Virginity Rate Rises Among Teens, Young Adults (941 hits)
by CitizenLink Staff
March 4, 2011 Twenty-seven percent of young men and 29 percent of young women ages 15-24 have never had any kind of s*x, according to a study by the National Center for Health Statistics. That’s up from the 2005 report, in which the numbers were 22 percent for both s*xes. The largest and most in-depth federal report to date on s*xual behavior, s*xual attraction and s*xual identity in the U.S. covers 2006-08 and includes 5,082 participants in the 15- to 24-year-old group.
According to a USA Today analysis of the report, 53 percent of boys and 58 percent of girls ages 15-17 have had no s*xual contact. For ages 20-24, 13 percent of men and 12 percent of women reported likewise. Debbie Roffman, a human s*xuality educator in Baltimore, told the newspaper that multiple factors are likely at work — including “greater involvement by parents in communicating about s*xual values and decision-making and providing greater supervision and monitoring of their children’s activities.”
Jeff Johnston, gender and homos*xuality analyst for Citizenlink, applauded those who delay s*xual involvement. “This is encouraging news,” he said. “I give them a lot of credit. In a culture awash in s*x, to stand against that tide, takes a lot of strength.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit CitizenLink’s web page dedicated to abstinence education.
