Canada, Trent: Teens and Contraception

                  According to studies, today’s teens are more likely to have unprotected intercourse. Are teens being offered the right contraception to accommodate these behaviors? Most of the time the answer is no because when teens, mostly females, enter a physician’s office for a check-up they are offered both condoms and birth control. These are both effective and can be used for certain prevention, but are they more effective than long lasting conctraception is the question.  In most cases the IUDs are what a teen should be offered when approaching a relationship that will involve intercourse.

                  Condoms and birth control pills are probably one of the most common contraception methods and the most likely fail during intercourse. When parents were studied on their acceptance of contraception methods their results showed that they preferred some the less effective methods like birth control pills and condoms over IUDs. Condoms are less effective due the risk of breaking and the likelihood of leakage, and birth control pills follow the failure rate of condoms in the sense that the method must be taken daily to work and sometimes be forgotten.  On the other hand IUDs are long lasting birth control methods that in installed within the uterus that can actually prevent unwanted pregnancy, but not STIs that condoms can prevent.

                  Even though IUDs are more effective they are not widely accepted. IUDs are the least accepted by parents, and almost never recommended by doctors. That IUDs are last accepted by parents is shown in studies because of lack of knowledge or fear of the uncertain safety issues. Also IUDs are not recommended by doctors regularly due to the insurance difficulties, price, and, again, safety issues.

                  Teens throughout the world are going to experiment with sexual behaviors, but they will not always use the right contraception methods. It is shown in studies that the contraception methods widely used are not the most accepted and that the ones that show more effectiveness are not used. This can only conclude that teens would benefit more from using IUDs than by using contraception methods that could proven ineffective in certain situations.