Albert, Bill and Laura Lippman, et al. (2005) Freeze Frame: Snapshot of America's Teens. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Pregnancy. 121pp.

OVERVIEW

Seeking to give an accurate picture of today's teens, this report suggests that teens are actually doing better than most parents and adults believe. While there are still areas of concerns that need to be addressed, teens today, for the most part, are finding ways to thrive in a culture that could easily lead them astray. The data looks at teen sexual behaviors and attitudes through seven areas that affect then most: health, family, peers and partners, school, community, media and consumer behavior and religious and spiritual beliefs.

DESIGN

The report comes from a broad range of databases. Some are very large such as the "Monitoring the Future" which surveys about 50,000 students annually, to smaller ones like random phone surveys which encompass about 1,000 youths. Throughout the report, each chart and figure is labelled with its appropriate data source. All datasources fall within the years 2000-2005 and, as mentioned above, are clustered into seven categories which influence teen behavior and attitudes.

FINDINGS

• Health
  • Rates of teen sexual activity, pregnancy and birth rates have all declined since the early 1990's (in all 50 states and across all race & ethnic groups), lead by decreased sexual activity, especially among boys, and increased contraception use among both girls and boys.
  • Still, most teens have sex before they graduate and 1 in 7 have sex before age 15;
  • More than half don't use protection regularly with a small proportion not using contraception at all;
  • Only 2% believe they are getting enough information about abstinence and contraception;
  • Finally, between 1991 and 2003 there was only a slight increase in the percentage of youth who say they have not used cigarettes, illegal drugs or alcohol in the last 30 days with a significant rise in the number of teens who have combined those with sex during the same years.
• Family
  • The majority of teens continue to grow up in two-parent homes with most parents  claiming positive relationships with their teens;
  • Many teens cite that they have at least one family member with whom they can confide.
  • While many teens, at least a half, believe their parents know most things about the issues they face, this may not be true for sex where about 1/3 say they have never had discussions on abstinance, STD's or contraception with their parents;
  • Among parents of sexually active, 8th-11th graders, half of all parents are unaware that their children have had sex.
• Peers & Partners
  • The majority of teens claim their peers influence their decisions positively in regards to sex.
  • However, a significant minority of teens report experiencing violence in dating and sexual relationships and a larger percentage of sexually active teen girls (23% fo 12-14 and 12% of 15-17) say their first sexual encounter was unwanted. Moreover, 2/3 of sexually active teens, boys and girls, say they wished they had waited before having sex.
• School
  • Teens strongly involved in school (those with high academic performance, involved in after-school activities, etc.) are far more likely to delay sexual activity and early pregnancy and parenthood than those who aren't.
  • The percentage of teens whose parents say they are highly involved in school has declined since 1997.
  • While drop-out rates have fluctuated since 1991, the "drop out gap" between boys and girls widened between 1992 and 2002 with boys much more likely to drop than girls;
  • Also, teens spend on average 5 hrs a week studying (far less more than, for example, watching TV);
  • Positively, the drop out rates have declined since the 1990's, the number of teens skipping school, getting suspended or expelled has stabilized or declined slightly and 8 out of 10 teens say they are involved in positive extracurricular activities.
• Community
  • Not surprisingly, those teens who are actively involved in their communities (volunteering and participating in community activities) have a lower risk of teen pregnancy;
  • About 1/4 to 1/3 (depending on age) of teens volunteer at least once a month;
  • A significant number of teens (1/3 of boys and 1/4 of girls) say they have engaged in delinquent activities like belonging to a gang, damaging property, stealing or selling drugs.
• Media & Consumer behavior
  • Youths aged 8-18 spend over 44 hours a week watching TV, listening to music, using the computer, playing video games, etc.;
  • In 2001, 3/4 of homes had a computer; in 2005, 2/3 of those aged 8-18 had a TV in their bedroom, almost 2/3 reported the TV is usually on during meals and about 1/2 of those aged 8-18 claim that there are no rules regarding watching TV in their homes and that it is on most of the time.
• Religious & Spiritual beliefs
  • Research has constantly shown that teens who are more religious are more likely to delay sexual activity than teens who are no;
  • 7 in 10 of those aged 13-17 say they feel close to God and 6 in 10 say they attend religious services at least once a month;
  • About 1/3 of students in grades 8, 10 and 12 say that religion plays a very important role in their lives.

CONCLUSIONS

There is much to be encouraged by from the data: rates of pregnancy and birth are declining among teens as are rates of dropping out of school, teens have generally healthy home lives and are involved in their communities with many having a real spirituality. However, there is still much to be concerned about as pregnancy and STD rates are still high and those having an unwanted first sexual encounter remains alarmingly high. The report concludes that three areas of teens' lives should be of particular concern to us in helping teens avoid early pregnancy and parenthood: risky peer and partner relationships, academic failure and disinterest and lack of adult supervision (linked to high media consumption).

CRITIQUE & EVALUATION

This is likely one of the most thorough pictures we are able to get of how teens think and behave in the US, especially in regards to sex and pregnancy. However, in spite of that, there are some areas that could be further improved upon including more recent data resources (much changes in 5 years) as well as a breakdown according to race, ethnicity and economic status.  Also, with such a broad range of data resources, there is not always a consistant use of statistics with varying phrases used, varying age and gender clusters, etc. With more funding, perhaps a larger and more systematic study could be done.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION

1. What surprised you most about this study? Does it seem true to the teens you know?
2. How would you improve this study? What would you add or take out?
3. How might you use this information in your work with youth?

IMPLICATIONS

It's important not to make vague generalizations about a population group without having some comprehensive and broad research done on them.  This report fills in the picture of American teens a little bit more. While there are many reasons to be encouraged and see that teens may be doing better than most adults believe, there are still significant areas of concern that parents, educators, youth workers and others should consider as they walk alongside youth.

Christen B. Yates cCYS