Myths and Facts
TEEN PREGNANCY
MYTHS OF
SEXUAL ACTIVITY
Everyone is doing it.
Less than half of all high school students have ever had sex.
Girls never pressure guys
to have sex; pressure
always comes from the
male.
Pressure can come from anyone regardless of gender, sexual experience,
or age.
You’ll marry the first
person you have sex
with.
8/10 first time teen sexual relationships last 6 months or less.
¼ are one-time occurrences.
Drinking and drugs make
sex more fun.
If you are drunk or high, you do not make good decisions.
People are more likely to be the victims of rape when substance
abuse mixes with sexual activity.
You cannot get pregnant
the first time you have
sex.
A girl cannot get pregnant
is she is on her period.
Sperm stays alive several days once in the vagina.
A girl can’t get pregnant if…
You have sex standing up
The girl is on top
You have sex in a hot tub or
a swimming pool
You jump up and down
immediately after sex
The girl douches, takes a
bath, or urinates immediately
after sex
It's your first time;
You're both virgins
The guy pulls out before he
ejaculates or if he doesn't go
all the way in
The girl doesn't have an
orgasm
The guy and the girl don't
orgasm at the same time
The girl pushes really hard on
her belly button after sex
The girl makes herself sneeze
for fifteen minutes after sex.
Wearing two condoms at
once is double
protection.
If two condoms are worn at once, they will rub against each other, causing
friction and a hole can rub into them, reducing your protection from
STDs and pregnancy.
If you don’t have a
condom, you can use a
Ziploc bag.
As long as a girl takes the
Pill right before sex,
she’s protected.
In order for the Birth Control Pill to be effective, it must be taken
once a day, every day, at the same time.
The Pill is effective the
first day a girl begins
taking it.
Birth Control Pills do not take effect until one month after a girl begins taking it.
TEENAGE PARENTS
WHAT DO YOU THINK
ARE ISSUES FACING TEEN PARENTS?
Three out of ten teen
girls in the US get
pregnant at least once
before age 20.
That equals 745,000 teen pregnancies each year.
The United Stages has
the highest teen
pregnancy rate in the
industrialized world.
Twice as high as England or Canada.
8x as high as Japan.
Parenthood is the leading
reason why teenage
girls drop out of school.
Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer
than 2% earn a college degree by age 30.
Pregnant teens are far less
likely to receive timely and
consistent prenatal care
than those who get pregnant
at a later age.
Teen mothers are more likely to smoke during pregnancy.
Two-thirds of families
begun by a young
unmarried mother are
poor.
More than ½ of mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager.
Teen mothers are likely
to have a second birth
relatively soon.
¼ of teen mothers have a second child within 24 months of the first birth.
8 out of 10 fathers do not
marry the mother of their
child.
These absent fathers pay less than $800 per year for child support,
often because they are poor themselves.
CHILDREN OF
TEENAGE PARENTS
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE ISSUES FACING
CHILDREN OF TEEN PARENTS?
Children of teen mothers
do worse in school than
those born to older
parents.
Children of teen mothers
are more likely to be
born prematurely and at
a low birth weight.
Children of teen mothers
are twice as likely to
suffer abuse and neglect
compare to children of
older mothers.
Children who live apart
from their fathers are 5x
more likely to be poor
than children with both
parents at home.
The daughters of young
teenage mothers are 3x
more likely to be teen
mothers themselves.
The sons of teenage
mothers are twice as
likely to end up in
prison.
Children born to teen
mothers are at higher
risk of behavioral
problems.
Sources
http://www.stayteen.org
The Children of Teen Parents Fact
Sheet. FSU Center for Prevention &
Early Intervention Policy.