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By their senior year of high school, more than two-thirds of Connecticut teens have had sex, but only about 59 percent of them are using condoms, according to data from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey."The older they get, the more sexually active they are likely to be," said Susan Yolen, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. "They should be given sexually appropriate information. They need the tools to protect themselves."
The Connecticut data are drawn from a representative sample of 3,000 middle and high school students. State-level information is compiled by CDC to form a national youth risk assessment.
Connecticut's results prompted concern from health officials about teens' risk of contracting STDs, particularly chlamydia. Connecticut reported 12,000 new cases of the STD last year, said Heidi Jenkins, program director for the state public health department's STD control program.
The survey also found that, among teens who had sex:
*24.8 percent used drugs or drank alcohol beforehand.
*24.1 percent used birth control pills beforehand.
*10 percent reported having four or more partners.
For the first time, the Connecticut survey asked about verbal abuse in the context of dating. About 17 percent of teens reported being verbally or emotionally abused by a girlfriend or boyfriend. One in four teens reporting being bullied or harassed in the past year.
Some bright spots emerged in the survey. For example, teens reported they were less likely to drive drunk or smoke cigarettes. Family and social support were key to helping teens avoid behaviors such as binge drinking, drug abuse, and suicide.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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