Preventing teenage pregnancy: a team approach

By age 16 one in three adolescents have experienced sexual intercourse. Because one-third of these sexually active teens never use contraception, they have a five-times greater risk of pregnancy than teenagers who take contraceptive measures. In 1982, one in 23 Canadian teenage girls became pregnant. Teenagers' reasons for not using contraceptives include fear of parents learning about their sexual activity, lack of knowledge about contraception, and lack of self-esteem. Parents, educators and health-care providers can all play important parts in helping to decrease the incidence of unwanted teenage pregnancy. In the past decade teenage pregnancy rates have dropped. At the same time, more schools have begun to offer sexuality-education classes, and more public clinics have begun to offer teens ready access to information and advice on contraception.