Despite teenagers having mobile unrestricted access to all sorts of supposedly corrupting media available to them at all times, they still make rational decisions regarding their bodies. This is very encouraging to all those that value freedom.
If you use contraception, you won't have pregnancy. So why are the rates down? Health? Then why are 25% of kids obese (I looked up those figures).
I can only assume that technology has created more social isolation.
This. If you think that technology has done a good job of informing teens about the risks of pregnancy and the importance of contraception, you are probably being far too optimistic in the face of a dire situation (i.e. mass estrangement).
I don't know - could there be some observation bias given the forum we're discussing this in? It also undermines digital relationships which have their own positives aspects. Here we are having a civil conversation about an important topic without having to commit to meeting at a certain time or place or without knowing what shared interests we have.
The internet can act as a social lubricant of sorts which is valuable. The legacy social lubricant is alcohol.
That is a very interesting point, though I suspect we'll never actually be able to retire that legacy. If we do, I think it'll take at least a century.
Edit: honestly I think the social lubricant is actually pseudonymity, empowered by the network.
Conversely, intoxication is its own kind of real-life pseudonymity! :-)
Whether or not this is true depends upon the ability of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street to exact change. Things are not looking empirically good for "internet society."
Although I think it's safe to allow for the possibility of an immanent "death of Facebook" which could give rise to the social lubricant you're describing, since I don't think Facebook served the Arab Spring very well.
You're saying technology didn't spread the idea of having less sex; I don't even think the commenter you're responding to claimed as much, merely that for all the chatter about sex and violence on TV and video games and other media, teens are still doing a good job at not making stupid choices. Which is contrary to what many people believe today.
I don't think technology has very much to do with it, more the idea that if you're born into a household with five other starving kids, you're less likely to repeat what your parents did.
And, absolutely not. Tinder is legitimately causing hookups that probably wouldn't have otherwise happened so easily, just as an easy example.
Maybe they were taking the line "still make rational decisions regarding their bodies" out of context. (Overeating is no more rational than risking unwanted pregnancy.) I'm neither agreeing nor defending, just looking for a connection.
I can only speak anecdotally but from observations it has increased social interaction for those who seek it - as social networking makes the process easier - while reduced it for those who don't seek it or want to take the path of least resistance. Technology merely accelerates individual desire. SJ's old chestnut: computers are like bicycles for the mind - well you could say the internet like is a bicycle for desire.
We know that as the standards of living (reduced mortality, longer lifespans, education etc) improve, the number of children produced decreases. That's one considerable factor.
With regards to Hispanics and Blacks in particular, as someone who grew up in a relatively poor household I quickly grasped how much my parents resented what having children did to their social mobility. They couldn't afford childcare, so only one parent could work. Despite having only a single income until we were teens, they could still afford a good-sized home relatively close to the city. Try doing that on two middle-of-the-road incomes today - not impossible but not easy, and very difficult with kids. The reality is that children have an anchor effect on the lower-middle to lower classes, while barely any affect on the upper middle to upper classes. Teens from poor households are probably well aware of the struggle ahead if they wish to have children.
The reason some choose to enjoy food more than others have in the past might be just because they enjoy food and are willing to give up their health for the enjoyment of eating. I'd rather be obese than a teenage parent.
Well, bluntly, it IS putting distance between the participants genitals.