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Why do most teens know so little about sex?
Today's kids are bombarded with sexual imagery, lingo and
innuendo. They're coming of age in a heightened and raunchy sexual culture. But that doesn't mean they know as much as they think they know. In fact from the letters we get here at ChadzBoyz for the Ask
Chad column, it is clear than many know very little about sex. Once puberty hits, when the hormones rage and curiosity peaks, too many teens are making decisions about sexual behaviour without adequate
or consistent sex education. And too many gay boys as young as 12 and 13 feel they must have a boyfriend -now!
Consider Andrew, 14, who figures almost half his friends in Grade 9 have been
sexually active but says at his Catholic school they've learned about the withdrawal method and nothing about condoms and nothing about gay sex.
Some of the older teens like Brian in Grade 11
found his sex education in the early years of high school pretty good -if you were straight. But nothing was said about gay sex. And since he no longer takes Physical Education and Health, those classes
are over for him.
Then there's Tim in grade 8 who has already had anal sex three times with an older boy without protection each time because the older boy told him it was ok and he was disease
free.
Ontario curriculum guidelines outline the topics — puberty in Grades 5 and 6, protected sex, AIDS and STIs in Grade 7, and contraception in Grade 8 — but teachers stress that kids will
frequently raise questions about things that are outside the guidelines. Those can range from questions about "what does wearing a condom feel like" to inquiries about "anal and gay
sex".
What are the most recent statistics?
A quarter to
one-third of Grade 9 students have been involved in sexual activity.
Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise and many teens are engaging in risky sexual behaviour.
One in four teens
age 14 to 17 didn't use protection against STIs (sexually transmitted infections) the last time they had sex, according to a recent survey by the Canadian Association for Adolescent Health (CAAH).
The same poll showed one in five didn't know oral sex poses a health risk, and a quarter thought oral sex was the equivalent of abstinence.
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