Besides moral and/or religious grounds (not that one needs more rationale than morality/religion), can one tell a high school that sexual activity during high school has consequnces? First, we need data to see the current landscape. I found the following data from the CDC {Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2011. MMWR 2012;61(SS-4).} You can find it on the CDC website, but restated here for convenience:
Many young people engage in sexual risk behaviors that can result in unintended health outcomes. For example, among U.S. high school students surveyed in 20111
- 47.4% had ever had sexual intercourse
- 33.7% had had sexual intercourse during the previous 3 months, and, of these
- 39.8% did not use a condom the last time they had sex
- 76.7% did not use birth control pills or Depo-Provera to prevent pregnancy the last time they had sex
- 15.3% had had sex with four or more people during their life
Sexual risk behaviors place adolescents at risk for HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and unintended pregnancy:
- An estimated 8,300 young people aged 13–24 years in the 40 states reporting to CDC had HIV infection in 20092
- Nearly half of the 19 million new STDs each year are among young people aged 15–24 years3
- More than 400,000 teen girls aged 15–19 years gave birth in 20094
References
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CDC. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2011. MMWR 2012;61(SS-4).
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CDC. Diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS in the United States and dependent areas, 2009. HIV Surveillance Report, Volume 21.
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Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates W. Sexually transmitted diseases among American youth: incidence and prevalence estimates, 2000. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 2004;36(1):6-10.
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Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: Preliminary data for 2009. National Vital Statistics Reports 2010;59(3).
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