Parents do you think if some where better educated on sex there would be less pregnant teens?

Question

Do you think that if some parents where better educated on sex or not shy to talk to their children about the cause and effect of having sex that there would be a significantly lower amount of pregnant teenagers? This is not a teen mother bashing question it is just a question out of curiosity. From the amount of questions I have read from what appears to be adults asking simple questions such as can I get pregnant two days after or before my period and so on it makes me wonder if some of our parent's were better educated about sex and they passed this on to their children that here would be a drop in teen aged pregnancy's. I know my mother was really open with me about things but never went into detail about the fact that you could get pregnant at any time of the month TECHNICALLY Seeing as women ovulate at different times then perhaps I wouldn't have gotten pregnant at 19. I don't regret getting pregnant with my son because he is a blessing to me. I just want to hear from others

EXCELLENT answers so far. I do think, though it is not entirely the parent's fault, that if the parents were open to better educate not only their children but themselves then there would be less unwanted or unplanned teenaged pregnancy's now a days. As I stated before that my mom had told me a few things about sex growing up I was still ignorant about quite a few things thus resulting in me getting pregnant. My parent's were really open about drugs and alcohol with me growing up and although some might disagree they allowed me to drink as long as I would let them pick me up and/or not leave the house I was at. I never had a desire to try drugs growing up or even drink like some teens do thanks to the knowledge my parents instilled in me about those, but I do think if I was properly educated on the sex topic I wouldn't have become pregnant so young. Again i don't regret having my son as he is the most wonderful blessing.

Answer 1

yes and no, I don't think there would be less pregnant teens for 3 reasons:

1. Teens think they are invincible. They think "it won't happen to me." 2. Impulsivity often accompanies sex, especially with teens. The rational center of the brain is not fully formed in teens, and therefore, they are physically unable to completely think through their feelings--they tend to react with their emotions instead of reason.
3. I personally know 2 girls (out of 3) who lied to their boyfriends saying they were using birth control just so they could get pregnant and have cute babies. Kind of back to the whole rational thing, I think.

Teens know to use birth control. Those who don't, just don't do it. With that knowledge, though, the teen pregnancy rate IS decreasing. So those who keep it on them or take the pill definitely seem to do better, hence my "yes" in my yes and no.

Answer 2

Knowledge is power. The more facts that our teen have the better decisions they can make....in theory. But let's face reality..kids don't always use the brains they have been given...that's why they are kids and have parents.

There are many kinds of birth control available just about everywhere...no, you don't get carded at Wal*Mart when you buy condoms. The problem is not only knowledge, but responsibility and parent involvement.

For some strange unknown reason we seem to feel as our children grow older they can be "left alone" at home more and more. The same Mom that will all but require a security clearance from the FBI for that first sleep over doesn't think anything about working until 6pm when her child turns 13 or 14. We don't concern ourselves enough with the "friends" they are hanging out with, what they are reading, doing on the Internet, or how they really are filling those hours that they are home alone. We just aren't with them enough...they don't seem have the guidance or structure they need. How many teenage pregnancies could be prevented if Mom or Dad was home at 3:00 in the afternoon when they get off the bus? How many pregnancies could be prevented on those long boring summer afternoons when Mom & Dad are at work and the kids are home alone?

I know and understand that most families need two incomes to survive...forget about getting ahead. But how many look into working different shifts so that one adult can be home? Or one works part-time while the other is full-time? Or working out of the home more? How many Companies that profess to being "family friendly" ever consider time sharing or shift spliting or even varing shifts so that a parent can get home "unexpectedly" to see what is really going on? Sometimes those wonderful vacations with the family aren't worth the cost...wouldn't you rather be home after school with your kids that sitting at a desk worrying about them? What's wrong with Grandma or Gramps stopping by on the way to the store? Or Aunt Ann or Uncle Bill dropping by? I used to laugh when the politicians said "It takes a village" but it does take every adult in a family to help keep kids on the right path. Every moment of the day in so many ways.... I truly believe that involvement is the key.

Answer 3

Supposedly more education results in more intelligence. However that's not always the case. My parents never really had the whole sex talk with me. My older cousin told me where babies came from and people from my extended family talked to me about other aspects of sex. I made it to my Sophomore year of high school before having sex. I made it through high school without getting pregnant and with 2 partners. I got pregnant the first time at 18. I had a miscarriage and several others. I had a stillborn at 20. I'm now 23 and have a beautiful nearly 16 month old daughter.
Someone talking to you won't change anything. You have to decide that you want to hear what's being said to you and allow it to sink into your brain and keep the information there. Also I feel females should step up and not be ashamed to tell their partners to put on a condom. It doesn't matter if your 15 or 52 if you don't protect yourself there could possibly be some really bad consequences in the long run.

Answer 4

I don't think that they need to be better educated on sex really, I think that parents need to be more observant about their childrens' lifestyles.

Many parents don't take time to find out what their children are doing, who their friends are, or anything about their lives. Parents want to be able to trust their children which is great BUT the job of a parent is to be sure that they are telling the truth.

If children had parents that were involved their would be less sex. The children need to know that it is unacceptable to be having sex so young. Young teenagers shouldn't be in an environment where they are able to have sex. Children need supervision. At 15 they are still children! Know where they are! If they aren't where they said they would be then dont' let them go again. Stop trying to be friends and be a parent. You have many years to be friends when they are adults.

Again, when your children are 18 and 19 then education would help but younger than that it is the parents job to know what their children are doing.

SD

Answer 5

I firmly believe in the "knowledge is power" philosophy. Current research in adolescent sexual education has found that educating adolescents about sex does not cause them to delay having sex, rather a direct link between sex education and safe sex practices has been found so that when they do start having sex they will use safe sex practices, which may in turn lower the teenage pregnancy rate.

One thing about a lot of the birth controls pills though, I have been informed by a 30 year pharmacist, my mother, that many of the prescription birth controls are not the 99.9% effective as they claim. In recent years they have lowered the dosage and are finding that many people who were taking the birth control as prescribed are getting pregnant and medical officials are giving the companies option to raise the hormone levels in the pills, or stop claiming they are as effective as they are.

Answer 6

I can remember having sex ed in 4th grade. We learned everything, and although some of it went right over my head at the time, when I got older I remembered a lot of the stuff we talked about.

I had very open parents who put me on the pill when I was 16 and had a boyfriend for over a year. They knew better than to think I wouldn't be having sex, so they prevented having to raise mine.

I now have two girls myself, and I am not looking forward to "the talk". But we have said to my oldest in order to have a baby, a woman and a man need to love each other very much, get married and have a baby. Of course, now everybody in our family that gets married, she asks if they are going to have a baby soon. But, she gets the idea. I don't think sex education hurts anyone. I would rather my children learn from a profession who knows what they are talking about, than their friends.

Answer 7

I'm 19, and educated myself on reproduction and prenatal because of my own interests, my mother only told me a little bit, the only reason I ask questions is to get all different perspectives. I'm going to be a neonatal or nursery nurse one day, thats the reason I read these books, also because my mom had many pregnancies that turned into miscarriages and it got me more interested to read those things, it's my interest NOT because the sex stuff, but because it's my interests and things I love to know, since babies are such miracles, so I helped myself. I want a baby soooo bad right now, but I need to finish college first. ALTHOUGH sex ed in school taught me about diseases and stuff which scare u to death to not have sex, so.

Answer 8

I was a young mom, not teen though. As I am getting older I understand this- My parents were very laid back and I knew all about sex. This gave me chances to be in sexual situations at a very young age. It is getting worse now days. Simply, its our culture and lack of morals and actual parenting in our culture. I believe its gone too far and won't change back to like, "Little House On The Praire" days were woman respected thier virginity. So I don't think education would work because they are getting educated at school and they know stuff from the internet. People just have no shame anymore or respect for themselves or their family. I was a naughty teenager and I am saddend as an adult to start seeing that it was my cultures fault.

Answer 9

Yes, to many people try to pretend teens are not sexual beings and in doing so it will go away. Teens are human beings, teens are sexual just as all human beings, teens are going to have sex if they so choose and no one or nothing will stop them. People tend to act like young people having sex is new but they have been sexually active for centuries and in all the world since the beginning of our race. The more info anyone has on any subject they are about to make a decision on ie. sex, buying a car, house, taking care of diabetes etc. the person is better off. Alos contraception must be readily available and perhapds even provided free of charge to those with limited funds.

Answer 10

I absolutely think that *accurate* sex education helps preteens and teens understand how pregnancy happens. Perhaps this might prevent pregnancy...but I don't necessarily think that sex education will prevent teens from having sex. That being said, I don't think that sex education necessarily encourages teens to have sex either. In general, I think that ignorance about sex causes more problems than knowing the details.