It is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite things that brought home from the Texas Symposium on Teen Pregnancy.
Hands down, my favorite thing from the symposium was the Teen Empower booth!
To raise money, they sell these great t-shirts that say things like, "Vulva is not a car!"
Teen Empower is an Oklahoma based non-profit working to educate and steer teens away from high risk behaviors through school and community engagement.
Fun Facts!!!
- Teen pregnancy nationally is on the decline and the conventional wisdom is that this is due to easy access to oral contraceptives. That does NOT mean teens are having less sex.
- Humans are the only mammals where the female appears sexually mature before they are biologically mature and the the males it's the opposite.
- For a long time, testosterone has been blamed for aggression and and increase in sexual interest. New data suggests that testosterone promotes social engagement and status and that it isn't necessarily about aggression and sex.
- For teens, social relationships, status and connections are more important than sex. Which means (among other things) that what is valued in your teen's social circle will be more valued to them. So if they can elevate their status in their peer group by playing video games, they will play lots of video games. If they can elevate their status by getting straight As, they will study more. If they can elevate their status by having sex, they are more likely to have sex.