Teenage Pregnancy In America

America is one of the leading industrialized countries in the world; America’s teens still have the most pregnancies, births, and abortions in the world. As the nation steps into the 21st century, “ The rise of ‘sexting’ and ‘hook up’ culture among teens” (Clemmitt, Marcia) promotes high levels of sexual activity within middle schools and high schools. Also mass amounts of sexual content are found in teen’s favorable music, online videos, and movies, which casually promotes sexual activity. “ A third of young U.S girls- about eight hundred and twenty thousand- become pregnant before they turn twenty.”(Friedman, Jane “Teen Sex”) The government combats this movement by promoting classes that teach abstinence and contraceptive use. Statics show that “ seventy eight percent of girls and eighty five percent of boys used contraception the first time they had sex, both up three percentage points from 2002” (Friedman, Jane “Teen Sex”) It has been proven that
There are a lot of different reasons why teen pregnancy is increasing. “From less use of contraception, maybe because of less fear of AIDS, to our anything-goes cultural, where it’s OK to get pregnant and have a baby in your teens”. (Clemmitt, Marcia. “Teen Pregnancy.”) Teenagers are less concerned about getting sexual diseases because they trust the partner that they are with. Schools need to emphasize that HIV and AIDS can come from anyone at anytime. Many schools in America teach only abstaining from sex, when schools need to “promote abstinence while also providing information about contraception and safe sex” for those who have sexual intercourse. (Friedman, Jane. “Teen Sex.”) Most schools in America are not allowed to talk about birth control. While in Europe teens are learning about both abstinence and contraception and are using condoms and birth control pills simultaneously, while American teenagers have just