BetterDoctor.com recently released its examination of data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Behavior Risk Survey, and, well, it shows that our teens probably need better, honest sex education.
According to the report, 36.2 percent of the state’s high school teens say they are sexually active. (Mississippi teens clock in at 40.5 percent, West Virginia at 40.2 percent and Arkansas shows 36.8 percent.)
When asked if they were “ever sexually active,” those numbers jump: 50 percent of Oklahoma’s high school teens claimed they were. That’s less than Mississippi (54.2 percent) and West Virginia (53.7 percent) but higher than every other state.
So much for that “abstinence” nonsense!
BetterDoctor crunched those stats with teen pregnancy and use of birth control numbers to come up with our state’s overall ranking: No. 17. For comparison, No. 16, New Mexico, had the words “no data” in the answer field for “ever sexually active.” No data!
Unfortunately, 13.5 percent of Oklahoma students surveyed said they used no form of birth control. (That’s better than 17 other states could muster, including Mississippi and West Virginia.)
Oklahoma’s birth rate for high school teens age 15-19 is 42.9 percent, the highest in the nation, the report shows.
Parents, schools, communities, we’re looking at you.
Print Headline: No. 17!
