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Culture Facts

One in four sexually active teens contracts an STD every year.
(The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Sex and America's Teenagers, 1994, AGI:New York)

Students who learn and exercise self control with sexual abstinence are 60% less likely to be expelled from school, 50% less likely to drop out of school and twice as likely to graduate from college.
(The Heritage Foundation, "Teenage Sexual Abstinence and Academic Achievment", October 2005, Robert Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph. D.)

More than one in five students reported having oral sex to "avoid having sexual intercourse" with a partner.
(Kaiser Family Foundation, National Survey of Adolescents and Young Adults: Sexual Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors, May 2003)

Girls who experimented with sex or drugs were two to three times more likely to become depressed: those with multiple sex partners were 10 times more likely than their peers to become depressed.
(American Journal of Preventitive Medicine, "Which Comes First in Adolescence? -- Sex and Drugs or Depression?" , Vol. 29, Number 3, 2005. Page(s) 163-170 Hallfors, et al)

Recent estimates suggest that while representing 25% of the ever sexually active population, 15 to 24-year olds acquire nearly one-half of all new STDs.
(CDC.gov. Weinstock, H. Berman, S, Cates, W, Jr. "Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among American Youth: Incidence and Prevalence Estimates, 2000. Perspect Sex Reprod Health, 2004:36(1):6-10)

Nationally, teen childbearing costs taxpayers at least $9.1 billion a year.
(The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, "By the Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing in Florida", November 2006, www.teenpregnancy.org/costs)

Direct medical costs associated with STDs in the United States are estimated at up to $14.1 billion annually.
(Center for Disease Control, December 2006, HW Chesson, JM Blandford, TL Gift, G Tao, KL Irwin. The estimated direct medical cost of STDs among American youth, 2000. 2004 National STD Prevention Conference. Philadelphia, PA. March 8-11, 2004. Abstract P075.)