9781422282687

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Words to Understand abortion: a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy. abstinence: choosing to not do something (in this context, have sex). comprehensive: covering all aspects of a topic. contraception: something a person uses to prevent pregnancy. miscarriage: when an unborn baby does not survive. Of course, if about 70 percent are not having sex, that still means that about 30 percent of kids that age are— and that’s still a large number. Teens who do choose to have sex need to understand the possible consequences. First, there are almost always emotional consequences to sex. The act of inter- course is more of a “big deal” than a lot kids expect it will be. There can also be Chapter One TEENS AND SEXUALACTIVITY The media often scares parents with stories about all the terrible or danger- ous things their kids might be secretly doing. But in reality, fewer kids commit crimes, do drugs, or have sex than the news suggests. For example, recent sur- veys have shown that about 7 in 10 kids between the ages of 15 and 17 have never had sexual intercourse.