The Sex Life of Teenagers

It can be very difficult for some parents to talk to their teenagers about sex.  Hopefully, the statistics that follow will encourage more dialogue about this topic.  In fact, parents should begin having these conversations with their preschoolers and school aged children (a topic we will cover in the future).

According to the National Survey of Family Growth (2010) 

Females aged 15-19:
     38% had intercourse in the last 12 months
     13% had sex 4 or more times in the past month
     14% lost their virginity to someone they "just met"              or were "just friends"
     21% didn't use any contraception during first                      sexual experience
     44% think it is better to get married than go through life being single
     51% agree that 18 year-olds can have sex if they like each other
     84% of females used birth control during most recent intercourse
             55% used a condom
             31% used the pill
             21% used both
             10% other methods (hormone shot, the patch, etc.) 

Males age 15-19:
     38% had intercourse in the last 12 months
     11% had sex 4 or more times in the past month
     25% lost their virginity to someone they "just met" or were "just friends"
     13% did not use any contraception during their first sexual experience    
     49% think it is better to get married than go through life being single
     56% agree that 18 year-olds can have sex if they like each other
     79% of males used a condom during most recent intercourse

Additional findings:

• Females who did not use contraception during their first sexual experience are twice as likely to get pregnant before 20.
• Most common reason to abstain from sex was "religion or morals"
• 14% of females and 18% of males would be "very pleased" or "a little pleased" if they were pregnant or got someone pregnant
• 15-19 year-olds have the highest rates of STDs (chlamydia & gonorrhea with syphilis on the rise)
• While only 25% of the sexually experienced population, 15-24 year olds have 50% of all new STDs

I think that it may be time for all of us to encourage (and/or have) a conversation with a future teenager about these numbers!  What do you think?