Teen Birth Rate Hits All-Time Low

[Arbo]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor...bstinence.html

With the ever-present buzz of cultural panic about young people, especially young women, having sex, you'd be forgiven for thinking we're living in the midst of some kind of sexual health pandemic, with our high schools and even junior high schools overflowing with the swollen bellies of pregnant teenagers. The reality, according to a Centers for Disease Control report released Friday, is that the teen birth rate has plunged downward yet again, falling 6 percent between 2011 and 2012. It has never been lower, as least not in the 73 years the government has been tracking it.

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So what's changed? It certainly wasn't that teenagers en masse decided to stop having sex.Teen sex rates have stayed about the same since 2002. Abortions for teenagers haven't gone up, either. As much as the Sandra Fluke haters will cringe to hear it, the difference is contraception use. Speaking to NBC News, Dr. John Santelli, a professor of population and family health at Columbia University, attributed the change to a greater emphasis on getting effective contraception to teens, especially long-acting methods like the IUD. I'd add that organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have also been more aggressive lately in promoting teen sexual health, perhaps making it easier for families to get their kids into the contraception plans they need.

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Indeed, it's important not to overlook the role that sex education plays in all this. As Tara Culp-Ressler at ThinkProgress points out, teen birth rates vary wildly by state, with conservative states having a higher rate. The state of California is perhaps the most stunning example of how swiftly things can change, going from more than 70 births per 1,000 girls to 28 since 1991, in no small part because of aggressive sex education and family planning programs. Teens simply do better if they're given the tools to stay safe when they do have sex and don't do as well with the "just say no" message.

Good news overall, the smaller the amount of uneducated, unprepared kids there are having kids the better. And yes, teaching them to be safe is the best be, as the data shows. Because in general, they are gonna do it anyway.