性行为的发展

随着青春期的到来，青年男女也开始有生殖能力了。在发达国家，女孩现在月经初潮介于8-12岁，而男孩首次射精在12-14岁之间。从生理上看，这就意味着他们在非常小的年龄就能够做父母了。可是，通常来说，他们的心理和社会成熟尚未完成，并因而仍不适合做父母。

不幸的是，许多青少年还没有完全理解做父母的含意和不懂避孕知识就开始发生性交行为了。时常，首次性交并未事先做出计划，就是这么“碰巧发生”的。尤其对于年幼的男女青少年来说，恰恰就是这种情形下发生了首次性交。可是，一名已经行经的女孩子有非常充分的条件“首次”怀孕。一些男女青少年没有任何的防范，而且因而可能最终和出乎意外地必须要处理掉非意愿妊娠。在最好的情形下这也是一个严峻的难题，但是这种最好的情形却也是遭之又遭。尤其对于不能摆脱非意愿妊娠的女孩子来说，更为糟糕。即使生下了健康的婴儿，对于这位年轻的母亲及其自己的双亲来说也是一个沉重的负担。时常，流产被视为唯一可接受的解决方案。除了上述的弊端以外，流产本身也是这位女孩子的沉重包袱。

非意愿妊娠的难题只有早期而充分的性健康教育才能够解决。青少年只有懂得了自己身体的机能、熟悉了避孕和预防性传播疾病知识，才能够在生殖行为中做到理性和负责任。

瑞典 法国 加拿大 英国 美国   一些国家十几岁青少年的生育和流产 (上世纪90年代中期)：每1000名15-19岁妇女(%) 一些国家十几岁青少年的性交行为 (上世纪90年代中期)：20-24岁妇女(%)     生育   到15岁     流产   到18岁    资料来源: 纽约伽特麦切研究所   到20岁

Stages of Development: Adolescence

Reproductive Behavior

With puberty, young females and males also become capable of reproduction. In the developed countries, girls now have their first menstruation between the ages of 8 and 12, and boys have their first ejaculation between 12 and 14. This means that, physically, they can become parents at a very early age. However, as a rule, they are psychologically and socially unprepared and thus still unfit for parenthood.
Unfortunately, many adolescents begin sexual intercourse without a full understanding of its implications and without using contraception. Most often, the first coitus is unplanned and “just happens”. This is especially true for very young couples. However, a female who has begun menstruating may very well get pregnant “the first time”. Some couples take no precautions in any case and thus may eventually and unexpectedly have to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. This is a serious problem under the best of circumstances, but often the circumstances are far from good. Especially the female cannot escape the consequences. Even if a healthy baby is born and accepted, it is usually a burden to the young mother and to her own parents. However, all too often an abortion is seen as the only acceptable solution. Apart from everything else, this also puts a heavy burden on the female.
The problem of unwanted pregnancies can be solved only with early, adequate sexual health education. Only adolescents who understand the workings of their own bodies and who are familiar with contraception and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases can be rational and responsible in their reproductive behavior.