From the Latest Well Article from Tara Parker-Pope:
Today, fewer than half of all high school students have had sex: 47.8 percent as of 2007, according to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, down from 54.1 percent in 1991.
A less recent report suggests that teenagers are also waiting longer to have sex than they did in the past. A 2002 report from the Department of Health and Human Services found that 30 percent of 15- to 17-year-old girls had experienced sex, down from 38 percent in 1995. During the same period, the percentage of sexually experienced boys in that age group dropped to 31 percent from 43 percent.
About 16 percent of teenagers say they have had oral sex but haven't yet had intercourse.
"I give presentations nationwide where I'm showing people that the virginity rate in college is higher than you think and the number of partners is lower than you think and hooking up more often than not does not mean intercourse," Dr. Bogle said. "But so many people think we're morally in trouble, in a downward spiral and teens are out of control. It's very difficult to convince people otherwise."
I wonder how these sex rates compare to the 1960s and 70s. Have rates significantly increased or are parents just hypocrites? While the given oral sex statistic is interesting, I wonder how many sexually active teens engage in oral sex. It sounds like the article is assuming that basically all of the sexually active teens engage in both.
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2 comments:
Still don't get this "downward spiral" perception. I guess the people in Bogle's audience think that sexual relations prior to marriage / as a teenager are, in and of themselves, bad things.
What is your goal in learning about this, Mr. Blogger? Do you think sexual relations are in and of themselves bad things? Or do you seek to understand typical behaviors to devise policies to prevent the spread of STDs?
Yea I would say I "seek to understand typical behaviors to devise policies to prevent the spread of STDs" along with preventing unwanted pregnancies/abortions.
Humans have evolved to desire sex to pass on their genes. I don't consider it bad as long as it's safe.
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