (Can you [plan]B elieve that?!)
It may be hard to believe, but it's true! 99.1% of sexually active women aged 15 to 44 in the United States have used some form of contraception at least one time in their lives. However, this does not mean that these women use contraception consistently and currently. As of 2010, 62% of women are currently using at least one of 22 forms of contraception, with the pill and female sterilization being tied for the most popular and then the use of a condom. As age increases, so does contraceptive use. At the time of this study, 31% of teenagers from 15 to 19 use contraception regularly, and 75% of women in their forties use contraception. The pill is more common to teenagers whereas female sterilization is more common for older women. Women who are at risk for unintended pregnancy (meaning that have had sexual intercourse in the past 3 months without the use of contraception) were more commonly found to use contraception, however 1 in 10 do not. The more births one has had, the less commonly found to be using birth control. 7% of women with two or more births were not using contraception, compared to 17% with one birth and 14% with no births.
Daniels, Kimberly, and William D. Mosher. "Contraceptive Methods Women Have Ever Used, United States, 1892-2010." National Health Statistics Reports 62 (n.d.): 1-15. Web. 2 Aug. 2014.
6. Regular church attendance has an inverse relationship with sexual intercourse! (Unhappy nuns intimidate me too, I don't blame other religious adolescents!)
Religion plays a big role in determining how likely certain religiously affiliated groups of people are to engage in premarital sex, and how likely they are to use contraception. Higher church attendance calls for lower likelihood of early sexual intercourse among Catholics and Protestants. Even after marital age, race, and education is taken into consideration, the relationship still holds strong. However, the correlation between the Protestant's attendance of church and their use of contraception is insignificant. Unlike Protestants, regular church attendance of Catholics has an effect that lowers their use of contraception. Catholics are less likely to use the pill, but more likely to use the condom or sterilization. 40% of Catholics who have low church attendance use the pill, while only 28% who have high church attendance use the pill. High church attendance refers to those who attend church once or more than once a month, and low attendance refers to those who attend less than once a month. It can be inferred that females have a higher level of religiosity (religious intensity or commitment) because those Catholics with higher church attendance seem to use male contraceptives more often than female contraception. Women may feel greater guilt for being on the pill, so instead use a condom to prevent sperm from the man's penis. The extent to which Catholics receive communion when going to church is also taken into perspective. The Catholics who take communion once a month or more have lower levels of sexual intercourse, higher levels of male sterilization and use of condoms, and lower levels of females taking the pill. Thus, those who are more committed to their religion are less likely to engage in sexual activity and more likely to use male contraceptives than female contraceptives.
In a further study from Ohio, individual African-American teenagers were interviewed about their church attendance and sexual activity/drug use. The involvement in jeopardous behavior caused teen church attendance to drop from 46 to 33 percent in the high school years. Different genders had different effects when their involvement in the church increased; girls were more likely to abstain from sex and boys were more likely to abstain from drinking alcohol.
Goldscheider, Calvin, and William D. Mosher. "Patterns of Contraceptive Use in the United States: The Importance of Religious Factors." Studies in Family Planning 22.2 (1991): 102. Web. 2 Aug. 2014
7. Ambivalence about evading pregnancy is strongly related to the lack of contraception use! (You've got to want it!! [not getting pregnant, that is.])
Oftentimes women have a difficult time adhering to a form of birth control and consistently using the method for a long period of time. Many admit to having unprotected sex during a gap in their use of a contraceptive. A way of examining why so many women have trouble with a constant form of birth control even though they do not want to get pregnant is to take a look at their attitudes towards pregnancy prevention and their experience with contraception. There was a strong relationship between ambivalence about avoiding pregnancy and gaps and nonuse of contraceptives. This sometimes led to contraception failures because condoms or pills were not used carefully and correctly. The discontinuation of a method of contraception was commonly caused by dissatisfaction with a particular method, and the more ambivalent the woman was to pregnancy the less likely she would switch to a new method. Instead, many times women will discontinue a method and stay off birth control. Because these unsatisfied women are seven times more likely to discontinue their method, they should be targeted for assistance to guide them to a more feasible method. The woman who are at the lowest risk for an unintended pregnancy are those who are not in a relationship, have infrequent sex, or are at an older age. However, these factors combined with ambivalence towards an unintended pregnancy increases the likelihood of one. These women are at risk for having an unplanned pregnancy at some point although it may not be soon. In 2004, Only 40% of sexually active women have kept the same method for the entire year, and another 40% stopped or started another method during the year. 15% were on and off because of either pregnancy or sexual inactivity. 8% were not using contraception at all. More women who began the year using a traditional method, such as a condom, rather than a hormonal method, such as the pill, had a tendency to participate in more unprotected sex, 21% versus 12%. Among women who reported that avoiding an unplanned pregnancy was very important to them, less than 20% had any unprotected sex within that year. Clearly, attitudes toward having an unplanned pregnancy greatly influences how likely one is to stop using contraception or have a gap during the usage. If you are not prepared or intending to get pregnant, it is important to find a method that works for you and stick with it. The longer the gap or the more inconsistent your use of contraception, the higher chance you are to have an unplanned pregnancy.
Frost, Jennifer J., Susheela Singh, and Lawrence B. Finer. "Factors Associated with Contraceptive Use and Nonuse, United States, 2004." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 39.2 (2007): 90-99. Web. 1 Aug. 2014.
8. It's quite the failure if you dont know the failure rates on the different types of contraception! (The one you never thought would let you down... Who can you trust these days!?)
Obviously using contraception is a better option than not using it when you're not trying to get pregnant, but it is important to be aware of how likely your method will fail! The safest method of all is the IUD. It lasts for an astounding time period of 12 years! Not only that, but the failure rate is only 1%. It must be inserted by a heath care professional and is costly up front, 500 to 1000 dollars, but is worth it because of the effectiveness and the duration of protection. The NuvaRing also has a 1% failure rate, it can be inserted by the woman using it, however if not used correctly the failure rate can rise to 9%. It can stay in the vagina for three weeks, then must be taken out for a week and replaced by a new one, and it costs about 15 to 80 dollars per month. The next safest method is the injection, also known as Depo-Provera. This method only has a 7% failure rate and lasts for 3 months. Each shot costs anywhere from 35 to 100 dollars and is easy and quick. The pill was reported a 9% failure rate, however after further research this is due to ineffective use, or not taking the pill each day as directed. If used correctly, less than one in 100 women will get pregnant while on the pill. The condom failure rate was 17%, but this is because of ineffective use. When used correctly and consistently, two out of 100 women will become pregnant when their partner uses a condom. The last common type of contraceptive, which is the least effective, is the withdrawal method. In this method, the man removes his penis before ejaculation, however, this does not mean sperm doesn't enter the woman's uterus. This method is not recommended to be used alone, but is recommended when used with a condom or other methods of effective birth control.
Planned Parenthood is a trusted educator and health care provider that has been giving women accurate information about sex education for nearly 100 years. They are respectful towards women making decisions for themselves, but are committed to helping those women making informed, smart decisions. Here you'll find even more information on rates of effectiveness of any type of contraceptive, plus advice and trusted expertise on sex education.
Jones, Jo, William Mosher, and Kimberly Daniels. "Current Contraceptive Use in the United States, 2006–2010, and Changes in Patterns of Use since 1995." National Health Statistics Report 60 (2012): 1-26. Web. 2 Aug. 2014.
9. Adolescents who received comprehensive sex education were less likely to get pregnant than adolescents who received abstinence-only education! (Teach us how to REALLY prevent it! "Just say no" is not helping me keep my flat stomach.)
Comprehensive sex education is a more effective way of informing adolescents on how to prepare for sex and how to prevent pregnancy and STD, rather than an abstinence only approach. Research performed on the effectiveness of the abstinence only approach has discovered that there is no significance on the difference of the likelihood teenagers will engage in sexual activity than if they had no sex education at all. This means that teaching adolescents that staying abstinent is the only way to prevent pregnancy is not effective. Adolescents who had comprehensive sex education had half the risk of getting pregnant rather than adolescents who had abstinence only education. There was also a moderately lower likelihood that adolescents who had comprehensive sex education would engage in vaginal sex than those who did not have sex education, but no significant difference was found between the likelihood of adolescents who had abstinence only education to engage in vaginal sex versus no sex education. There is also evidence that early comprehensive sex education results in a decrease in the likelihood that both males and females will engage in early sexual activity.
It is no argument anymore about which approach is more effective. Comprehensive sex education has shown to have a 50% lowered risk of teenage pregnancy in contrast to abstinence only education. In fact, abstinence only education is not significantly effective at all! It is more important for young people to be prepared and aware about disease and pregnancy prevention.
Constantine, Norman A. "Converging Evidence Leaves Policy Behind: Sex Education in the United States." Journal of Adolescent Health 42.4 (2008): 324-26. Web. 1 Aug. 2014.
10. Not only is unintended pregnancies an issue, but STIs and Sexual Violence is too! (Infections are easy to overlook, but when it's painful to pee you won't be overlooking it!)
The consequences of inadequate sex education extends beyond obvious reasons, but people often overlook the issue of Sexually Transmitted Infections and sexual violence. Although 15 to 24 year olds only represent a fourth of the sexually active population, this group accounts for half of the STIs. When not taught properly before sexual activity begins, adolescents and young adults may not be sure how to prevent the spread of diseases, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, syphilis, and HIV/AIDS. In 2004, women between the ages of 15 and 24 accounted for one fourth of the population diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and this proportion has been increasing. Not only are young adults suffering from just the STIs themselves, but the infections can lead to infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and chronic pelvic pain. Chlamydia may not always be prevalent, but may cause damage silently to a woman's uterus and fallopian tubes that will permanently prevent them from having children in their lifetime. It is important to get checked by your gynecologist at least every six months to a year after becoming sexually active.
Although not always openly discussed and recognized, sexual violence is a significant issue in today's adolescent and young adult population. It is important that young people get educated on how to deal with an intimate partner who doesn't make you feel safe and secure. Without proper education on how to know if one's relationship is healthy or unhealthy, it's common that young women will let themselves feel powerless in their relationship. They don't always realize that they should stand up for themselves and they don't always know how. This sometimes leads to unconsented sex, which is a major issue that must be taught about and prevented. Although it's not always easy to escape from a rapist, there are measures you should take in order to prevent that situation from happening, including not walking alone in dark areas, keeping pepper spray or some other type of weapon for defense, not letting a man into your house without someone else knowing he's there, and watching out for who's car you enter (and who enters yours!).
&na;. "Consequences of Inadequate Sex Education in the United States." Obstetrics & Gynecology 111.2, Part 1 (2008): 254-55. Web. 2 Aug. 2014.
Become a Community Contributor.
