Scary Things.

In honor of Halloween, here are ten TERRIFYING things I learned about teen pregnancies in the U.S. while doing research this week.

1. Three-quarters of a million teens between 15 and 19 become pregnant each year.

2. Very few teens who become mothers plan on doing so. Out of all teen pregnancies, 82% are unintended. Teen pregnancy accounts for 20% of all unplanned pregnancies every year.

3. Two-thirds of teen pregnancies occur among teens 18-19 years old.

4. Teen mothers account for 11% of all births in the US.

5. Out of all teen pregnancies, 57% end in birth. Another 14% end in miscarriage. If you do the math, that means that about 217,500 teenage girls have abortions every year.

6. Only 74% of girls use protection the first time they have sex. Girls who do not use protection the first time are more likely to get pregnant in the future.


7. For young women age 15-19, black teens are most likely to become pregnant (134 per 1,000 women). Slightly lower rates occur among Hispanics (131 per 1,000) followed by non-Hispanic whites (48 per 1,000).

8. Although teenage mothers today are more likely to finish high school or earn their GEDs than in the past, pregnant teens are less likely to attend college than teens who do not become pregnant.

9. US rates are twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan. And all the Japanese think about is sex.

10. Teen pregnancy rates declined between 1991 and 2005 but are on the rise again. A December 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control shows a 3% increase in teenage pregnancy from 2005 to 2006.

And you thought vampires were scary.

It's Always Sunny in Tucson (pt. 1)

Okay. So. It's a gorgeous day in Tucson, Arizona, and last night's episode of Always Sunny was fantastic. I had an awful week but things are looking up. In honor of the awesomeness this weekend seems to be promising, today's ranting is going to be a TWO  PART research extravaganza. This first part will focus on my (kind of) new and (maybe) improved research artifact, and the second part will focus on how I'm planning on actually doing any research. Ready? Let's go.

So as I mentioned in my last post, the Twilight path of research seemed to be coming to an end. I loved everything I was reading on the subject, but there just wasn't enough. It took me hours - literally, hours - to find research, and in the end it just wasn't going anywhere. The research I was reading told me things I already knew, and that's no fun. One of the threads I picked up on, however, was the idea of abstinence. Abstinence is a major theme in Twilight, and I found myself thinking about it constantly. What kind of message is Twilight sending to it's readers? How else is that message manifested in other "kid-friendly" media sources, like Nickelodeon and the Jonas Brothers? (Don't even get me started on those boys. I have an unhealthy crush on Nick. And he's 17. It's awful) The more I thought about the idea of abstinence in the modern world, the more I wanted to learn. So I've revamped my research, and I'm now going to be considering the following questions:

• What does abstinence-only education mean? Where is it practiced? What are the results?
• How are abstinence and sexuality presented in kid-centric media, specifically in shows like Gossip Girl, movies like High School Musical, and music videos?
  
• What (if any) are the trends in young adult literature towards abstinence?