We have all heard sad stories of unwanted teenage pregnancies. There are girls who drop out of school to take care of children they didn't really want, having to work to support their unexpected new "families". There are guys who get married before they are ready and perhaps with wives who otherwise would not have married: so often these marriages end in divorce. Most tragic of all, however, are children who grow up knowing that they are unwanted, knowing that they are more of a burden to their parents than a joy even before they are born. Clearly, we as a society need to address the problem of teenage pregnancy and the obvious solution is to encourage teenagers to be responsible and practice birth control. But we face so many choices in deciding which type of birth control to use. Condoms? IUD? Apertures? DepoProvera injections? "The Pill"? Abortion? Abstinence? Which birth control method is the most practical and the one most likely to provide a legitimate solution to the problem of teen pregnancy? By far the most common birth control method today is the birth control pill. The pill is relatively easy to obtain through Planned Parenthood clinics, the price is not unreasonable, and the pill has an excellent record of success in preventing pregnancy. However, the Pill places all of the burden of birth control on women, and while women usually have the most to lose from an unwanted pregnancy, shouldn't [GR#1] men also shoulder some of the responsibility for birth control ? ? Additionally, the pill is something that users must remember to take every day, even if they don't have sex for months or years. The pill may have the added benefit of making menstrual cycles more regular and decreasing the intensity, sometimes painful, of a woman's menstrual cycles, but while it is purely a contraceptive method, the pill also has drawbacks. Taking the pill, in addition to being something the user must remember to take every day regardless of the frequency of sexual activity, involves visits to the doctor's office or Planned Parenthood with annual or even more frequent tests and exams that may be unpleasant and cost more. Apertures? IUD? DepoProvera injections? These methods also place the full burden of birth control on the woman.