Health and Not-So-Well Being

Young Lust

While one report says fewer high schoolers are having sex, another says those who pledge virginity lie about their sexual experiences. Maybe it has something to do with the music they listen to. Music may tell us why they're having sex, but it doesn't explain why they're having sex when they don't want to.

Many young women have sex with their boyfriends because they feel pressured into it, afraid their boyfriend will be angered if they don't. His anger may have something to do with violent television programming, but he should beware. While some girls are having sex when they don't want to, others are just as violent on a date as their male counterpart.

Once in the back seat or on the beach, studies show most teens aren't, won't be, or choose not to be prepared. This same study revealed almost half the girls in the study had "unwanted sex." What's the difference between "rape" and "unwanted sex"? There's no difference according to the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine or the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault.

To be precise, rape is a form of unwanted sex, of which there are many forms, according to Stephen J. Schulhofer, Julius Kreeger Professor of Law and Criminology and Director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice at the University of Chicago Law School and author of Unwanted Sex: The Culture of Intimidation and the Failure of Law.

No one in the study referred to the forceful males as "unwanted," but another study did mention that herpes has been found to be a frequent infection in adolescent girls. They are also at higher risk for other sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, and pregnancy.

Given the regularity of unwanted and unprotected sex, many are relieved to hear the morning-after pill (also known as Plan B) is being made available without a prescription. This news applies only to people (men and women) over the age of 18. Minor females will still need a prescription.

Aspirin and Accidents

Trying to avoid the heartbreak of recurrent miscarriage means looking no further than the medicine chest. Aspirin's blood-thinning qualities are believed to protect against the formation of blood clots (thrombosis), a condition thought to be a cause of recurrent miscarriage.

While shopping for aspirin, ladies, you might to be on the lookout for a younger man. Regardless of your age, his age tips the scale out of your favor as he gets older. He's three times more likely to provide an inadequate specimen after the age of 35 than in his 20s. At age 40, the risk is 60 percent greater.

If you do opt for a younger man, make sure you've got some life insurance on him and read the fine print, which includes talk of double indemnity and suicide clauses. The leading causes of death in men up to the age of 34 are accidents and suicide. Don't think a man with an accent is all that – the numbers represent men from all over the world.

Finally, Bundles of Joy and the Birth Rate

From posted signs to petitions, society has had it with ill-behaved children. These little people naysayers describe out of control children as a public nuisance. They advocate child-free restaurants, compare them to cigarette smoke, and assert dogs smell better, behave better, and look better.

Take heart, oh ye child weary. The birth rate is at an all-time low for the 12th year in a row.