 Teen pregnancy is apparently at an all-time low in the United States. Or, is it that teen abortion is at an all-time high? According to the Center for Disease Control, the pregnancy rate for the LOL-OMG Generation has hit its lowest since tracking began 70 years ago. But what does that really mean? It means that statistics tell as much of the story as a teenager after a night out with “friends.” First, lest we forget, there were many teen pregnancies years ago, as 18-year-olds were getting pregnant before their husbands went off to war ... Second, in recent years, use of the morning after pill has soared; one in eight 16-year-old girls have tried it at least once after having sex. That just includes reported cases and does not include information for those younger than 16. Third, abortion is one of the most common surgeries performed in the United States. The math is simple, one minus one equals zero. And, yes … yay … teenagers are practising safer sex, using birth control and making better selections by protecting their erections.  Profitable Parenthood: The new Planned Parenthood So, why is it that more than 400,000 American teens get pregnant each year? Could it be that more of them are having S-E-X? Well, 46% of the pants-on-the-grounders admit to having good reason for never really pulling those pants up. Between 10 and 14% of them are proud to report that they never use protection. (And between who-knows-what per cent and what per cent are lying that they even use contraception.) Then there’s the form of natural contraception: infertility. Today, both males and females are less fertile than they used to be; fertility is rapidly on the decline. So, despite failing fecundity, more abortions, and increased use of birth control methods, kids are still succeeding at ruining their lives and their children’s lives. Ironically, the most effective forms of contraception out there are the funding cuts to Planned Parenthood. Those cuts are like a condom on the organization, blocking its ability to plant its seed in the minds of kids. As such, the organization is becoming more and more impotent, forced to close down more and more branches. Planned Parenthood just can’t engage as it so desires. Abstinence isn’t always a good thing, is it?  Let’s just face it. Kids today are having lots o’ sex -- far more than kids of 70 years ago. And that’s not even including the oral and anal sex, because as most of them see it, those don’t count. But their STDs sure do add up. Back in 2008, the CDC cited one in four teen girls had an STD. Today, those numbers are rising, but because those numbers are crying in baby carriages people are too distracted to hear them. To boast that teen pregnancy is at a record low is looking at the glass half-pregnant. And we all know there’s no such thing as half-pregnant. Yes, there are fewer babies, but there are still way, way too many babies. There is also more sex, more STDs -- and more drug use (and that is a separate story, which you can find here). So what is needed to slow this down? Funding. Education. An end to poverty. “I thought you was an educated girl. Now you done got yourself pregnant. How’d this happen?” says a teen mom’s mom on the reality show 16 and Pregnant. Funding. Education. An end to poverty. “I feel like a loser. I'm 18, live at home with my mom and have NO job. So I wanna move into my own place," says a teen dad on the reality show Teen Mom. Funding. Education. An end to poverty.  Teen dad to teen mom, whom he met nine months ago, "I don't wanna rush into anything." (Well, he certainly rushed into – ahem – something.)
Again … Funding. Education. An ounce of common sense. Look, kids are gonna have sex. Kids are gonna do drugs. Kids are often gonna want to do a lot of don’ts. After all, a don’t is just an invitation to do. But we can help prevent a lot of this. Not by telling teens what they should and shouldn’t do; rather, by teaching teens the consequences of what they do and creating an environment that breeds education and healthy lives - not babies. And we should start educating ourselves by opening our eyes. Yes, teen pregnancy is at an all-time low … Unfortunately, our vision is as well.
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