[acb-hsp] Adolescents Aren't Having Much Sex

[peter altschul]

Adolescents Aren't Having Much Sex, Despite All the Hype to the 
Contrary
  Tracy Clark-Flory April 2, 2013
  Kids these days, with their "sex" bracelets and rainbow 
parties! Back in my middle school days, we went on chaperoned 
dates to watch movies like "Space Jam" and avoided touching at 
all costs.  Now 11-year-olds are staging orgies in their parents' 
basements and live-streaming it online.  Am I right or stam I 
rightst?
  Actually, no.  According to a new study published in the May 
issue of the journal Pediatrics, adolescents are having less sex 
than you think.  The study's lead author, Lawrence Finer, says, 
"Policymakers and the media often sensationalize teen sexual 
behavior, suggesting that adolescents as young as 10 or 11 are 
increasingly sexually active.  But the data just don't support 
that concern," he said.  "Rather, we are seeing teens waiting 
longer to have sex, using contraceptives more frequently when 
they start having sex, and being less likely to become pregnant 
than their peers of past decades."
  Go ahead and reread that paragraph above.  Let it sink in.  
Teens are waiting longer to have sex than you and your peers did 
at their age.  They're also more likely to use contraception and 
less likely to get pregnant than previous generations.  In other 
words: Kids these days are doing it (or not doing it) better than 
you did.
  To the numbers: The percentage of adolescents who have had sex 
is very low (0.6 percent of 10-year-olds, 1.1 percent of 
11-year-olds and 2.4 percent of 12-year-olds).  As has long been 
the case, "a low level of sexual activity among young 
adolescents" is the current norm, according to a press release by 
the Guttmacher Institute.  As for sexually active older teens, 
the study found that they make up 33 percent of 16-year-olds, 48 
percent of 17-year-olds and 61 percent of 18-year-olds.  Just to 
put that into perspective, the press release explains that "the 
likelihood of sexual activity at any given age is lower than at 
any time in the past 25 years."
  Now, that isn't to say there isn't anything to worry about 
here.  Of the small percentage of young adolescents who did 
report being sexually active, many were unwillingly: 63 percent 
of girls who had sex by age 10 said the first time was coerced.  
So things are perhaps better than we often assume, but that 
doesn't mean there isn't plenty of work to be done.  The study 
concluded, "Health professionals can improve outcomes for 
teenagers by recognizing the higher likelihood of nonconsensual 
sex among younger teens and by teaching and making contraceptive 
methods available to teen patients before they become sexually 
active." Another way to put that: Talk more, worry less.