TEEN PREGNANCY IS, of course, the result of teen sexual activity. And although the percentage of American teens having sexual intercourse dropped from 54 in 1991 to 48 in 1997, it is still far higher than the 1970 rate of 29 percent. In addition, in a July 2000 article the Washington Post reported that during that same time period the average age of first sexual intercourse dropped a full year—down to seventeen for girls and sixteen for boys. In the same article the Post also reported statistics suggesting that 20 percent of all fifteen-year-olds have had sex at least once—indicating that "even as the overall percentage of sexually active teens has declined slightly during the past couple of years—for girls under 15 it has continued to increase."

Uniquely modern problems

American teens are more aware of sex than ever before. They constantly see...