Sexually active younger teen are unlikely, according to a new study. Despite media attention on this issue, even older teens are choosing abstinence or delaying sex more frequently than in the past.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, studies have shown that engaging in regular sexual activity can increase longevity, fight off headaches, and promote weight loss, immunity, prostate function, heart health, blood pressure, mood, prostate function, pain sensitivity, and sleep quality. In addition, research suggests that how a person loses their virginity could shape their sex life and sexual health for years thereafter.
Still, teen pregnancy is the nightmare of many parents, so sexually active younger teens are best avoided. The good news for parents with teens is that a recent study published today in the journal Pediatrics found the likelihood of a teen being sexually active is lower than any time in the past 25 years.
Researcher Lawrence Finer of the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute had some comments about the public’s perception of how sexually active younger teens are supposed to be:
“Policymakers and the media often sensationalize teen sexual behavior, suggesting that adolescents as young as 10 or 11 are increasingly sexually active. But the data just don’t support that concern. Rather, we are seeing teens waiting longer to have sex, using contraceptives more frequently when they start having sex, and being less likely to become pregnant than their peers of past decades.”
The bad news is that, if younger teen are sexually active, they tend to not protect themselves using contraceptives. The worst part is that 10- and 11-year-olds who have sex tend to do so involuntarily. Out of the 1.1 percent of teens who reported having sex at a young age, about 50 percent of females said the sexual act was coerced.
The good news is that the current teen pregnancy rate is at a 40 year low. This teen pregnancy rate apparently peaked in 1990 and then declined over 42 percent, dropping down by 2008 to 68 out of 1,000 teens experiencing a pregnancy.
What do you think about this new study showing that sexually active young teens are becoming more rare?