Shaffer, Arin: Teens and Contraception

            Today there is an increasing abundance of sexual activity in the adolescent years.  However, with this increase in teen sexual activity the chances of unwanted pregnancy increase as well. In order to avoid the unwanted pregnancies adolescents must better learn about the different types of contraceptives. Of all teens who report contraceptive use, “long-acting reversible options account for <5 12-month="12-month" 14="14" 20="20" 55="55" 86="86" a="a" about="about" account="account" all="all" also="also" among="among" are="are" awareness="awareness" barely="barely" because="because" but="but" chose="chose" concern="concern" continuation="continuation" continue="continue" contraception="contraception" contraceptive="contraceptive" contraceptives="contraceptives" determined="determined" don="don" effective="effective" even="even" every="every" for="for" is="is" iuds="iuds" know="know" little="little" long-acting="long-acting" long-term="long-term" methods="methods" most="most" of="of" one="one" out="out" program="program" rates="rates" reason="reason" s="s" short-acting="short-acting" showed="showed" span="span" statistic="statistic" study="study" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" t="t" teenagers="teenagers" teens.="teens." tenth="tenth" that="that" the="the" them.="them." this="this" to="to" use="use" used="used" using="using" versus="versus" women="women">  This fact shows that adolescents who do use the long-lasting methods are more likely to keep using that same method than if they were using short-term methods of contraception.   Lastly, “Unintended pregnancy rates were 22 times higher in women using short-acting forms of contraception. That simply shows that short term contraception is just simply not as effective long-lasting contraception (IUDs). In addition, long-term contraceptives face another challenge in getting recognition, parents.  Many parents are not aware of the benefits of long-term contraceptives and don’t approve of them either.  In a recent phone study IUDs gained only an 18% approval rate from parents (Parents Prefer).  Parents believe that the use of such contraceptives encourages a long sexual relationships or infers that one is already going on.  Another concern that parents have is that long-term contraceptives are similar to the Dalkon shield which had several “considerable safety problems”(Parents Prefer). They contend that even though an IUD may be risky it isn’t as risky as unwanted pregnancy.