Teen Issues 2
The good old days when you were a teen aren’t as different today as you think.
For example, between 1978 and 2008
- the average age for drinking alcohol for the first time went from 16.3 years of age to 16.2
- the age for smoking the first cigarette went from 15.2 years to 16.1
- the age for smoking marijuana for the first time went from 18.4 years to 17.2
- in 1991, 54 percent of high school students had had sexual intercourse
- in 2005 the percentage was 46%
Today’s parents can rest assured that many of the issues they faced in adolescence are similar to the challenges their teens face today.
(U.S. data from Centre for Disease Control)