As a moderator for EmpowHer, I'll weigh in with this: Never would I have imagined the number of questions from teens and twentysomethings who do not know the mechanics of conception, exactly what happens when you have a period, how to avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease, and, frankly, whether or not they are pregnant. We see these questions every day.
Yes, we all agree that abstinence is the only 100% foolproof way to not become pregnant. But clearly something more needs to be done. The questioners are not only worried, they are also terribly uninformed.
We get questions from girls who had unprotected sex and have had two or three periods since then but are still worried they are pregnant. We get questions such as the one from the young woman who worried that if a man touches his penis and then touches her genitals, she is pregnant. We have questions like the one who was 37 days late for her period and wondering if she should see a doctor, and girls with all the symptoms of pregnancy who have not told anyone. We get questions from male partners as well. We get questions from women who have "had sex with their clothes on" who want to know if they are pregnant, and those who have all the symptoms of an STD and are frightened beyond words. The most popular form of birth control among the young women who write us is withdrawal -- and that has a failure rate of 26%.
Somehow, some way, what we are doing now is not working. Information is not the enemy here.
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As a moderator for EmpowHer, I'll weigh in with this: Never would I have imagined the number of questions from teens and twentysomethings who do not know the mechanics of conception, exactly what happens when you have a period, how to avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease, and, frankly, whether or not they are pregnant. We see these questions every day.
Yes, we all agree that abstinence is the only 100% foolproof way to not become pregnant. But clearly something more needs to be done. The questioners are not only worried, they are also terribly uninformed.
We get questions from girls who had unprotected sex and have had two or three periods since then but are still worried they are pregnant. We get questions such as the one from the young woman who worried that if a man touches his penis and then touches her genitals, she is pregnant. We have questions like the one who was 37 days late for her period and wondering if she should see a doctor, and girls with all the symptoms of pregnancy who have not told anyone. We get questions from male partners as well. We get questions from women who have "had sex with their clothes on" who want to know if they are pregnant, and those who have all the symptoms of an STD and are frightened beyond words. The most popular form of birth control among the young women who write us is withdrawal -- and that has a failure rate of 26%.
Somehow, some way, what we are doing now is not working. Information is not the enemy here.
June 3, 2009 - 8:52amThis Comment
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