Although once viewed as a taboo, sexual activity is now viewed as a more acceptable occurrence among teenagers. The media and lack of common sense may be the cause. Many do not consider the consequences of their one night stands. They are in it for the moment, but that one moment can change everything for everyone involved.
According to the Center of Disease Control teenage pregnancy has been declining for the past 14 years and now is on the rise again. Students at Neuqua all hear the rumors about their fellow students and the sad fact is that those rumors are sometimes true. Everyone hears pregnancy and teenager and gasps. The pregnancy should not be the shocking part, but the fact that a child will soon have to be raising a child. People look down on them and raise their eyebrows. Teenagers have sex and sometimes they have to experience the consequences. They need help and guidance, not judgment.
People glamorize being a teenage mother with TV and watching young famous mothers raising children. Those young starlets who are having kids have the income to raise them. A young mother who has a child in high school does not have the millions the stars have in Hollywood.
With the availability of information pregnancy and disease should be going down. Instead, everything is going up. Students seem to forget that condoms and birth control are not 100% effective in preventing pregnancy as all students will learn or have learned in sophomore health, but there should still be a decline and not an increase. It seems teenagers are not using their heads. For one night of pleasure you can end up with rumors being spread about you and possibly a child. It is not really seem worth it. Sex is not a game or something to do when you happen to be bored, it serious and should not be taken lightly.
Rachel Vaca, Opinions Editor
