There was something in the USA Today piece, however, that floored me. Peruse these stats from a 2002 CDCP survey:
percentage of teens who have had intercourse and their ages:
Boys
15 - 25.1%
16 - 37.5%
17 - 46.9%
18 - 62.4%
19 - 68.9%Girls
15 - 26.0%
16 - 39.6%
17 - 49.0%
18 - 70.3%
19 - 77.4%percentage of teens who have had oral sex and their ages:
Boys
15 - 35.1%
16 - 42.0%
17 - 55.7%
18 - 65.4%
19 - 74.2%Girls
15 - 26.0%
16 - 42.4%
17 - 55.5%
18 - 70.2%
19 - 74.4%
Do you see what I see? If these findings are to be believed, more girls than boys are having sexual intercourse — and at ages 16, 18, and 19, more girls than boys are participating in oral sex. Compare these results to those of two 1995 federal studies that tracked the percentages of teens having intercourse:
Sources: 1995 National Survey of Family Growth and 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males
How times have changed.
Is this sexual equality? Is the traditional double standard — sexually active guys are studs; girls who "do it" are sluts — a thing of the past? Somehow, I doubt it.
This much I believe: Whether male or female, it is healthier and more intelligent for teens to wait until they are truly ready to handle relationships and responsibility before having sex, oral or otherwise. And it's time to put my 9-year-old son under lock and key.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Why bring Bill and Monica into this? Do you really think that the numbers would be any different if Clinton's affair had never been uncovered?
This reminds me of the notion that keeping condoms away from kids will reduce unwanted pregnancies.
2 - Natalie Davis
I wrote that as a joke, more than anything else. But there is some truth to it -- my daughter and her friends, back then, told me that a lot of the kids pointed to Slick Willie as a justification for their behavior and for the contention of some that oral sex isn't really sex.