Study Shows Sexually Active Young Teens

Taken from http://daedream05.blogspot.com/2005/09/abstinence-notes.html

14 & Younger: The Sexual Behavior of Young Adolescents
(New Analyses from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy)

Why Care About Sexual Activity Among Young Adolescents?
Compared to delayed sexual activity, early sexual activity is linked to:
* Greater number of partners
* Increased risk of teen pregnancy
* Increased risk of STDs
* Children of young adolescents are more likely to have health problems.
* 81 % of 12-14 year olds who have had sex wish they had waited.
* Parenting skills of very young teens are highly limited.

14 and Under Major Findings

Parents
* Parents are usually unaware their young children have had sex.
* Only one-third of parents of sexually experienced 14-year-olds believe that their child had had sex.
* Parents say they talk to their children “a moderate amount” about sex.
* Young adolescents report far fewer conversations.
* Parents are most likely to discuss STDs and least likely to discuss the social consequences of sex.

• Parents should be concerned about young teenagers dating, particularly dating someone much older.
• Parents should know where their children are, what they are doing, and with whom.
• Parents should communicate more with their young adolescents about sex, love, and relationships.
• Teaching middle school youth about how to resist and manage sexual pressure is appropriate.

Sexual Experience
* Approximately one in five adolescents has had sexual intercourse before his or her 15th birthday.
* Boys 14 and younger are slightly more likely to have had sex than girls the same age.

Frequency of Sex
* Sex is sporadic.
* Most of those age 14 and younger who have had sex are not currently sexually active.
* For example, approximately half of sexually experienced 14-year-olds have had sex 0-2 times in the past years.14 & Younger: Major FindingsPregnancy
* Approximately one in seven sexually experienced 14-year-old girls reports having been pregnant.

Pressure
*About one in ten girls who first have sex before age 15 describe it as non-voluntary.
*Many more describe it as relatively unwanted.
* Younger teen girls who are sexually experienced are more likely than older teens to say they “wish they’d waited.”

Number of Partners
* Girls who first had sex at age 14 or younger had more sexual partners as a teenager, on average, than girls who first had sex at age 15 or older.
* Increased number of partners increases the risk of STDs and pregnancy.

Opportunity
* Young teens seem to have the opportunity to have sex.
* One small area data set indicates that one-third of 12-year-olds and about half of 14-year-olds have been at a party without any adults in the house.

Dating
* About half of those age 12-14 report having been on a date or having a romantic relationship in the past 18 months.
* Among those 14 and younger reporting a romantic relationship, about a quarter are with someone two or more years older---girls far more than boys.
* Relationships with a partner who is older by two or more years—compared with those with someone only slightly older, the same age, or younger---are much more likely to include sexual intercourse.

Other Risky Behaviors
* Sexually experienced teens were more likely than virgins to engage in other risky behaviors, such as smoking, illegal drugs, and drinking once a week or more.
* For example, 43% of sexually experienced teens said they had tried marijuana, compared with 10 % of virgins.