Insight of the Day: Young people don't think the birth control pill works

and have sex anyway!!! Most young people have sex, but over 40 percent of them think that they've got a one in two chance of getting pregnant on the birth control pill that year. (It's one in 100 if they take it correctly, eight in 100 if they do it the haphazard way many do.)  Which could explain why nationally the U.S. teen rate increased for the first time in 15 years in 2006 and has increased since.


While I'd love to vent on how ignorant young people today can be, I'd rather focus on the awesome research The National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has done on attitudes and beliefs about contraception in young people.  This new research was definitely eye opening. Given the amount of information available and easy access young people literally have at their fingertips, I would have thought this information to be false if it hadn't been conducted by a credible source. Goes to show, once again, 1) never assume and 2) research done thoughtfully and thoroughly can produce great insights.  

Given the shocking news, I wouldn't be surprised if young people these days believe standing on their head is a valid form of birth control.