Women's Health

Teens Spearhead U.S. Abortion-Rate Drop

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Brown says parents can do a lot now that will help their kids when they grow to adulthood. What's needed, she says, is for parents to give a very strong abstinence message while at the same time providing information on contraception.

"The good news from years of research is when you do this you raise the age of first intercourse, and when kids do become sexually active they use better contraception," Brown says. "Kids look to parents not just for what they should know but for what is wrong and right. You have to speak truthfully to your young people and you have to speak candidly. Forget "The Talk." This is an 18-year conversation. I don't know why people worry about a three-hour sex education class in a school. That has so little effect compared to 18 years at home."