64. Irving R. Dickman,
65. The ad ran in the
66. "Trends in Sexual Risk Behaviors among High School Students—U.S. 1991-97,"
67. Susheela Singh and Jacqueline E. Darroch, "Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing: Levels and Trends in the Developed Countries,"
68. About three-quarters of girls use a method the first time; as many as two-thirds of teens say they use condoms regularly—three times the rate in 1970. Long-acting birth control injections and implants have also gained popularity among teens. "Why Is Teenage Pregnancy Declining? The Roles of Abstinence, Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use," Alan Guttmacher Institute Occasional Report, 1999. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy asked teens themselves the main reason they thought teen pregnancies had dropped in the last decade. Of 1,002 youths surveyed, 37.9 percent named worry about AIDS and other STDs; 24 percent credited a greater availability of birth control; and 14.9 percent said the decline was due to more attention to the issue. Only 5.2 percent named "changing morals and values," and 3.7 percent said, "Fewer teens have sex."
69. Singh and Darroch, "Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing."
70. "Teen Pregnancy 'Virtually Eliminated' in the Netherlands," Reuters Health/London news story (accessed through Medscape), March 2, 2001.
71. "United States and the Russian Federation Lead the Developed World in Teenage Pregnancy Rates," Alan Guttmacher Institute press release, February 24, 2000.
72. J. Mauldon and K. Luker, "The Effects of Contraceptive Education on Method Use at First Intercourse,"
73. J. C. Abma et al., "Fertility, Family Planning, and Women's Health: New Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth,"
74. Peggy Brick et al.,
75. Peter Bearman, paper presented at Planned Parenthood New York City's conference Adolescent Sexual Health: New Data and Implications for Services and Programs, October 26, 1998; Diana Jean Schemo, "Virginity Pledges by Teenagers Can Be Highly Effective, Federal Study Finds,"
76. Lantier, "Do Abstinence Lessons Lessen Sex?"
77. "Trends in Sexual Risk Behaviors among High School Students—United States 1991-1997,"
78. Abma et al., "Fertility, Family Planning, and Women's Health."
79. It is important to point out that, in spite of these declines, nearly two-thirds of teen births resulted from unintended pregnancies. Abma et al., "Fertility, Family Planning, and Women's Health."
80. "Adolescent Sexual Health in the U.S. and Europe—Why the Difference?" Advocates for Youth fact sheet, Washington, D.C., 2000.
81. Schemo, "Virginity Pledges by Teenagers."