Contraceptives and Misconceptions There are many serious problems facing the United States today that require a rethink of our problem-solving methods. In many situations, we can let our emotions interfere with our interpretations of facts. When there is a moral issue involved, we often focus on what we want and not on what we have. One of the most complicated and emotional issues today is the issue of making contraceptives available to adolescents. Could it be that adult misconceptions are causing teen conceptions? The statistics on teen sex are staggering. According to Ms. Seth, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, "eighty-five percent of high school students, by the time they reach twelfth grade, are sexually active" ("What Should Schools" 6). In Georgia alone, nearly nineteen thousand girls under twenty gave birth in 1990. Based on these figures, Georgia ranks eighth in the country in the rate of teen pregnancy. The Center for Disease Control, a well-known source, states that 61% of boys have had sex before the age of fifteen, often with multiple partners ("What Should Schools" 7). Oddly, even in the face of such alarming information, Georgia has very limited sex education programs. In schools where the pregnancy rate is high (in many schools up to 15%), there are programs to administer contraceptives to students. Many people believe that it is wrong to offer contraceptives to teenagers, claiming that it pushes them to become sexually active, thus alleging a "solution" to the problem. The most common argument is that if you give contraceptives to teenagers, you are giving them permission to have sex and even encouraging them to do so. This way of thinking... middle of paper... whether or not teenagers should have sex. It's unfortunate that as we reach adulthood, our memories of what childhood is truly about fade and become distorted. In each of our pasts there is at least one memory of breaking the rules, lying to our parents, or even doing something that we knew was harmful to us. As any armchair psychologist can tell you, if something is forbidden, dangerous, and mysterious, it's more attractive. It's time to act. The rate of teenage pregnancies is rising sharply. Soon AIDS will make its way into the blood of adolescents. All parents, each and every one, must come to terms with the fact that their children should be provided with information and easy access to contraceptives; the effect can only be positive. Remember, someone might be called a liberal or a bad parent by those who can't think straight, but it's better than being called a grandparent or a mourner..