WHEN DID YOU FIRST HAVE SEX?

The average age in America for first-time sexual intercourse is 17.3 years of age.  By the time young adults turn 18, most of them have had sex, 54% of men and an even larger 58% of women, according to the National Survey of Family Growth.  By the time they reach age 25, more than 90% of single men and women have had sex.

Casual sex it is not – at least in most cases.  More than two out of three women say their first sexual partner was a steady boyfriend.  Far from regretting their loss of virginity, most young women who had sex before age 20 wanted it to happen.  34% said they really wanted to have sex, and another 53% partly wanted it to happen.  Only 13% say they did not want to have sex the first time around.

Is sex education in public schools to blame for all this teenage sexual activity?  Hardly.  In sex education classes, which most high school students have endured by 10th grade, teens are more likely to be taught how to say no (85%) than how to use birth control. (66%).  At least they paid attention to some of the lectures: three out of four teenagers used birth control the first time they had sex.

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February 3rd, 2010 | Tags: sexual behavior, Sexual behavior statistics | Category: Daily Blog