World News and Trends: Survey: Many teens have sex by age 14
Recent study reveals shocking results in Baltimore--perhaps other cities hold the same results as well.
Many American teens are losing their virginity before they are old enough to legally drive, according to a survey produced by The New York Academy of Medicine.
The survey of more than 2,300 Baltimore youths found that four in 10 teens had experienced sexual intercourse by age 14. One in eight said they had sex before age 13. Many had also participated in other forms of sexual activity.
Dr. Danielle Ompad, author of the survey, said the findings are cause for concern for even greater increases in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among teens. While the survey was limited to only the city of Baltimore, Dr. Ompad said, "I don't think other cities would be too different."
Judy Kuriansky, author of Generation Sex, described the results as disturbing though not surprising. She stated that age 14 is far too young to have sex. "They're not emotionally capable of dealing with this," she said. She blamed the prevalence of youth sexual activity on mass media's obsession with sex and the growing number of sexually explicit Internet chat rooms popular with teens.
These shocking findings illustrate the enormous pressures exerted on teens by media, peers and society in general. Parents, if you don't know what your teens are up to, you had better educate yourself. Otherwise you and they are being set up for major heartbreak or worse. (Source: New York Daily News.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2006
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
