Devoted Dads Needed!
Moms help, but an involved father has twice the influence reducing risky teen sex. Teenagers whose fathers are more involved in their lives are less likely to engage in risky sexual activities such as unprotected intercourse, according to a new study. (link)
Teens Look On: Celebrities and Domestic Abuse
Dating violence is shockingly common among teenagers. According to the Family Violence and Prevention Fund: One in five female high school students reports being physically and or sexually abused by a date, and 8 percent of high-school-age girls say that they have been forced by a boyfriend to have sex against their will. Forty percent of teen girls (age 14 though 17) say they know someone their age who has been hit by a boyfriend. -NY Times
Link: UK: Repeat pregnancies among teenagers on the rise
The United Kingdom is recognised as having the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in western Europe…researchers at Nottingham found that the number of women under 20 presenting for repeat abortions has risen steadily over the last 15 years. The research, published this month in the international journal Contraception, analysed data for England and Wales in order to explore whether there are changes in the patterns of repeat teenage pregnancies.
Trend: Sexting Among Teens on the Rise
Not yet in dictionaries, ‘sexting’ is a relatively new term meaning to send text messages or images of a sexual nature using a cell phone. The practice has become particularly popular among teens and is causing quite a controversy on school grounds throughout the U.S. (Read more)
Link: Mississippi leading the nation in teen pregnancy.
Teen birth rates up in 26 states. The highest teen birth rates are in the South and Southwest; Mississippi is highest with 68.4 per 1,000, followed by New Mexico, with a rate of 64.1 and Texas, with 63.1. (Read full USA Today article)
Virginity Pledges: How the Media Got It Wrong.
Dr. Bernadine Healy, health editor for U.S. News & World Report, pointed out that “virginity pledging teens were considerably more conservative in their overall sexual behaviors than teens in general — a fact that many media reports have missed cold.”
Read full WSJ article: Like a Virgin: The Press Take On Teenage Sex
