Schools can and should teach how babies are made, how diseases are transmitted, and how contraceptives work. I would assume if you're teaching kids how babies are made, they would also learn how they are NOT made.
Whether and when to have sex is an upbringing, family-value thing.
That said, the study, as stated is preliminary and drawing any conclusions is premature.
Birth rates, preterm birth rates, live cesarean birth rates are all up (according to this CDC study). The rise in teen births may simply be attributed to the over-all rise in fertility.
Quote:
The report contains other significant findings:
The preliminary estimate of total births in the U.S. for 2006 was 4,265,996, a 3 percent increase -- or 127,647 more births than in 2005.
Birth rates increased for women in their twenties, thirties and early forties between 2005 and 2006, as well as for teenagers.
The cesarean delivery rate rose again in 2006, to 31.1 percent of all births, a 3 percent increase from 2005 and a new record high. The percentage of all births delivered by cesarean has climbed 50 percent over the last decade.
The preterm birth rate rose slightly between 2005 and 2006, from 12.7 percent to 12.8 percent of all births. The percentage of births delivered before 37 weeks of gestation has risen 21 percent since 1990.
The low birthweight rate also rose slightly in 2006, from 8.2 percent in 2005 to 8.3 percent in 2006, a 19 percent jump since 1990.
As a result of the increases in the birth rates for women aged 15-44, the total fertility rate –- an estimate of the average number of births that a group of women would have over their lifetimes –- increased 2 percent in 2006 to 2,101 births per 1,000 women. This is the highest rate since 1971 and the first time since then that the rate was above replacement -– the level at which a given generation can replace itself.
