There are many racy and inappropriate topics that are all over the media, however something surprising has happened in North Carolina: The teen pregnancy rate has dropped.
The rate has fallen a whopping 50 percent since 1991 thanks to slightly lower rate of teens having sex, an increase of the use of birth control and better communication of information on reproduction.
Other possible reasons for such a sudden drop may be sex-ed classes in high school are more informative, there are more public health announcements targeted towards pregnancy, and hit shows like “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant”, which show the hard work of being a teen parent.
The pregnancy rate among teens age 15 to 19 dropped 11% in 2010 compared to the year before, which was the largest drop ever recorded, according to the state statistics.There were 49.7 pregnancies among every 1,000 girls in that age group, a rate of less than 5 percent.
A federal study of U.S teenagers showed the majority have never had sex; this is the first time these results have happened in three decades — since the started these tests.
And, according to the state study abortions in this age level has gone down too.
In Wake County, the pregnancy rate among teens is about 35 per 1,000 girls– which is lower than the state average– but it’s still a matter of concern.
New state guidelines that went into effect in 2010 allow teaching about contraceptives beyond their likely rates of failure, as required under the previous law. In addition, student receive more accurate information sex and STD’s.
With all the information that we know and that is to be found, hopefully the rate will keep going down in North Carolina.
