Middle School Sexuality

A survey by Seventeen Magazine and O, the Oprah Magazine has given us some very interesting insights into the sexual activity of middle school and junior high students.  Yes, that is what I said- middle school and junior high! Now understand we should be teaching our children the biblical concept of sex inside of marriage!  But sex is a huge battleground that a lot of our students are giving in to the pressures and it can cause all kinds of issues, both long-term and short-term.

Here are a few stats from the survey:

- Three-quarters of teen girls who have lost their virginity say they have engaged in sex without protection and that most moms are not even aware of it
- 14% of mothers suspected their teen daughter had engaged in oral sex; nearly 30% of teen girls 15-18 years old have engaged in oral sex
- By age 12, 12 percent of students have engaged in vaginal intercourse, many of which say that it has been done without protection.

Now let’s be honest-many of the moms reading this are scared to death. This shows how important it is to have open dialogue with your teenager…or even earlier!

Now here are some (sort of) positive stats to encourage you:

- 3 in 5 teen girls said that “the talk” with their mothers has influenced their sexual choices “positively”
- Girls who talk to their moms about sex are half as likely to get pregnant
- About one quarter of the teen girls that talked with their moms stated that the conversation has made them wait

Listen, the whole point is that your teenager is going to find out about sex.  Don’t be the last one to talk with them about it!

If you want to read the entire article about this survey, click here