Say what you want about social media.
‘It rots your brain, it wastes your life, it turns us all into ranting, egotistical idiots.’
But there’s one thing going for it according to experts – it’s stopping young people getting pregnant.
Snapchat, and other apps like Facebook and Instagram, are proving to be an effective contraceptive as teenage pregnancies rates have plunged to record lows.
How can this be? Experts basically believe that apps like Snapchat are keeping everyone glued to their phones – and rather than go outside into the world to meet actual people – they’re carrying out their relationships online. That means there’s significantly less opportunities to have sex.
The teenage pregnancy figures are pretty conclusive too – the numbers of 15-17-year-olds has plummeted from a peak of 47.1 per 1,000 to 22.9 right now.
“If a tablet is providing sufficient entertainment at home they may be less likely to go out and find themselves in the kinds of situations which can lead to unwanted pregnancy, said Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service in The Sun.
“There are many reasons behind the fall in teenage pregnancy, and access to better contraception and sex education are of course among them, but we also need to recognise the many ways in which young people’s lives have changed.”
