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are unmarried when the child is born. For 85% of recent college
students it wasn't considered important to marry a virgin. Today's
young wives are also more unfaithful than their mothers or
grandmothers were, almost as unfaithful as today's young husbands
(Sex, before and after, 1975). The sexual revolution has brought many
other changes: fewer prostitutes, earlier intercourse (average
age=16), more experimentation (different positions, oral-genital
activity, sex with drugs), more partners, higher frequency of sex, more
orgasms for women, and more living together.
The sexual activities of teenagers has also changed significantly over the
(
general information, and advice to parents and teenagers about teen sexual
behavior. It is a conservative site but not overly-moralistic. It attempts to
clarify the difference between "normal" sexual activities and "dangerous" or
risky behaviors; thus, avoiding the unrealistic "just save yourself until
marriage" message. The same site also has a section about teenage
emotional health. Other very explicit and liberal (parents may want to check it
(
suggestions about many topics, such as “Abstaining,” "Sex by Yourself,” "The
First Intercourse," “Waiting till Thirty,” etc. These sites are also good places to
see what kind of questions today’s teens have and the advice they get and
give on many topics (see discussion groups).
The AIDS revolution is also having some impact on sexual
behavior: surveys of high school students in grades 9 through 12 show
that slightly fewer (55% rather than 60%) have had sex in the early
1990's than in the late 1980's. Also, fewer high schoolers (20% rather
than 25%) have had four or more partners. The fear of AIDS and sex
education may be having some effect, but still only somewhere
between 17% and 40% of the sexually active high schoolers use
condoms regularly. Unfortunately, the teens with the most partners
are the least likely to use condoms--and the most likely to shoot up
drugs. In short, if you have sex in high school, the probability is about
50-50 that your partner has already had sex with someone else or
shot up drugs (don't trust what they tell you) and, thus, could be HIV
positive. Moreover, one out of every 25 high schoolers has a sexually
transmitted disease (and the person "coming on" to you is even more
likely to be diseased). Therefore, even at a very young age, if you are
going to have intercourse (even with a supposed virgin), use a
condom. It may save your life (not to mention pregnancy and
disease).
The first sexual experience comes early: 40% of 9th graders have
had intercourse, 48% of 10th graders, 57% of 11th graders, and 72%
of seniors. The first experience is memorable for everyone but for
young teenagers it frequently is not fun, particularly not for the
female. For one thing, most of the time (78%) intercourse is not
