I’m American and went to high school from 2008-2012. I remember during my entire time in high school how big teen pregnancy awareness was thrown at us. At school and even on TV, teen pregnancy was one of the most talked about social issues during my time in high school. Even in school I saw plenty of students who got pregnant during my time.
Fast forward today and I feel like I rarely ever hear about it anymore. I barely see any news or awareness about it.
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Teen pregnancy rates have dropped pretty significantly over the years.
Obamacare made birth control pills free. Not saying it’s the cause…but not saying it’s not.
From everything I’ve seen, Gen Z is having quite a bit less sex then millennials where at the same age. Less sex, less teen parents. Thinking back to my high school years, I only recall seeing 1 clearly pregnant girl my entire time. I also have to wonder if Gen Z being raised mostly by Gen X parents (who were one of the first full generations to freely use hormonal birth control throughout their own young adult years) helped increase the rates of birth control usage
I’d make a guess that mental health, nicotine/vape addiction, and social media related problems are a major focus right now
Well, in high school, you were in the target demographic for teen pregnancy, so naturally all the awareness campaigns would have been targeted at you. Also, teen pregnancy rates (and birth rates overall) have really cratered in recent years. So it isn’t quite as important as it once was
Teen pregnancy rates are like a third of what they were fifteen years ago.
https://opa.hhs.gov/adolescent-health/reproductive-health-and-teen-pregnancy/trends-teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing
There’s a good reason for it – rates have dropped like 60% since 2008 and like 70%+ since the early 90s. It’s one of the biggest public health successes in recent years. Things going well don’t make news.
You went to high school for 6 years not 4, saw a lot of teen pregnancies. I saw none fir the 4 years I was in school, nor was pregnancy talked about, but safe sex straight and gay was. I went to a well funded, in a upper middle class area public school. Live in the same area. Maybe you just grew up in a not such great area, but made some good choices in life, and now live in a better place.
The reason is 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.
After years of insulting, patronizing and “do as I say not as I do” talk from adults, someone had the bright idea to make a non-judgemental show about real teenage parents.
Actually *seeing what being a teenage parent is like* has done more than any health class lecture could have hoped for.