Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, July 5, 2001
The 30-page report primarily proposes abstinence but, as part of a frank assessment of teen sex, it also calls for schools to provide contraception. Moreover, it accepts ''mutually monogamous" homosexuality as an alternative to marriage -- ideas that caused the report to get chilly receptions from President Bush and other conservatives touting traditional lifestyles. But the report is based in the unshakable reality that, compared to other groups, teenagers are having more unprotected sex, more unintended pregnancies and are spreading more sexually transmitted diseases. Here are some of the statistics:
-- About 25 percent of 15-year-olds have had sex already, and the number jumps to 80 percent by the time they turn 19.
-- Twenty percent of sexually active girls not using contraceptives become pregnant within one month -- 50 percent within six months.
-- Teens make up about a quarter of the 12 million STD cases reported annually. Last year, 1,768 cases of AIDS were reported among teens. Girls, ages 15 to 19, routinely have the highest rates of gonorrhea, the most frequently reported disease.
While birth control and condoms are not foolproof remedies for pregnancy and disease, they obviously lower the risks in a group where an expectation of total abstinence is unrealistic.
As Satcher puts it, the nation seems to have created "a conspiracy of silence when it comes to sexuality." Indeed, many of his findings are unsettling.
It's clear that young people need more knowledge and responsible options.
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