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The article doesn’t do a good job of highlighting that the decrease in pregnancy is mostly (maybe entirely?) among teenage girls. Maybe kids today are having le

The article doesn’t do a good job of highlighting that the decrease in pregnancy is mostly (maybe entirely?) among teenage girls. Maybe kids today are having less sex or maybe they’re better at using birth control. Either way, this is a good thing.

ch4s3 7y ago
I don’t have the citation at hand, but from what I’ve read it’s both, but largely they’re have sex a lot less.
lawn 7y ago
Why is teenagers having less sex good?
- hkarthik 7y ago
  Less unwanted pregnancies which result in less abortions, single mothers relying on taxpayer social safety nets, or extra state money spent on kids falling through the cracks of the foster care system.
  - sametmax 7y ago
    The problem here seems more unwanted pregnancies than with teenagers having sex. I se how less sex is an easy solution to the problem, but it is also the wrong one. Your teenage years are when you have the more energy and hormones, you are basically built to have sex. Not to mention it's healthy for the mind and body. It would be like not allowing teens ride bikes because of possible crash with cars since stats show teens are more likely to have accidents than adults. Better find a way to limit the accidents themself: you get healthy kids, having fun, and they grow into better adults.
    - hkarthik 7y ago
      A big part of the stigma around teen sex is rooted in thousands of years of religious taboo associated with it among the world’s major religions. This is likely because those belief systems were the original dominant form of birth control. This is likely a case where the evolution of human culture hasn’t caught up with the available medical technology.
- asperous 7y ago
  Less teenage pregnancy is good because teenage pregnancy is associated with poor outcomes for the children and parents in that environment.
  - serf 7y ago
    Teenager pregnancy isn't the same thing as teenage sex. Sex is pretty wonderful for your health and metal well-being, if you minimize the threat of STIs and pregnancy. Education and programs that allow the under-aged access to healthcare facilities that specialize in sexual health and family planning seems to be the more healthy (and more sustainable and achievable) alternative to abstinence advocacy. I think that anyone that believes that teenage abstinence is at all achievable is probably delusional, or at the very least heavily sheltered, on the topic.
    - aaomidi 7y ago
      I don't understand why you're getting downvoted. We should be encouraging 16ish+ year olds to have safe and consensual relationships.
      - jungletek 7y ago
        Looking at the downvoted but not commented-upon comments in this thread, and specifically the content of those comments, I'd speculate that certain people find the assertions therein either too challenging to their own beliefs, or somehow offensive, but not enough to actually challenge them with a comment. Seems like if you say the wrong thing about theocracy, or have sane and body-positive sex advice, you're bound to get some silent judgement from people who aren't brave enough to actually call you out, lest they have to actually defend their beliefs that cause them some degree of cognitive dissonance. It's likely easier for them to not question why they think the way they do, and if it's the right way for them to think/react/etc. at all, so those beliefs and assumptions go unchallenged. Obviously this is all speculation and assumption, but if someone won't engage with you to explain themselves, that's all one can really do, for better or worse.
- neallindsay 7y ago
  Is this a troll question? It seems like you’re intentionally misunderstanding my comment. It’s the lower rate of teenage pregnancy that’s good.
  - lawn 7y ago
    Sorry, I wasn't trolling. Rereading the comment again I see that I misunderstood. But it wasn't intentional.
- bsder 7y ago
  Wrong point. The issue is teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy has lots of outcomes--almost all negative. The female body really often isn't ready for pregnancy that early (women used to have menarche much later than currently)--this causes long-term health problems with both mother and child. Teenage mothers rarely have the resources to care for children well--this traps the mother and the child in a poor socioeconomic situation and affects their long-term health and development. etc. Yes, there are women who tolerate pregnancy just fine as teenagers. Yes, there are teenagers with resources who can take care of children and not have it affect their life. Those are the exceptions, not the rule.
- tropo 7y ago
  The presumption is that teenagers are unmarried, unable to support an independent household, and of a mindset that lacks self-control. It's just a lot of correlations with various kinds of chaos. We certainly don't make it easy with our law. We enforce a minimum age to marry, work, and purchase a home.
jraby3 7y ago
Or maybe just giving birth at later ages.

ch4s3 7y ago

I don’t have the citation at hand, but from what I’ve read it’s both, but largely they’re have sex a lot less.

lawn 7y ago

Why is teenagers having less sex good?

hkarthik 7y ago
Less unwanted pregnancies which result in less abortions, single mothers relying on taxpayer social safety nets, or extra state money spent on kids falling through the cracks of the foster care system.
- sametmax 7y ago
  The problem here seems more unwanted pregnancies than with teenagers having sex. I se how less sex is an easy solution to the problem, but it is also the wrong one. Your teenage years are when you have the more energy and hormones, you are basically built to have sex. Not to mention it's healthy for the mind and body. It would be like not allowing teens ride bikes because of possible crash with cars since stats show teens are more likely to have accidents than adults. Better find a way to limit the accidents themself: you get healthy kids, having fun, and they grow into better adults.
  - hkarthik 7y ago
    A big part of the stigma around teen sex is rooted in thousands of years of religious taboo associated with it among the world’s major religions. This is likely because those belief systems were the original dominant form of birth control. This is likely a case where the evolution of human culture hasn’t caught up with the available medical technology.
asperous 7y ago
Less teenage pregnancy is good because teenage pregnancy is associated with poor outcomes for the children and parents in that environment.
- serf 7y ago
  Teenager pregnancy isn't the same thing as teenage sex. Sex is pretty wonderful for your health and metal well-being, if you minimize the threat of STIs and pregnancy. Education and programs that allow the under-aged access to healthcare facilities that specialize in sexual health and family planning seems to be the more healthy (and more sustainable and achievable) alternative to abstinence advocacy. I think that anyone that believes that teenage abstinence is at all achievable is probably delusional, or at the very least heavily sheltered, on the topic.
  - aaomidi 7y ago
    I don't understand why you're getting downvoted. We should be encouraging 16ish+ year olds to have safe and consensual relationships.
    - jungletek 7y ago
      Looking at the downvoted but not commented-upon comments in this thread, and specifically the content of those comments, I'd speculate that certain people find the assertions therein either too challenging to their own beliefs, or somehow offensive, but not enough to actually challenge them with a comment. Seems like if you say the wrong thing about theocracy, or have sane and body-positive sex advice, you're bound to get some silent judgement from people who aren't brave enough to actually call you out, lest they have to actually defend their beliefs that cause them some degree of cognitive dissonance. It's likely easier for them to not question why they think the way they do, and if it's the right way for them to think/react/etc. at all, so those beliefs and assumptions go unchallenged. Obviously this is all speculation and assumption, but if someone won't engage with you to explain themselves, that's all one can really do, for better or worse.
neallindsay 7y ago
Is this a troll question? It seems like you’re intentionally misunderstanding my comment. It’s the lower rate of teenage pregnancy that’s good.
- lawn 7y ago
  Sorry, I wasn't trolling. Rereading the comment again I see that I misunderstood. But it wasn't intentional.
bsder 7y ago
Wrong point. The issue is teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy has lots of outcomes--almost all negative. The female body really often isn't ready for pregnancy that early (women used to have menarche much later than currently)--this causes long-term health problems with both mother and child. Teenage mothers rarely have the resources to care for children well--this traps the mother and the child in a poor socioeconomic situation and affects their long-term health and development. etc. Yes, there are women who tolerate pregnancy just fine as teenagers. Yes, there are teenagers with resources who can take care of children and not have it affect their life. Those are the exceptions, not the rule.
tropo 7y ago
The presumption is that teenagers are unmarried, unable to support an independent household, and of a mindset that lacks self-control. It's just a lot of correlations with various kinds of chaos. We certainly don't make it easy with our law. We enforce a minimum age to marry, work, and purchase a home.

jraby3 7y ago

Or maybe just giving birth at later ages.