Survey says - Teens are having sex - lots and lots and lots of sex

[Makalakumu]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27706917/?GT1=43001

Parents, brace yourselves: The survey results are in, and you may not like what they reveal about girls and sex.

More than 10,000 teenage girls and young women took part in an anonymous survey over the summer on TyraShow.com, the Web site of “The Tyra Banks Show.” Survey questions focused on sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, as well as drinking, drugs and violence among females. Here are some findings from the survey:

On average, girls are losing their virginity at 15 years of age.
14 percent of teens who are having sex say they’re doing it at school.
52 percent of survey respondents say they do not use protection when having sex.
One in three says she fears having a sexually transmitted disease.
24 percent of teens with STDs say they still have unprotected sex.
One in five girls says she wants to be a teen mom.
About 50 percent acknowledge that they’ve hit someone.
One out of three teens has tried drugs.

Uh, yeah, I was a little shocked by this considering the fact that I work in a High School. OTOH, the more I think about it, I think that these survey results may be right on. I've seen and heard enough over the years to really start wondering...

If this isn't an argument for comprehensive sex education in schools, I don't know what it. I think we need to assume that teens are just going to have sex and we need to be talking frankly with them about that.

 

[Frostbite]

Craziness. One in five wants to be a teenage mother? And 14% having sex at school? The most interesting thing that happened at my school was a friend of mine smuggled some rum in a Pepsi bottle.

I do have to laugh at MSNBC using the Tyra Banks Show as a credible news source...

 

[Makalakumu]

Craziness. One in five wants to be a teenage mother? And 14% having sex at school? The most interesting thing that happened at my school was a friend of mine smuggled some rum in a Pepsi bottle.

I do have to laugh at MSNBC using the Tyra Banks Show as a credible news source...

Yeah, that's some vicious irony.

 

[Empty Hands]

Sorry, this is not a valid survey. The results cannot be trusted. We have a self-selected sample taking an online poll from a very specific media personality. The very definition of a bad poll.

Amusingly though, this reported study shows that teens are better about safe sex 30-40 year olds. Maybe the kids will be alright.

 

[RandomPhantom700]

Sorry, this is not a valid survey. The results cannot be trusted. We have a self-selected sample taking an online poll from a very specific media personality. The very definition of a bad poll.

Amusingly though, this reported study shows that teens are better about safe sex 30-40 year olds. Maybe the kids will be alright.

That was my first reaction as well. Participants could have answered multiple times, been screwing with the results, etc. Not a trustworthy source.

 

[Tez3]

Well, what self respecting teenager is going to say they don't have sex, underage drink etc etc rofl!

 

[Sukerkin]

That's quite a valid point, Irene.

It would appear that our MT 'Survey Says' ... "This survey is fatally flawed" :lol:.

 

[Darksoul]

-Not that I have any evidence to back me up but I'm very sure that teens today are doing things to a greater extreme than we give them credit for. Its not every teen out there, obviously, but there are so many caught in the tumultous (sp?) chaos those years bring forth, plus what I would call info/pressure wars, mostly of the mind. Some get the right info about sex and drugs and whatever, via schools or parents, some don't. The flipside is what they hear and see on T.V. and radio, what the other kids are doing, and certainly, no one wants to be an outsider. Peer pressure. With all the hormones raging, I think its really hard for teens now to separate fact and fiction, needs and wants with common sense. I also think America has buried it's head in the sand for far too long on this matter.


Andrew

 

[Empty Hands]

-Not that I have any evidence to back me up but I'm very sure that teens today are doing things to a greater extreme than we give them credit for.

The evidence actually shows the opposite. Teen pregnancy rates, teen drug use rates, and certainly teen crime rates have all been on downward trends, and are currently near historical lows. Things are getting better, not worse. The perception otherwise is one part normal human nostalgia and youth panic and three parts media emphasis on exceptional, rare cases.

The kids really will be alright.

 

[celtic_crippler]

Teens have been having sex since the beginning of time.....I don't think the younger gen is any more active than mine or the one before that.

I think what the difference is that now teens are more willing to talk about it and with ever expanding media, things like this come to more people's attention more frequently. That doens't mean that the actual act is any more frequent than before.

I also think that though it's the responsibility of the parents to educate their kids on such matters, that there is definately a place fore sex-ed in the schools. Teens need to be educated on the consequences of their actions.

My 0.02.

 

[celtic_crippler]

The evidence actually shows the opposite. Teen pregnancy rates, teen drug use rates, and certainly teen crime rates have all been on downward trends, and are currently near historical lows. Things are getting better, not worse. The perception otherwise is one part normal human nostalgia and youth panic and three parts media emphasis on exceptional, rare cases.

The kids really will be alright.

...actually...I just saw where marijuana use is on the rise....

..definately a sign that it's the end of the world!

 

[Cirdan]

Sorry, I take Achmed the dead terrorist more seriously than Tyra Banks.

 

[MJS]

IMHO, these results are really nothing new. I do find it interesting how some, and no, I'm not necessarily talking about anyone here, find things like this surprising. Kids have been and will continue to have sex. Of course, while some may be more brazen than others, ie: having it at school, the fact remains that people will have it. Trying to prevent that, is akin to the war on drugs and trying to prevent DUIs....people still do drugs and drive drunk.

The one thing that we could do, and yes, this starts at home, and could be re-enforced at school, is sex ed. Yes, I know, we've had discussions like this before and some gasp at the thought of their little girl doing it, but like I said, this is nothing new.

On the other hand, many teen girls could look at their idols and think, "Well, if they can do it, so can I!" And of course, many boys will pressure the girls into unprotected sex, and then when the baby comes 9mos. later, they're nowhere to be found, and thats one more person on state aid.

Educate them on sex, and the consequences of it, but also realize that no matter what we say, the temptation is going to be strong. I'd rather be open minded and provide them with birth control, than have them running around with nothing at all.

 

[BrandonLucas]

Seriously...

I'm almost 10 years out of highschool. I would have given the same basic numbers from back then. I couldn't tell you how many stories I heard about the cheerleaders' busrides home with the football players from the away games...especially when they won.

I think, like previously stated, the only change here is the kids' willingness to talk about this stuff. It's more of a socially accepted thing that kids can talk to their parents about this stuff and not feel ashamed.

On the drugs thing, when I was in school, there seriously wasn't a drug that wasn't being done by someone there...and it was pretty basic knowledge of who was doing what, but nobody was gettng caught.

IMO, this is absolutely nothing new. Hell, I met my wife when I was in highschool, and she was 15 when the "magic" happened...and that was a long, long, long, long time ago....lol...so I don't have exact numbers for all of the percentages and whatnot...but seriously, that news isn't shocking at all.

 

[Stan]

What age on average does Homo Sapiens Sapiens reach sexual maturity?

Well, that's when they're going to start having sex.


It's as simple as that.

The big scandal is not that teens are having sex, but that 30 year olds are living in their parents' basements.

 

[elder999]

What age on average does Homo Sapiens Sapiens reach sexual maturity?

Well, that's when they're going to start having sex.

It's actually puberty you're thinking of, not "sexual maturity," which typically occurs a few years afterward.....and it varies, so that's when they're going to start trying to have sex, or at least, thinking about it.......

......all the time, if I remember correctly...:lol:

Of course, at 11, I had absolutely no chance of "having sex," but, like a lot of teenagers in the 70's, had little trouble getting there as I got older....

It's as simple as that.

If it had been that simple, I'd have shagged my 7th grade german teacher.....:lfao:

The big scandal is not that teens are having sex, but that 30 year olds are living in their parents' basements.

Absolutely.

 

[Big Don]

Sorry, I take Achmed the dead terrorist more seriously than Tyra Banks.

Although Tyra is much scarier

 

[Empty Hands]

Sorry, I take Achmed the dead terrorist more seriously than Tyra Banks.

Silence! I kill you!

 

[Makalakumu]

Although Tyra is much scarier

Yeah, whatever. She's hot.

Too bad MT doesn't have an I'd tap that emoticon.

 

[Makalakumu]

If it had been that simple, I'd have shagged my 7th grade german teacher.....:lfao:

Schnell! Schnell! Schnell!