The generational divide between baby-boomer parents and their teenage offspring is sharpening over sex.
Oral sex, that is.
More than half of 15- to 19-year-olds are doing it, according to a groundbreaking study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers did not ask about the circumstances in which oral sex occurred, but the report does provide the first federal data that offer a peek into the sex lives of American teenagers.
To adults, oral sex is extremely intimate, and to some of these young people, apparently it isn't as much, says Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
What we're learning here is that adolescents are redefining what is intimate.
Among teens, oral sex is often viewed so casually that it needn't even occur within the confines of a relationship. Some teens say it can take place at parties, possibly with multiple partners. But they say the more likely scenario is oral sex within an existing relationship.
Still, some experts are increasingly worrying that a generation that approaches intimate behavior so casually might have difficulty forming healthy intimate relationships later on.
My parents' generation sort of viewed oral sex as something almost greater than sex. Like once you've had sex, something more intimate is oral sex, says Carly Donnelly, 17, a high school senior from Cockeysville, Md.
Now that some kids are using oral sex as something that's more casual, it's shocking to (parents).
Full Article
Oral sex, that is.
More than half of 15- to 19-year-olds are doing it, according to a groundbreaking study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers did not ask about the circumstances in which oral sex occurred, but the report does provide the first federal data that offer a peek into the sex lives of American teenagers.
To adults, oral sex is extremely intimate, and to some of these young people, apparently it isn't as much, says Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
What we're learning here is that adolescents are redefining what is intimate.
Among teens, oral sex is often viewed so casually that it needn't even occur within the confines of a relationship. Some teens say it can take place at parties, possibly with multiple partners. But they say the more likely scenario is oral sex within an existing relationship.
Still, some experts are increasingly worrying that a generation that approaches intimate behavior so casually might have difficulty forming healthy intimate relationships later on.
My parents' generation sort of viewed oral sex as something almost greater than sex. Like once you've had sex, something more intimate is oral sex, says Carly Donnelly, 17, a high school senior from Cockeysville, Md.
Now that some kids are using oral sex as something that's more casual, it's shocking to (parents).
Full Article
