Teen Condom Use Statistics

Nationally, 66% of 18 year old females and 68% of 18 year old males have had sexual intercourse. Close to 2800 teens get pregnant everyday, while 1 in 4 of them become infected with an STD every year. Many schools are teaching safe sex as part of their curriculum, stepping on the toes of some parents who prefer to encourage abstinence. However, where teen sex is creating public health issues and teen pregnancy is costing our nation, it has people searching for a solutions to avoid a crisis.

It is a controversial topic in today's society. Should condoms be readily accessible to teens? Or does promoting their use also promote sexual activity? One study showed that 98% of all teens who have had sex, have used a condom. They understand it's function. However, about half of that same group also admitted to having teen sex at sometime without one. Although many places are making condoms available to teens, the condom strategy is not having the impact that was intended. Teens still are not using them every time they are having intercourse.

Overall, 71% of teens report having discussed condom use at home with a parent. Statistically, these teens were more likely to use a condom than others. However, condom use only had a dramatic increase in the teens who's parents spoke with them about condoms before their first sexual encounter. These results indicate that early discussion of safe sex is critical. In addition, females who used a condom at first intercourse were 20 times more likely to use one in future sexual activity. Although in an ideal world all teens would practice abstinence, there will always be some who participate in sex at early ages. Talk to your teen about pregnancy, STDs and safe sex.