Do you know where your teenagers were last night? A new survey finds there's a chance they were at home - and having sex for the first time.
More than half of boys and girls aged 16 to 18 said the first place they had sex was in their own home or the home of their partner - 10 times as many as who said they did it in a car or truck. And 70 percent said the act occurred in the evening or at night.
Advertisement
Parents naïve about children's sexual habits "Parents really aren't aware of the fact that their children are having sexual intercourse," says Angela Papillo, a researcher at Child Trends, a Washington, DC non-profit group that published the report.
"They need to be more involved in their kids' life and be a little more aware of what is actually taking place in their household."
Boyfriend's house popular The report used data from 2000. It found that 22 percent of teens said their first time happened at home, while 34 percent said it occurred at their partner's house.
Boys were more likely than girls to have their first act of intercourse at their house or that of a friend.
Papillo says the survey didn't ask teens if their parents or their partner's parents were home at the time. And it's likely that in many cases the answer was no.
"There are situations where the parents may be working, out for the evening, or there was a party at home where sex was taking place."
Wake-up call for parents Still, Bill Albert, a spokesman for the American National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, calls the survey "a wake-up call" for parents.
"The idea that sex happens in the back seat of a car is simply an antiquated notion. Teens only have to go down to the rec room in the basement or the bedroom upstairs," Albert says.
Similarly, Albert says, parents need to realise that the few hours between school and dinner aren't necessarily when their kids are getting themselves into trouble. – (HealthScout)
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?