About one in six teenage women practicing contraception combine two methods, primarily the condom with another method (Guttmacher, 1998). The only method effective 100% of the time is abstinence, which means not having sex at all. Although there are contraceptives, they only work so much percent of the time. The other percent of the time, they will fail and lead to a traumatic downfall for anyone involved. Many consequences are contributed to having sex as a teenager, and even as an adult. Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) are gaining more and more publicity. Every year 3 million teens-about 1 in 4 sexually experienced teens-acquire an STD (Guttmacher, 1998). The more common sexually transmitted diseases include HIV (caused by the AIDS virus), herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and genital warts. Teens have higher rates of contracting gonorrhea than do sexually active men and women aged 20 to 44. Chlamydia is more common among teens than among older men and women; in some settings, 10-29% of sexually active teenage women and 10% of teenage men tested for STDs have been found to have chlamydia (Guttmacher, 1998). Along with the physical status of a sexually active teen, the emotional status can also be depleted. The emotional problems a teenager will feel after becoming sexually active can be overwhelming. Sometimes the stress from friends and family members becomes too much for a teenager to bear. This can often lead to suicide or beating of themselves to kill the baby and make it look like an accident. When a teenager first learns she is pregnant, she often will not tell anyone-not even the baby's father-about her predicament (Meier, 1994, p. 21). Holding a secret that immense inside you causes great stress and emotional upset. The teenager may have intense feelings of fear, confusion and depression. In that case, it is a good idea for the girl to get help by talking to a counselor at school or a health clinic.
