By age 17, more than half of Colorado teens are sexually active. But a new report shows teenagers who like school and care about graduating are far more likely to use birth control and have fewer sexual partners.
For those who say it’s important to finish school, 9 percent didn’t use birth control, according to the non-profit Colorado Youth Matter. For those who aren’t motivated to finish school, 54 percent don’t use birth control.
“It’s really about, what are your goals and how will these sexual health choices really impact those goals, when do you want to start a family,” said spokeswoman Becca Bolden, the organization’s grants manager. “What choices do you need to make to get from here to there?”
One of CYM’s goals is to train teachers and parents how to talk to young people about sex.
“Rather than an adult shutting them down or feeling uncomfortable, they say, ‘That’s a great question,’ and they either answer it or they help the young person find the answer if they don’t know it themselves,” Bolden said.
Colorado is one of three states that has achieved a decline in teen births of over 50 percent between 2007-2014. On average, nine babies were born to teens in Colorado every day.
