Teenagers these days....... ........ have the lowest teen pregnancy rates ever. The highest rate was in the '50s, believe it or not, with another spike in the '90s. We, on the other hand, have had the lowest teen pregnancy rates. ........have low drug-using levels. We are at the lowest rate of teens using drugs in decades. .........are pursuing education. From 1970 to 2013, the amount of teens dropping out of high school has been decreased by half. The amount of young adults getting a bachelors degree is the highest it has ever been. .........are hard working and involved in the community. 80% of teens have at least one part time job, a much higher level then ever before, and almost all teens are involved in some sort of extracurricular activity. So, when adults badmouth "teenagers these days" , are they jealous or just not using any sort of facts or logic?
Considering how taboo (and often illegal) contraception was back then (circa the '50s) that actually doesn't surprise me. I don't have facts to back this up, just personal observation, but my opinion is that teen pregnancy is more prevalent in smaller, rural communities. Same with underage drinking. You could probably also place blame of the misconception on the media, since nowadays everyone has access to information at any given time, it can give the impression that it's more common today even if not. Stupid shows like Teen Mom don't do anything to help the image of today's teens, either. I don't think 'teenagers these days' is specific to right now but rather a phrase applied to the naïveté of the younger generation by those older and wiser, throughout time. There is nothing to be jealous of when it comes to teenagers, that sounds like something a smart-ass adolescent would say (no offense, I don't think you meant it in a sassy way!)... but you couldn't pay me enough to be that age again.
Yeah, contraception is a huge factor for the first point. The drug levels one I'm not so sure. You'd have to define drugs because if marijuana is considered a drug, then I don't buy the second point. The rest I can agree with, though some of the older folks might disagree about the last point (80% seems a bit high, don't you think?). My grandparents and my dad are always talking about how kids these days have it easy and don't work as hard. I don't know. It's hard to say.
I have nothing to say, really, but I do want to say that this: is most likely because they have to get an education to get a job these days, give or take. They're just trying to keep their heads above water to compete with the rest of the teens and young people.
On the other hand, only 33% of all people in the U.S. even have a Bachelors Degree, so clearly, you can get a job without one. But they're setting themselves up for success, they're trying, that's the point.
But, no matter the reason, lowering teen pregnancy is good. It lowers poverty, and improves the quality of life for both the mother and the child. I'm actually not sure if marijuana was included, but, although I personally do not support it, it is less harmful than other drugs. Actually, no. It's 4 out of 5 kids. These aren't necessarily teens going and starting a company: they're fast food workers, movie theater workers, amusement park workers, camp counselors, lifeguards, babysitters. But a job is a job, right? I'd say a good portion of teens have to work, if for no other reason, to help their family.
I can't find any statistics, but I'm pretty sure the percentage is higher for those in the UK, so my opinion is probably rather biased.
Goodness, a thread full of party poopers. @sunsplash, in case you hadn't noticed there have been an awful lot of teenagers between the 50s and now. Some fun facts on this site: http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html Drug use is a mixed bag and trends tend to go up and down rather than in one direction: http://www.monitoringthefuture.org//pubs/monographs/mtf-overview2013.pdf http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/13data.html#2013data-drugs If this 2012 data is correct and still valid: We have more people with bachelor’s degree and fewer with 2 yr degrees.
Before too much chest beating can begin, context is everything. Today the younger generation is lucky to have much higher levels of social inclusion and education, as well as access to far more of everything. Contraception has been covered and with that goes ingrained religious beliefs. Also, sex education was practically zero. Drug use often came about for two reasons: Boredom and rebellion. There is a lot for young kids to do now, with the acceptance of music, rock and roll, parties, social events etc etc etc, so boredom is far less of a motivation for stimulation. Also, there has been far less need to 'rebel' as teenagers are much more included in modern life than they were in the 70s and 80s. Nobody listened to or respected kids then, but they generally do now. And generally by those people who needed to rebel as kids. The generations of the 50s and 70s who established the open society we currently enjoy... through rebellion. There are for more educational options today than there ever were. to say more re pursuing education is misleading. First, there is more of a need for education as the jobs market has changed dramatically, and second, there are more opportunities for education. No longer are most men in the fields or in the trades, and most women in the home. That said, there are more jobs now than before. When I grew up there was nothing. That also lead to boredom and drugs. Nobody hired someone without experienced. There simply were no jobs. Now, as I sit here looking out at the warehouse, we have dozens of teenagers fresh out of school and going to Uni. We still have heaps of positions to fill! Another reason why kids can get jobs easier today is because they are cheaper, and businesses now value cheap labor over experienced labor in simple roles. It's not because teens today are more willing to work. My generation was given more opportunities than the one before, and this one has been given more than mine. You can't compare generations. They have been in different environments, socially and economically, and times change. Instead of feeling victimized and defending themselves, they should realize that every generation in the last 80 years has heard the term 'Damned teenagers.' We're not jealous. They're just, like, totes annoying! Especially when they think they know everything, which is the most common complaint by older generations every time. But as everyone gets older they all start to realize how little they really understood. It happened to me.
Lol. A bachelors degree hardly equals success. It doesn't equal a job. It barely even equals competency. The amount of idiots I've met who have a degree has been... depressing. Some of the biggest success stories are from college dropouts because they were smart enough to realize that education is beyond the 'institution'.
As much as I like these numbers, I would very much like to see where you are getting your stats from. It just seems a little unfair not to post a link or something. Sure it's easy to Google it, but you're making the claims. As pointed out, this is largely due to advancement and acceptance of contraceptives. If an honest survey were done, I'd say the number of teens having sex these days is around the same, maybe even a little higher simply due to the shit in our cultural perception of sex, particularly premarital sex. This is interesting. I buy it (tentatively) only because there has been a stronger push to keep drugs out of the hands of my generation. My parents generation, however, being born in the 70s, I seems to have had higher numbers of people using drugs. The confusion comes in when you consider the wide variety of drugs out today. There are a ton and it only contributes to a drug culture that has infected many of today's youth from as far as I can tell. But that is my speculation. It's worth researching though. This I buy as well for (hopefully) obvious reasons. Generally speaking, it is more of a necessity for people to pursue a solid education, and many school districts have put a lot of effort into enforcing a college mindset. Equally important, many parents are working hard to put there kids into college. However, one should also consider which teens we're talking about. I'm willing to be that fewer lower income students are pursuing a higher education, preferring to join the workforce and earn the needed money to support families. I'm also willing to bet more minority students are working. However that's still speculation and worth researching. Again, I'd like to see the study on this. I buy it simply because there are so many more students who are pushed into community activity through school programs. It, in fact, doesn't make sense not to be involved in extracurriculars now that they are being presented in schools and the push toward college is so much stronger. In addition, we are in hard economic times, meaning it has become increasingly important for today's youth to find jobs in order to maintain a certain standard of living or to pay for an education. I'm not convinced that it's higher than ever before only because there are so many years of history in which youth had to work. It wasn't always the "normal"course for youth to go to high school and then to college; therefore, it's fair to ay many of them were working at some point or other out of obligation or expectation. I doubt many of them actually look at the stats before they make their assumptions; however, I would still like to see where these numbers are coming from.
Hey @GingerCoffee, I knew I could count on you to dig up some links for us. I'll be sure to check these out tonight, you know, learn me something before I say anything else.
Let's not forget that bullying rates are up, teen suicides are skyrocketing, at least in my country, social isolation and body image problems are a much bigger problem than before. I still find it difficult to accept statistical improvement as societal improvement with no other factors applied. And I also find it frustrating that people can be accused of being jealous or not thinking something through because of a rudimentary study of dubious (but probably accurate) statistics with no historical or social context applied.
The point was, access to birth control which has been readily available for half a century is not a likely explanation for continued decline in teen pregnancy.
It's A factor, not THE factor. Other factors are education (many of the teens that fell pregnant were not in, or dropped out of, school, as well as sex education and an awareness of the risks), work options, changes in culture that embrace women in the workforce, abortion options (which can influence statistics especially when unreported), sexually transmitted diseases (Aids had a massive impact on the 'free love' culture of the 60s). etc etc etc. Anyone, ANYONE, who thinks any of the reason(s) for the changes listed in this thread is either 'this' or 'that' is oblivious to the complexity of society.
I'm not so sure, I'd need to look more closely. According to this data suicide rates are up but attempts are down: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885157/ That suggests kids are more successful rather than more of them are trying it. It suggests access to more lethal methods (like guns) might be the variable rather than more kids trying.
You might want to show that access to birth control accounts for any decrease in teen pregnancy when that access hasn't changed for at least a decade if you are going to suggest it is a factor. Obviously one needs birth control, there's no evidence increased abstinence is the variable. But this is what @sunsplash said and @thirdwind agreed with: Before this exchange gets further off track: If access to birth control continues to be responsible for the continuing decrease in the pregnancy rate, then one needs to show that access is continuing to increase.
More access to birth control post 1950's and a decline in teenage pregnancy doesn't have any correlation? I'm not suggesting it's a sole factor but I don't understand how it doesn't play a role.
I'm not claiming to know here, I'm just suggesting one look at the evidence before people start proclaiming what is or is not a fact.
Honestly, these internet conversations don't warrant in depth research and analysis to really find the true underlying root cause of societal changes in the last 60 years. From my understanding, experience and past education these are the factors. I'm not going to dig through sources so that I prove a point. That would be rather pathetic. I'd love to see someone in a conversation do that. You'd look at them and mutter 'what a knob'.
Not just access, but increased options, too. I didn't say it was 100% responsible, just that it's well known that it was hard to come by back then and in some cases not allowed. That seems to suggest a relation. I don't see how adding the word "continuing" changes anything because, again, I didn't suggest BC availability was the only reason for the decline...whether it was already dropping or not. Just because I didn't list every other factor possible doesn't mean the one example I used is the only one I believe responsible. Am I still being unclear because if so, I'm not sure what issue you are still taking with my opinion?
