Young Teens Have Sex

Young Teens Have Sex
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Teen pregnancy is at a record low in the U.S. , and a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may explain why.
The new data, collected from 2011-2013, shows that adolescents are delaying sex, being more responsible with birth control and have better birth control access and perhaps more cultural support than any previously studied generation. Still, there are improvements to be made, particularly for some groups who are at higher risk of pregnancy than their peers. Here's what we learned from the latest data on teens and sex:
Teens are continuing to delay sex for longer, said the CDC's lead author Gladys Martinez. Back in 1988, 51 percent of teen girls and 60 percent of teen boys reported having sex at least once between the ages of 15 to 19. Now those numbers are 44 percent and 47 percent, respectively, holding steady from a previous CDC report that used data collected between 2006 to 2010.
Teens who delay sex until older adolescence, or age 17 and up, are more likely to use birth control during their first sexual encounter. This is significant, explained Martinez, because teen girls who used birth control that first time were half as likely to become teen moms than those who did not.
"The data on sex activity and contraceptive use, linked together with the data on the probability of having a teen birth, all line up in helping explain the recent decline in teen birth rates,” Martinez concluded.
The chart on the left shows that rates of sexual activity are holding steady with 2006 to 2010 levels, while the chart on the right shows that teens who don't use birth control for their first time are more likely to become pregnant in their teenage years.
The vast majority of teens (79 percent of girls, and 84 percent of boys) use birth control during their first time, and condoms were their most commonly-reported method. Martinez pointed out that in addition to being cheap and accessible, condoms are the only birth control methods that also protect against disease.
Also of note: Emergency contraception use rose from eight percent in 2002 to 22 percent in 2011-2013 .
The most likely explanation for this major increase is the changing access to emergency contraception, Martinez hypothesized, as it is now available over the counter with no age limits .
Gender Equality Is Improving Sexual Health
“In the previous decade, if a girl had a condom with her, there was a fear she’d be called a slut,” said Brindis. “But a woman’s right to be protected against an unintended pregnancy or STD or HIV has become a greater part of the social norm, so those numbers have been increasing over time."
The graphic above shows that while condoms are the most popular method of birth control at 97 percent, withdrawal comes in second at 60 percent. The pill, the patch and depo provera, a hormonal injection, are on the decline, while emergency contraception and hormonal implants are up.
Considering how dicey the withdrawal method is as a means of birth control ( Planned Parenthood warns it takes a great deal of "self-control, experience, and trust”), it’s alarming to see how many teens report having used it at least once to avoid pregnancy. But Martinez notes that it mirrors adult use; 60 percent of U.S. women also report using withdrawal at least once.
Brindis also emphasized that this data shows “ever use,” as in, has a person ever used a given method of birth control, even one time. By no means does it indicate that withdrawal is some teens’ primary method of birth control, she said. Instead, high pullout rates mean simply that adults have to do a better job helping teens anticipate sexual encounters.
"It may not be the best safety net, but it is a safety net that young people may have to rely on when they’re caught in the moment,” she said. "We have to help young people anticipate what happens in that moment."
The bottom line here: the kids are alright, but we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back just yet. U.S. teen pregnancy rates, while historically low at 26.5 per 1,000 women , are still the highest among nations that track this sort of data.
"We’re not in the promised land yet, but we’re going in the right direction and it’s taken a whole village to make an impact on this issue," said Brindis. If the U.S. wants to continue on this path, she said, the country needs to start zeroing in on at-risk teen subgroups that still might see parenthood as a more fulfilling and realistic path than college or career training.
"We need jobs and we need kids to graduate from high school," Brindis concluded. "These kinds of strategies that go beyond the availability of condoms and clinics are a very important part of the formula."
10 Must-Know Birth Control Facts See Gallery
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Professor Claire Brindis, an expert on teen health at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at University of California, San Francisco, thinks that the report’s findings are “great news” for American teens. Brindis credited everything from the Affordable Care Act to condom visibility in films -- look no further than the recent “Trainwreck” for evidence -- for higher rates of birth control use and the continued delay of teens' first sexual experience. She also said that changing social norms about a woman’s sexuality have contributed to smarter sexual choices in teens.

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When do you know when your kid is old enough to have sex and wants to have someone sleep over at your house?
This question is perplexing many of my friends at the moment, the ones with teens around 15, 16, 17.
As with most parenting dilemmas, I had to figure this one out on my own a few years earlier than my friends because their kids are mostly younger than my eldest. I’m not sure if I got it right or wrong. But I’m happy with my decision and I’m happy to share how I came to making it.
My son had his first serious girlfriend at age 16 and she was a year older than him. It was a lovely relationship and lasted almost a year. The first time he asked if she could stay over, they had already been together a few months. I said sure and then I made her sleep on the couch in another room.
I have no idea what happened after I went to bed but I can guess because I’ve been 16.
Luca rolled his eyes at the fact he even had to go through the motions of separate rooms. He thought it was ridiculous. But I was adamant.
You can follow Luca on Facebook, here .
I thought a lot about it. And eventually I realised I was being silly. I was also being a hypocrite.
Before I did a backflip and allowed her to sleep in his room, I reflected on my beliefs:
I also reminded myself that my son and his girlfriend were both over the legal age of consent. The law says they are old enough to have sex.
Sure, my parents didn't allow sleepovers before I was 18 but that didn't stop me having sex or even slow me down ( you can read about that here ). And just because I had certain rules growing up, being a parent is about making your own.
So that's how I came to allow my son's girlfriend to stay overnight in his room. With the door closed.
Here are some of the things you might be wondering at this point:
Yes, I had younger children in the house. Still do. At that time they were five and eight. But whenever they had sleep overs, their friends slept in the same room so it's not like they were aware of any big difference for their brother. And a 'bad' example? Again, see my beliefs above. Even if they did realise their brother was having sex (they didn't), there are lots of things older people do that young kids know they can't. Like drinking alcohol. Driving a car. Going out at night. Paying taxes.
Mia talks about her reasoning on the latest episode of Mamamia Out Loud:
Excellent question. Yes, my eldest child was a boy. Perhaps I would have felt differently if he were a girl but I don't think so and I don't plan to have different rules for our daughter. Let's see how my husband and I feel about that when the time comes......although based on the risks for girls having sex in parks and at parties and being filmed, it could be argued that it's even more important for them to be able to have their partners stay over.
This worried me for a bit. Was I responsible for upholding rules or boundaries for other people? In the case of my son's girlfriend, she was a full year old than him and I'd met her mother and spoken to her on the phone before when she'd joined us for a few days on holidays. If she'd raised sleeping arrangements with me I would have asked what she was comfortable with and then willingly complied.
But she didn't so I decided it wasn't my business to police what someone else's child was or wasn't allowed to do. My house, my rules. And my rule is that sleepovers in the same room was OK - for my son in this situation. Every parent has to make their own decision based on their own circumstances and their own kid.
In case you think our house is some kind of teenage sex den, let me alleviate you of that delusion.
My son has never had a girl I didn't know stay over. Or if he has (he probably has), they've been gone by the morning and I've been none the wiser. I assume he put them in an Uber to make sure they got home safely and treated them with the utmost respect because that's how he's been raised ( he wrote more about that here ) and that's the kind of man he is.
Now he is 19 and has another girlfriend and she stays over regularly and we all adore her and how can any of that be a bad thing?
What they do behind closed doors is none of my business.
As a parent, it can be hugely confronting to think about your kids having sex. I KNOW.
If they're little right now, the whole concept can feel surreal.
It's on par with thinking about your parents having sex.
I'm sorry for that mental picture. Please replace it with this image of me wearing a ridiculous outfit:
In my book, Work, Strife, Balance I have written more about sex and teenage girls, in particular. It's a hugely fraught area for parents. All my friends with teenage daughters are traversing terrain that feels far more complex and nuanced (and frightening) than my relatively straightforward decisions about my son.
So much of parenting, in my 20 years of doing it with mixed results, is about sorting what you feel you SHOULD do from what you believe, what you want to do and what your child wants.
I'm completely comfortable with my rules around sex under my roof even though I realise that the ability to have sex freely at home has always been one of the main motivating factors for kids moving out of home. Banning sex sleep-overs is a guaranteed way to empty your nest sooner rather than later.
So my kids will probably all be here until they're 30. I'm cool with that.
They have to buy their own condoms though. You have to draw the line somewhere.
Listen to the full episode of Mamamia Out Loud here:

Do you agree with Mia? At what age is it ok for your kids to have 'sleepovers'?
Sorry, completely irrelevant to this discussion, but I just wanted to praise you for the article about the non-heroism of cadel evans and sports stars in general - couldn't agree more, and very sorry to hear about the backlash. We definitely need more people that think about sport the way you do!
Why does the majority think sex is the be all and end all of human existence anyway? Ever heard of teaching something called self-control? We are not animals. I mean we are but we like to think we aren't. Self-control is an unfashionable skill in these hedonistic times, but it is actually very useful and important. How are you going to have a long, proper relationship and stick with that one person for life if you are always chopping and changing girlfriends and boyfriends every few months when you get bored with that person? When my parents got married they hadn't had sex with anybody and theirs was a lifelong, stable marriage. They were well into their twenties therefore, before having sex. Most teenagers don't have the emotional maturity to start having sex anyway. Sex is not a recreation or a sport believe it or not.
Oh come on, did you read what wrote? With most (not all) teenagers all they think about IS sex. Either they are doing it, wanting to do it or thinking there was something wrong with them if nobody wants to do it with them. As parents it's our job from an early age to be open and honest and be prepared to reply to the hard questions as well as provide them with the tools should they want to act on their feelings. Teach them to respect their bodies and not be afraid to experiment if they so choose. I believe you're fooling yourself if you think your parents weren't thinking about sex even if they never acted on it. Social norms of the day restricted couples acting on feelings out of fear of repercussions given that "marriage" was seen as the ultimate in coupledom. You're right in that teenagers don't have "emotional maturity", just lots and lots of hormones, so instead of condemning their thoughts and actions, give them the emotional stability to get them through this extremely tumultuous period of their lives.
there isn't a hard question about sex, the hard question is why the children [young people] are not guided at first to get an education.

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April 8, 2019 / 2:23 PM
/ HealthDay

Talking to your children about sex can be awkward, but new research suggests that parents need to have those conversations much earlier than they do.
In two national surveys, investigators found that between 4% and 8% of boys reported having sex before they were 13. That number varied greatly depending on where the boys lived. In San Francisco, just 5% of boys said they had sex before 13, but in Memphis that number jumped to 25%.
Race and ethnicity also made a difference in whether or not a young person had an early sexual experience. Black males were most likely to have sex before 13, followed by Hispanic males.
"Parents and educators can't wait until a high school class to cover key topics when many young males start having sex before this," said study author Laura Lindberg, from the Guttmacher Institute in New York City. The study was published April 8 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics .
The author of an accompanying editorial, Dr. David Bell, agreed. "The big picture for me is that we need to make sure our young people are better prepared and better educated around sex," he said.
Bell, an associate professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, pointed out that talking about sex doesn't encourage young people to have sex.
The average age that teens initiate sex is around 17, according to Bell, and that number hasn't really changed in years. However, he said that the percentage of youths having early sex initiation (before 13) has been decreasing for more than a decade.
And that decline is good news, because having sex before 13 is linked to increased sexual risks, such as having multiple sexual partners and sexually transmitted infections, the editorial said. It may also be linked to substance abuse, dating violence and low school achievement.
The latest study looked at two large databases that included nationally representative groups. One study included nearly 20,000 high-school aged males. The other had almost 8,000 males between the ages of 15 and 24.
The volunteers were asked if they had experienced male-female sexual intercourse before age 13. Most of those who had sex before 13 said they had sex with a "friend." Lindberg said they didn't ask in this study if the friend was of a similar age, but previous research suggests that when boys have sex early, their partners are often close in age.
Fifty-five percent of the young men said they wanted the sexual experience, and 37% said they had mixed feelings about it. Eight percent said they didn't want it to happen.
Parental education appeared to have an impact. Boys with mothers who had a college degree were 69% less likely to have sex before 13.
As to why there are such variations in early sex rates, Lindberg said, "Adolescent males' attitudes and values about their sexuality and masculinity are influenced by the social context of their community.
"Our findings reflect that where you live exposes you to different social norms about manhood," she added. "The variation across settings means that programs for young people's development and health need to be tailored and responsive to the communities they are in."
Bell said that despite the geographical, racial and ethnic differences seen in the study, all young people need to receive sex education and parents need to be ready to have open, honest talks with their kids.
Bell also said that a child's pediatrician can play a helpful role if parents are struggling. And pediatricians should be aware of these findings because children who might engage in early sexual activity should be offered the HPV vaccine early (to prevent the sexually transmitted disease that causes some cancers), when it is most effective.

First published on April 8, 2019 / 2:23 PM

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