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Do you know that 53% of high school students have not had sexual intercourse?
Do you know that, according to one survey, two-thirds of teens who have had sexual intercourse wish they had waited?
Do you know that when parents tell their teenager they want them to wait, their son or daughter is more likely to wait?
Your child really does want to hear what YOU think about sex. Really!
- 9 out of 10 teens (94%) think that adults should let teens know they should wait to have sex at least until they get out of high school.
- Nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) teens say it would be easier to avoid early sexual activity and teen pregnancy if they were able to have more open, honest conversations about these topics with their parents.
- 6 out of 10 (59%) teens say their parents are their role models of healthy, responsible relationships.
Last week I shared an article about the alarming number of STD’s that are infecting our sexually active youth. As many as one in four U.S. teenage girls have had a sexually transmitted disease. Did you know that more than 65 million Americans have an STD that can not be cured with medication? These include herpes, Hepatitis B, and HIV. Experts estimate that about 19 million Americans get an STD every year. One in two (50 percent) of every newly diagnosed STDs infects a teenager or young adult. That means that teenagers and young adults are getting infected with STDs faster than any other group in America. So as a parent what can you do? Talk to your child (often) about it!
Next week I’ll give some tips on how and what to say to make things as smooth as possible.