"Kappan" editor Rafael Heller talks with the Guttmacher Institute's Laura Lindberg, one of the nation's leading researchers in the field of adolescent sexual and reproductive health, about recent data and trends related to teens' sexual behavior, contraceptive use, pregnancy rates, and more, including their experiences with school-based…

The effects on children of the increase in single parents is no longer much debated. They do less well in school, are less likely to graduate, and are more likely to be involved in crime, teen pregnancy, and other behaviors that make it harder to succeed in life. Research at the Brookings Institution shows that social mobility is much higher for…

This article examines how academic knowledge and power have shaped the discourse on human classification and how political authorities use academic knowledge producers to legitimize public policy. Specifically, the article draws on the role of John M. MacEachran, a former academic at the University of Alberta, in the implementation of the Alberta…

Highlights the problem of unintended pregnancies in the United States, especially those among adults. Discusses high costs, sex education for adults, the need for a national campaign that includes improving knowledge about contraception and reproductive health, increasing access to contraception, providing guidance to couples, and stimulating…

This document contains the testimony before Congress of a witness representing the New England Natural Family Planning Association and Natural Family Planning Education of Rochester, New York. The World Health Organization definition of natural family planning (NFP) is included which defines NFP as methods for planning and preventing pregnancies…

As a Family and Consumer Science educator at Union City High School in Union City, Pennsylvania, I have heard and seen a great deal. I have been teaching for 24 years at this rural Pennsylvania Middle/High School where teen pregnancy has always been a problem. Teaching students abstinence as the only method of birth control has been a major…

The question of why advertisements for contraceptives are not shown on television in the United States is explored in this paper. The statement is made that although television is permeated with sex, network broadcasters steadfastly ban contraceptive advertising from the airways on the grounds that they do not want to alienate or offend viewers.…

The bulletin investigates the major positions held by the Catholic Church toward population problems. Separate sections discuss the demographic debate, traditional church teaching, the birth control movement, the Vatican Council II and the Papal Birth Control Commission, Pope Paul's 1968 Encyclical against contraception, the 1980 Synod of Bishops,…

Sex education which deals with the problem of teenage pregnancy and is based upon the essentialist view of sex as heterosexual copulation constitutes misrepresentation of sexuality to young people. The alternative of encouraging adolescents to pursue sexual satisfaction through activities other than copulation is ignored in sex education…

The option of the child-free life should be offered to every young person contemplating marriage or approaching childbearing age. (Authors)

Access to and availability of contraceptive methods in stores play an important role in the prevention of AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Although teens are generally knowledgable about birth control, many encounter barriers when attempting to obtain contraceptive. Forty-five drug stores and 15 convenience…

The review provides a social learning model for explaining adolescent sexual behavior and use/nonuse of contraceptives. The model explains behavior patterns responsible for epidemic rates of teenage pregnancies, suggests research that will result in prevention of teenage pregnancies, and incorporates a range of social/cultural factors. (DB)

Argues that young people who are knowledgeable about their sexuality are more likely to delay their first sexual experience, presents myths about sex and sexual relationships, and discusses topics the author includes when talking to teenagers, i.e., love, violence, sexual knowledge and expression, moral values, homosexuality, and the women's…

A hypothetical secretary of the interior addresses the National Audubon Society on the 100th anniversary in the year 2005, providing answers for the environmental problems caused by our current myopia. (RM)

Argues that sexual activity and pregnancy has increased among adolescents in part because of government's role in subsidizing illegitimacy and abortion. The author offers solutions to the pregnancy problem by advocating parental notification laws when minors seek abortions, less government funding for birth control measures and abortion, and more…