Sex Education | Intimacy, Sexual Pleasure, Social Status – How Teenagers View Sex Today

If parents, teachers and health experts look at what teenagers are doing today, then perhaps they’d already be weeping and grinding their teeth. According to a survey done by the Guttmacher Institute, a US non-profit organization devoted to advancing reproductive health, 75% of teenagers engage in sex by the time they’re 19 years old. So, here’s a brief but eye-opening look at how teenagers view sex today.

Teenagers Are Clueless About Condom Use

According to the study made by the Guttmacher Institute, of the 75 percent of teens who had sex at 19, 25 percent of virgins over 15 have already experienced oral sex, and all of those who've already had intercourse have also engaged in oral sex. For teenagers under 15, a quarter of them have had at least one sexually transmitted disease already. Sex education experts also point out that the majority of teenagers are just clueless about using condoms, whether it’s vaginal or non-vaginal sex.

How Do Teens View Sex Today?

While it would be easy to blame the media for the increasing number of teenagers having sex, some say that the youngsters could also be motivated by other goals. According to some psychologists, young teens could be craving for intimacy and social status, apart from getting plain sexual pleasure.

An article in the June 2006 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health noted that most teenagers (especially women) strongly expect that their goals of intimacy and social status will be fulfilled, if they have sex. On the other hand, boys only expect that sex would lead to greater sexual pleasure and improved social status, and did not have intimacy or relationship goals in mind.

Why Teens Should Be Alarmed About Having Sex Too Early

Here are a couple of facts that should make teenagers weary about having sex too early. Teenage pregnancies occur in around 750,000 girls annually. Compared with adults, teenage girls have an immature cervix, which is more than likely to catch a sexually-transmitted disease, as well bring forth problems like tubal pregnancies, cervical cancer and the transmission of STD’s to their offspring at birth. This warning goes to teenage boys too, although they’re likely to suffer fewer consequences as compared to girls.

While sex can be a quite perplexing and sensitive topic, sex education experts continually stress that parents and educators shouldn't just debate about abstinence versus safe sex, but instead focus on discussing sex from a more mature standpoint, and not separate it from love and bonding.