Blog 8 - Young "Love"? I don't think so.

             Only 43% of teenagers say they have not had sex. By age 15, 13% of students have already had, or are indulging in oral sex. Of girls having sex before the age of 15, will more then likely end up teenage parents. Many teens say that they would be less likely to have sexual intercourse if the could have open conversations with their partners. About 12% of teen males and 10% of teen females have had heterosexual oral sex but not actual sex by 17 years of age. An estimated one in three girls, in the United States, get pregnant before the age twenty. Teen pregnancy rates are much higher in the United States than in other developed countries, and twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
            Twenty percent of teens, ages 13-19 say they have been sent or posted nude pictures online. Twenty-one percent of teen girls and thirty-nine percent of teen boys say they have engaged in "sexting" with someone they wanted to date or "hook up" with. Fifty-one percent of girls who send or post naughty pictures and send dirty messages, say it's because pressure from the person on the other end.
           Reseachers say the best ways to avoid things like this, is to take things slowly, get to know the person first, hang out in a group your first time, and talk to this person, you want to make sure you really know them. Relationships should be based on that emotional and mental connection, before the physical, sexual level. You need to know that you can trust this person, and that if something were to happen that they wouldn't bale. Be safe, have safe sex!