Here are some teenagers' statistics and facts about sexuality in the United States:

  • Three out of 10 girls become pregnant at least once before age 20.
  • Almost 47 percent of high schoolers have had sex.
  • 34 percent of 9th graders and 63 percent of 12th graders have had intercourse.
  • The younger a teenage girl is when she has sex for the first time, the more likely she is to have unwanted or non-voluntary sex.
  • 10 percent of young women who have sex before age 15 say their first sexual experience was "non-voluntary." Many more describe it as relatively "unwanted."
  • Between half and three-quarters of sexually active youth aged 12 to 14 report using contraception the first time they had sex, which means at least 1 in 4 didn't.
  • Teens say that parents most influence their decisions about dating and teenagers' relationships.
  • Three of four girls and over half of boys report that girls who have sex do so because of teenage peer pressure and because their boyfriends want them to.
  • Only 40 percent of young teen mothers graduate from high school.
  • Almost  80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare. 
  • Around 25 percent of teens’ sexual experiences come after using alcohol or drugs.
  • Teenagers who have strong emotional attachments to their parents are much less likely to become sexually active at an early age.
  • Parents rate high among teens as trustworthy and preferred information sources on birth control. Half of teens say they trust their parents for reliable and complete information on birth control.
  • Teens say that parents most influence their decisions about dating and relationships.
  • 89 percent of parents think they've had helpful conversations with their teens about sex. Only 71 percent of teens agree.
  • When asked, around 75 percent of teens report that lack of communication between a girl and her parents is the reason teen girls have babies.
  • 68 percent of sexually active 16 to 18-year-olds report they first had intercourse in their family home, their partner's family home or at a friend's house.
  • 25 percent of people living with HIV in the United States do not even know they are infected.
  • 25 percent of sexually active teens - both boys and girls - have a sexually transmitted disease.

 

Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy