Abstract

PIP: A key issue in 1978 is whether health professionals are prepared to enlist the support of parents and schools in order to provide young people with sex education and birth control. The problems of adolescent sexuality -- pregnancy, venereal disease, and psychological upset -- could be prevented through adequate education, counseling, and the institution of specific birth control measures. Although the solution to adolescent sexual behavior is uncomfortable for adults who confuse the issue with moral pronouncement, the solution for adolescents is a practical approach which would show them that adults do care about the consequences of unprotected sexual intercourse. Surveys show that the majority of teen-agers learn about sex from peers and literature, and much of their information is inadequate, inaccurate, and useless. Most young people fail to receive appropriate and helpful sexual information from parents, schools, and religious sources. Studies in the U.S. indicate that 50% of the 21,000,000 adolescents (ages 15-19) have had sexual intercourse; 1 million teen-agers (15-19) become pregnant each year, with 60% of this group going to term. The public response to adolescent sexual behavior continues to be restrictive and constrained. Most parents continue to hold onto the idea that home is the place for sex information. Only the states of North Dakota, Missouri, Michigan, Kentucky, Maryland and Hawaii and the District of Columbia taught health education and sex education in the schools in 1975.