WASHINGTON, December 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A survey commissioned by The National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy has revealed that US parents play the biggest role in a teenager’s decision to engage in sex before marriage. Teens rated the influence of parents at 37 percent, with the influence of their peers at only 33 percent. Nearly seven in 10 teens (69 percent) do not think it’s okay for high school teens to have sexual intercourse, whereas two-thirds of all sexually experienced teens (63 percent of boys and 69 percent of girls) said they wish they had waited longer to have sex.
Teens (94 percent) were even more likely than adults (91 percent) to say that it is important for teens to be given a strong message from society that they should not have sex until they are at least out of high school.
Six in 10 teens (64 percent) say morals and values are equally as important as health information and services in influencing teen sexual behavior and preventing teen pregnancy.
The survey canvassed 1,000 young people age 12 to 19 and 1,014 adults 20 years and older and provided nationally representative estimates of each age group. The telephone surveys took place in September 2004 and were conducted by International Communications Research. To view the complete results of this survey-With One Voice 2004: Americas Adults and Teens Sound Off About Teen Pregnancy—visit the National Campaign’s website, http://www.teenpregnancy.org./Default.asp?bhcp=1 Tv