You Say You Want a Revolution?

Though I don’t think I’d say that girls having sex younger is necessarily a ‘revolution’, an interesting study is claiming that teenage girls are leading the way when it comes to breaking down sexual taboos.

Based on data gathered from the 1940s to 1999, the authors of the study have concluded that girls are having more pre-marital sex, the average age of first intercourse (for girls) is 15 and that oral sex is more common now than ever before.

I think there are a number of factors involved in this stuff, more than are outlined in this story from NBC, but I’m glad to see, for once, an article that discusses this issue (even if briefly), without pressing the panic button repeatedly.

There’s an instinct to believe that because things are happening younger, our culture is clearly on a moral decline. I don’t think that’s true. I think the fact that puberty is happening younger has something to do with it. I think pornography has something to do with it (and not a bad something either). And, as the researchers point out: birth control and cultural acceptance also play a role.

If you ask me, the first thing that should come to mind when looking at these figures is: why the heck, then, aren’t we more adamant about extensive sex-education? I’ve said it before, I will say it again: young adults are going to have sex. The best thing adults can do for them is make sure they know how to do it safely. And, guess what? Abstinence-only sex-ed ain’t going to cut the mustard here folks.
No mustard will be cut.

Also interesting to note: study researcher Jean Twenge points out that TV (shows like Dawson’s Creek and OC) hasn’t been much of a factor in encouraging teens to have sex younger. Rather, it’s a case of TV reflecting what’s going on in the world of teens. Here, here.