Sexual Activity Rises Among Teen Girls in Tennessee; More Girls Are Victims of Date Rape; Use of Birth Control Declines
The City Paper reports that new data from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavioral Survey says:
The article does not say how the survey defines "sexual activity," but it does make note of some disturbing findings:
We need to do a better job of protecting teen girls from predatory teenage boys, as well as from STDs and unwanted pregnancies. While I think it is extremely important to educate girls about the use of birth control pills and other forms of contraception, I think it is more important to empower girls, to help them reject cultural messages that seek to define young women as sexual objects.
Sexual activity among female teenagers grades 9-12 in Tennessee has jumped from 47 percent in 2003 to 55 percent in 2004. About 13 percent of girls under the age of 13 have been sexually active.
The article does not say how the survey defines "sexual activity," but it does make note of some disturbing findings:
- The percent of teenage girls having sex with more than four persons rose from 12 in 2003 to 15 in 2004.
- Girls experiencing date violence rose from 9 percent in 2003 to 11 percent in 2004; and those forced to have sex rose from 13 to 15 percent. The article does not report the survey's margin of error, but a 2 percent jump in both categories is very upsetting. These data confirm my suspicion that date rape is a much bigger problem than most people realize.
- Condom use decreased from 48 percent in 2003 to 30 percent in 2004; use of the pill decreased from 17 to 11 percent. Regardless of margin of error, these are signficant drops.
We need to do a better job of protecting teen girls from predatory teenage boys, as well as from STDs and unwanted pregnancies. While I think it is extremely important to educate girls about the use of birth control pills and other forms of contraception, I think it is more important to empower girls, to help them reject cultural messages that seek to define young women as sexual objects.
posted by Tinley | 9:59 PM
1 Comments:
John beat me to what I was going to post so no more Mr. pithy. ;)
I agree with the staggering implications of these numbers. I also think very strongly that boys are as much a victim in these numbers as girls. To clarify, we should be teaching boys that their personhood and manhood are not reflected in sexual conquest and that their virility is not proved by sex on command. While the numbers reflecting forced sexual activity are indicative of rape(date or otherwise) they do not explain all of the increase. Girls are increasingly aware of the power they possess in their sexuality when they are willing to use it. For many it may be a gratification of lonliness and affection, others may find the sheer conquest exhilarating, while others see it as a means to other ends. In all those cases it has become a misuse of God-given sexuality. It also reinforces the one-dimensional character of the male as sexual robot. That in turn encourages male sexual conquest and in some cases creates the male predator.
These young men and women are the offspring of the generation that grew up in the "sexual revolution" of the sixties and seventies. The acceptance in everyday life of the perversities brought into the open as a consequence of that era is staggering for any of us with a clear memory. And we have failed to review the mess left behind and teach them the difference between what is good and holy, and what is selfish, abusive, and driven by the need for power and control. Sex is as much a recreational activity as drugs are; nowhere is love to be found.
All churches have an obligation to speak openly and frankly about sex. The past era of sexual restriction through guilt and negative consequences is no longer a valid pedagogy. We must teach them about the positive reality of their sexuality. We must reinforce the subservience of sexuality to relationship and God's love. We must demonstrate, in our own lives, the clarity of the biblical proscriptions for discerning what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. We cannot allow moral relativism to create confusion among our children as they struggle to integrate their own sexuality into their personhood. And we must carry this message out into our communities or we risk losing the majority of teens who don't go to churches or have strong authority figures teaching them sexual morality.
Now I will step off my soap-box. Thanks.
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