By Joyce Howard Price, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, December 17, 2003
Two-thirds of U.S. teenagers who have had sexual relations wish they had waited longer, a new survey has found.
The survey conducted for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
found that the number of people who wish they had delayed sexual
activity rose 4 percent from three years ago. Of the 2,000 people
polled, 67 percent said they wished they had waited. The new data also
determined that 85 percent of teens believe sex should occur only in
long-term committed relationships.
The findings were based on
telephone surveys of 1,000 young people, ages 12 to 19, and 1,000
adults 20 years and older. It was conducted in August and September by
International Communications Research, an independent research firm.
The margin of error in the survey was plus or minus 3 percentage
points. Campaign spokesman Bill Albert said there are two key findings
from the survey.
"First," he said, "teens express more cautious attitudes and values toward sex than is perhaps generally believed."
The
second big finding, Mr. Albert said, is that "parents continue to
underestimate the influence they have" on whether their child becomes
sexually active.
On the subject of delaying sex, the poll
found that 77 percent of sexually experienced teen girls and 60 percent
of sexually experienced teen boys reported they wished they had
postponed sexual activity. They were not asked how long they wished
they had waited.
In 2000, when asked the same question, 72
percent of girls and 55 percent of boys said they wished they had
waited longer. The 2000 survey canvassed youngsters ages 12 to 17.
The Campaign is a bipartisan, nonprofit coalition aimed at deterring teen pregnancy.
Other findings that suggest teens are more wary of early and casual sex include:
Nearly three in 10 teens (28 percent) say they have become more opposed in the past several years to teens having sex.
84 percent of teens say pregnancy-prevention programs should teach young people to be married before they have a child.
88 percent of teens say it would be easier for
teens to postpone sexual activity and avoid teen pregnancy if they were
able to have more open, honest conversations about these topics with
their parents.
59 percent of teens say their parents are their role models of healthy, responsible relationships.
Teens say parents (45 percent) influence their
decisions about sex more than friends (31 percent) or others. Adults,
however, do not believe they are the most influential factor in whether
their teens become sexually active. Only 32 percent of adults believe
parents play the biggest role in this area. Adults mistakenly think a
teen's friends are most influential.
Only a quarter of teens (26 percent) think it's embarrassing to admit being a virgin.
Teens say their own morals, values and
religious beliefs - as well as concerns about their future - influence
their decisions about sex far more than concerns about pregnancy or
sexually transmitted diseases.
This
survey, coupled with one issued two years ago by the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that teens overestimate the
percentage of their peers who have had sex. The CDC's 2001 Youth Risk
Survey reports that 46 percent of those in grades 9 to 12 have had sex.
However, 68 percent of those in grades 9 to 12 in the Campaign's survey said they believe teens their age are sexually active.
Six
in 10 teens overall in the new survey believe teen boys often get the
message that sex and pregnancy are not a big deal. The breakdown was 49
percent of boys and 70 percent of girls who believe boys receive a
different message.
Another finding of concern was that 42
percent of teens in grades 9 to 12 said they had been at parties in the
past six months where both boys and girls, but no adults, were present.
Among adolescents 12 to 14, one in five said they had been in that
situation.
Better
than nine out of 10 teens and adults say society needs to provide teens
with a clear message that they should delay sex until they have, at
least, completed high school.
