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September 16, 2005
Teens and sex -- what is not being discussed?
While I may accept the statisics of this study, some of the comments are truly mindboggling:
More than half of American teens ages 15 to 19 have engaged in oral sex, increasing to nearly 70% for those who are 18 and 19, according to the largest federal study of the nation's sexual practices. ...What shutdown of discussion? What the hell is this guy talking about? Is there anywhere or in any setting that teens don't hear about sex and condoms?The data show that, among teens 15 to 19, 55% of males and 54% of females reported engaging in oral sex. Among those 18 to 19, the figure grows to about 70% for both sexes. Overall, more teens had experienced oral sex than vaginal sex: 53% of girls 15 to 19 and 49% of boys reported that they had had intercourse.
"Those teens who are less likely to have sexual intercourse are more likely to have had oral sex," said Jennifer Manlove, who directs research on fertility and family structures at Child Trends, a Washington research group on children and families. "We're not sure whether these teens … are engaging in oral sex because they view it as a way to maintain their technical virginity or even because they regard it as an 'easy' method of birth control," she said.
The emphasis over the last five years on promoting abstinence from sex has led to widespread neglect of discussions about the safety of various sexual practices, Wagoner said.
"One of the most shocking statistics now is that the incidence of teen gonorrhea in the United States is 70 times that in the Netherlands and France," he said. "We are paying a big price for shutting down discussion."
Posted by Darleen at September 16, 2005 06:58 AM
Comments
Jeez, Dar, don't be dense. Obviously teaching kids that abstaining from sex is the correct choice is tantamount to shutting down the discussion. The discussion should be totally value-neutral, expressing no preference for one behavior over another. Because there's no such thing as right and wrong, and antiquated notions of morality are just chains that enslave us.
See? It's ever so simple.
Posted by: Jeff Harrell at September 16, 2005 09:13 AM
"The emphasis over the last five years on promoting abstinence from sex has led to widespread neglect of discussions about the safety of various sexual practices, Wagoner said"
What? You mean oral sex is sex?!?!?! ... and we spent most of the nineties listening to the US President explaining that it's not ...
The nineties would be the toddler and grammar school years of today's teenagers, but I guess that wouldn't be a factor, now would it?
Posted by: FrauBudgie at September 18, 2005 06:56 AM