Susan Tew/Chris Kirchgaessner
212-248-1111
mediaworks@guttmacher.org
ORAL SEX BECOMING INCREASINGLY
COMMON AMONG TEENS
Many Consider Oral Sex Safe and "Abstinent" Behavior
Anecdotal reports suggest that adolescents are increasingly engaging in noncoital sexual behaviors--oral sex in particular--which avoid the risk of pregnancy but leave them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Yet the new report "Oral Sex Among Adolescents: Is It Abstinence or Is It Sex?" by Lisa Remez of The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), based on interviews with roughly two dozen health experts and a review of existing research, notes that the perception that oral sex has become widespread among adolescents cannot be confirmed or refuted because of a lack of solid, national data. This dearth of information leaves parents, educators, health professionals and policymakers at a disadvantage in addressing issues of STD prevention and treatment, as well as sexual activity more generally.
"Although there is no consensus among health professionals about whether noncoital behaviors have actually increased, many experts do believe that in this era of HIV/AIDS and abstinence promotion, many teenagers perceive oral sex as safer and less intimate than intercourse. Teenagers seem to be especially misinformed about the STD risks of oral sex," comments Remez.
Experts quoted in the report, published in the November/December 2000 issue of the Institute's bimonthly professional journal, Family Planning Perspectives, suggest that a heightened awareness of oral sex has forced a dialogue with adolescents about the full meaning of sexuality and has underscored the importance of defining sex not as a single act, but as a whole range of behaviors. If adolescents perceive that pregnancy prevention is the main goal of abstinence, then they might count behaviors unrelated to pregnancy as safe and abstinent. Teens are not adequately taught about the potential risks of noncoital sex and might choose to engage in these activities without full awareness of their consequences. Greater public discourse about these issues among parents, sexuality education teachers, health care providers and policymakers could help teenagers to better interpret abstinence messages and seek the services and information that they need.
The report addresses a number of other issues, including whether teenagers are more likely to practice fellatio or cunnilingus and whether peer pressure plays a significant role in the decision to engage in oral sex. It also explores the difficulties in screening for STDs acquired orally and the possibility that they are underreported. Further, it points to the need for broadening the range of behaviors examined in national surveys of sexual behavior, enabling researchers to identify individuals whose behavior places them at risk and developing appropriate program and policy interventions.
Sara Seims, president of AGI, comments: "When we, as adults, tell our children to abstain from sex, we might as well be speaking a different language. This report makes it clear that our society's narrow focus in policy and research is missing a major componentÑnoncoital, early sexual activity among teenagers. We need to better understand what teenagers consider to be 'sex' and what they consider to be 'abstinence' so that we have a better idea of how these messages are being heard and acted upon."
A related research note published in the same issue, "Heterosexual Genital Sexual Activity Among Adolescent Males: 1988 and 1995," by Gary J. Gates and Freya L. Sonenstein of the Urban Insitute, reveals that in 1995, 53% of males 15-19 reported that they had been masturbated by a female, 49% had received oral sex, 39% had given oral sex and 11% had engaged in anal sex. Furthermore, one in five males who had never had vaginal intercourse reported having been masturbated by a female, and one in seven said they had received oral sex.
The research note is based on the 1988 and 1995 National Surveys of Adolescent Males, in which men aged 15-19 were asked whether they had ever engaged in a series of noncoital sexual activities, including mutual masturbation, oral sex and anal sex. The authors conclude that this information is limited in that it does not examine current behavior. From the findings of their analysis they comment, "The evidence that a substantial share of male teenagers engage in genital sexual activity beyond vaginal intercourse underlines the importance of monitoring a broader spectrum of sexual behaviors among teenagers." They further note that more detailed data with larger samples are needed to learn about the frequency and the timing of these behaviors.
###
Statement of Accuracy/User Agreement
© copyright 2000, The Alan Guttmacher Institute.