Teen pregnancy ~ are we getting at the underlying issue?

I found this piece in Forbes that touts contraception as the driving force behind the decline in teen pregnancies over the last decade or so. To be fair, the article mentions that delayed sexual activity and contraceptive use are both responsible for lowering teen pregnancy. According to a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute & Columbia University,

86 percent of the decline in pregnancy was associated with increased use of contraception. There was increasing use of both birth control pills and condoms, or the use of dual methods such as the pill and a condom combined.

Only 14 percent of the decline in pregnancy was attributed to reductions in teens' sexual activity, the researchers noted.

The research found that when sex was delayed, the individual was more likely to use contraception effectively once sexual activity is initiated.

In the midst of the teen pregancy-contraception debate I find that what is often lacking is a sense of personalism. Science has afforded our modern age many "effective" means of controlling our environment ~ many times to man's benefit. Yet, I wonder how often the person is actually lost amidst the study. The real question to be asked is why are teens engaging in sex? Are they seeking acceptance? Self-validation? Love? Is contraception answering these questions or is it enabling a behavioral pattern that - over time - lead to dysfunctional and unfulfilling patterns of promiscuity? As long as we speak of teen pregnancy and sexual activity merely in terms of percentages we are missing the boat.

This, of course, says nothing of the fact that we're already conveying the contraceptive idea of sex as an activity that requires protecting yourself (with birth control pills, condoms, etc.) from the other person, thus denigrating the meaningful intimacy of sex.

Posted by Genevieve on 12/2/2006 at ContraceptionBlog.com