Assets and Teen Sexuality

As parents many of us worry about the decisions our kids will make around sex. What are the chances our daughter will get pregnant or our son will father a child while still a teen themselves? Well, asset research gives us some insight into this. Students with higher levels of assets (the purple line) tend to abstain from sex longer tha their peers and have fewer sexual partners over their lifetime. The young people with lowest asset levels often have a void that they try to fill with sexual relationships, often with multiple partners in succession. This puts them at higher risk for teen pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases.

To help insulate a child from the problems associated with high risk sexual behavior, it is vital that we look to build and maintain as many assets as we can.