How many teenager are sexually active

What do you think about that? She hopes that faced with data clearly showing that the majority of American teenagers are sexually active to some degree in high school, parents will recognize that silence on the topic is not an option.

Seven of the 10 states with the highest proportion of sexually experienced teenagers are in the South. Yet six of the 10 states with the lowest condom use are in the South. And six of the 10 states with the lowest prescription contraceptive use like the birth control pill and IUD use are also in the South.

Just under half of states in the U. The researchers also believe the findings point to a clear need for comprehensive sex education in all schools. Currently, 29 states that offer some form of sex education in school say that abstinence should be stressed. News U. Research on adolescent sexual orientation: Development, health disparities, stigma, and resilience. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, Trends and patterns of sexual behaviors among adolescents and adults aged 14 to 59 years, United States.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 42 1 , Sexual behavior, sexual attraction, and sexual identity in the United States: Data from the National Survey of Family Growth. National Health Statistics Reports, MMWR Supplement, 69 1.

For another way to access YRBS data, including state and regional results, see the interactive database Youth Online at: nccd. The National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in our nation's schools.

Adolescent romantic relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, Young men's sexuality: What's typical? ACT for Youth. Normative sexuality development in adolescence: A decade in review, Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21 1 , Sexual behaviors and condom use at last vaginal intercourse: A national sample of adolescents ages 14 to 17 years [Abstract].

The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 7 Suppl 5, Sexual activity and contraceptive use among teenagers aged in the United States, National Health Statistics Reports. Adolescent sexual and reproductive health in the United States [Fact sheet]. Heterosexual anal and oral sex in adolescents and adults in the United States, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 45 12 , Receipt of contraceptive services among young women in the United States.

Journal of Adolescent Health, 62 2 , S Associations between early first sexual intercourse and later sexual and reproductive outcomes: A systematic review of population-based data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, The case for condom education. How does condom use change over time as young MSM get older?

Oral Sex and Condom Use in a U. National Sample of Adolescents and Young Adults. Journal of Adolescent Health. A daily diary analysis of condom breakage and slippage during vaginal sex or anal sex among adolescent women. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 43 9 , Developmental change in the effects of sexual partner and relationship characteristics on sexual risk behavior in young men who have sex with men.

AIDS and Behavior, 20 6 , Sexual risk behaviors in adolescent sexual minority males: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 39 6 , Unintended pregnancy in the United States. Pregnancies, births and abortions among adolescents and young women in the United States, National and state trends by age, race and ethnicity. Abortion Surveillance--United States, Abortion surveillance - United States, Trends in repeat births and use of postpartum contraception among teens - United States, Closer examination reveals that most teens are having less sex and delaying sex longer, and that sexually-active teens have fewer lifetime sexual partners.

That confirms other data indicating that American teenagers are far more risk averse than their parents, challenging the popular media representation of an increasingly sexualized adolescent life. In , some The YRBS only tracks frequency of "sexual intercourse" and does not ask about other sex-related but non-intercourse activities.

Boys were slightly more likely Just As shown in the figure below, sexual intercourse has declined across racial groups, although for some more so than others. In particular, black high schoolers are less likely than ever to have had sex, dropping from Not only are high schoolers having less sex; they are having it, on average, later and later.

That's reflected in grade-level data, which show the largest declines in ever having had sexual intercourse among ninth graders, down a full 20 percentage points since Twelfth graders, by contrast, have only fallen by 10 percentage points—a disparity that suggests that some rising high schoolers "catch up" to their '90s peers later on.

Declining sexual frequency and the rise in later initiation of sexual intercourse is also reflected in the estimate of mean lifetime sex partners among high schoolers who have had sex. Notably, the decline in mean sex partners has been steeper for younger teens; the average sexually-active ninth grader has had sex with two others, compared to 2. In , those figures were 2. Interestingly, these large changes in sexual frequency have not corresponded with a similar magnitude change in birth control practices.

Novel forms of birth control—IUDs, shots, rings, etc. And today's teens are only marginally more likely to use the "pill" than they were in , accounting for roughly 1 in 5 sexual encounters. The decades-long drop in teen sex, in other words, is likely far more of a causal factor than expanded use of birth control in explaining the steady decline of teen pregnancy and abortion.

These trends are part and parcel with a more general turn away from risky behavior among teens, apparent in the YRBS and other data sources. As psychologist Jean Twenge has documented , contemporary teens not only have less sex but also drink alcohol less and drive less; the YRBS also shows that rates of experimenting with cigarette smoking is at record lows.