Issue: Pregnancy and STIs

One of the primary issues when considering consensual sex in young people these days is the issue of sexual consequences. Some of these consequences are those of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies. Before getting into the issue of age of consent, I thought it was appropriate to examine how these ramifications are changing in the Canadian teenage demographic.

According to an article in the United States by Walcott, Meyers and Landau in 2008, the younger an adolescent is when they start engaging in sex, the greater their of risk of contracting an STI. Presumably this is due to the fact that the younger a person starts having sex, the more sexual partners they will have, therefore increasing their risk of getting an STI or HIV. This risk is increased by the fact that in the US, adolescents who participate in sexual activity before the age of 14 have the lowest levels of contraceptive usage.

However, when examining the Canadian statistics from an article in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality from 2004, we see that sex at an early age is not necessarily a recipe for disaster. According to research, adolescents in 2002 were less likely to face the negative sexual health outcomes than teens from previous generations faced. Younger adolescents (grade nine) were more likely to use a condom than the older teens (grade 11), who were more likely to use oral contraceptives, primarily the birth control pill. While the pill does help protect people against the risk of pregnancy, it does nothing to protect against the risk of STIs.

The pill is also being said to be the primary reason that unplanned pregnancies have been declining in Canada. According to the 2004 article, the teenage pregnancy rate has been going down, while the abortion rate has stayed the same. Basically this means that while there are fewer teen pregnancies, abortion is being chosen as the solution more frequently.

After examining these two issues, it is reassuring to see that for the most part young people are starting to take responsibility for their actions and trying to be proactive in preventing unplanned pregnancies and protection against STIs. Education on these issues in schools, as well as at home, seems to be making an impact on these adolescents and they are making safe decisions. While there is still a long way to go in the eradication of STIs and decline in unplanned pregnancies, adolescents today seem to be well on their way, and equipped with the knowledge needed to achieve this goal.

P.