People in their 20s and The Sex

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flikr user peachy92

Ah, yes. The Sex. Capital T, capital S. Let's discuss it for a minute.

Yesterday the LA Times published an article about Us and Sex. Us, meaning people in their 20s, and Sex. Let's just say the news isn't all good.


GOOD NEWS:

• Percentage of sexually active unmarried people ages 18 to 29, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy: 86%
  
• Percentage of that same group who reported they are not ready to have kids: 87%
• Also, in 1970, 21% of 25-year-olds were unmarried; by 2005, the percentage had jumped to 60%.

I mean, depending on your perspective, you might consider these nuggets of data "good news", or maybe it's more neutral. Either way, it's clear that people in their 20s are unattached and having lots of The Sex.

And now, the BAD NEWS:

• Percentage of pregnancies in the 18-29 age group that are unintended: 7 in 10
• Percentage of sexually active unmarried people ages 18 to 29 who predict they'll have unprotected sex within the next three months: almost 20%.
• Percentage of sexually active unmarried people 18-29 who reported that "they know everything they need to know about how to avoid pregnancy": 90%
• Percentage of women from the last group who said they know "little or nothing" about the birth control pill: 30%
  
• Percentage of men from the last group who said they know "little or nothing" about the birth control pill: 80%
• Percentage of sexually active unmarried people 18-29 who believe that wearing two condoms provides double protection (when in fact it increases the chance of breakage): 24%
• PLUS, men and women in their 20s have among the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections of any age group, including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.

YIKES.

To recap: lots of people having sex, not a lot of those people are doing it safely.

I think a lot of people will see these statistics and FREAK OUT, and probably blame the homosexuals for being so sex-positive. Also, Europeans. And probably Mexican immigrants. (Right Arizona?)

But if you ask me, these stats highlight the fact that sex education has not kept up with the increase in sexual activity. I can't speak to the type of sex education being offered, although I suspect that the abstinence-only education could be part of this problem. It'd be interesting to look at the history of the abstinence-only curriculum versus a more comprehensive sex-ed and how those two have effected rates of unplanned pregnancy and STIs (if at all).

I haven't tracked down precisely where these statistics come from on the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy website, because there are LOADS of reports, but I'll dive into it tomorrow and hopefully find a gem or two.