“Minnesota’s teen birthrate has declined, and was one of the lowest in the nation in 2008,” according to a Star Tribune article published March 4, 2011. The article showed facts from surveys from the 1980’s to 2010.
There are ways to have safe sex and the school based clinic is one of many places to find out how to stay safe. They have brochures on birth control, condoms and abstinence. They can help you with knowing the costs of what you need and help with nutrition.
Teens interviewed in the Star Tribune article said that they were either too busy with sports and other activities or they cared too much about video games to be having sex.
Almost 50 percent of female and 65 percent of male South students surveyed said they are sexually active. “Half of my friends might make fun of me if I were a virgin” said junior Jonothan Moreno.
Teens are also thinking about what can happen to them based on what they do. “Among teens ages 15-17, 94 percent say that the possibility of having a teen pregnancy contributed to their decision to become abstinent” according to a survey taken in 2003 by Kaiser Family Foundation.
Students have noticed that there is a lot of sex related TV shows and commercials, with sexual innuendos and sexual content. Junior Greta Hagedorn said that TV shows that show sexual contact should show “past 10 PM so little kids aren’t there.” Shows like Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 may be ‘promoting’ teens to have sex and that having children is fun, not showing the troubles the mom’s have. Sophomore Jasmine Burton said “[Teen Mom] may teach young women that having kids isn’t easy.” Hagedorn believes that “if there is a better sex education in schools, even in middle schools, then teen pregnancy might go down.”
It’s not just sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies that teens need to worry about, but the emotional side of sex as well. “There’s no hurry to do it,” said Burton.
Lori Carlson from the school based clinic said that some teens don’t want to be in a “committed relationship,” but are just in it for the sex, not knowing what might be going through their partners head. Junior Aminata Keita said, “sometimes I wish I would have waited.”
Some teens “may sneak around [behind their parents’ backs] so they can be alone,” said Carlson, and that can make teens stressed or feel like what they’re doing is wrong. She said that she wants teens to think about what they’re doing and make sure they’re ready for the consequences no matter what they are.
A survey was handed out to two health classes asking questions about how sexually active students are and how they feel about sex with people they’re not in a relationship with. Some of the numbers were very unexpected such as how many people people said that having sex with someone doesn’t mean you have to be in a relationship with them, 48 percent of female South students and 47 percent of males said sex should not only have to be with someone you’re in a relationship with.
Several students said that it’s important to do it when you’re ready, that it’s with someone you care about, and that here is no hurry.
