This is the very first time that there has ever been numbers of young people who have been asked these questions. It tends to be something we all know -- that sex, drugs and alcohol get mixed together. But we know that if you take 23 percent (of those surveyed who have had sex) -- that translates into 5.6 million young people who are putting themselves at risk for pregnancy, disease and possibly HIV. Those are life-changing events. |
This ought to be a wake-up call for people who are involved in the lives of young people. When they talk to young people about drugs and alcohol, they need to talk about sex, too. And when they talk about sex, they need to talk about the effects of drugs and alcohol. Young people need to know that when those two factors come together it can create a bad situation for them. |
We have an opportunity to take what are sometimes difficult issues and make sense of them for people who are facing these issues every day. |