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MUMBAI: Here is one more reason why the government should offer sex education : Indian teens are not only sexually active at a younger age than before, they are contracting sexually transmitted infections in numbers higher than before.A new survey , based on interviews of 15,000-odd teens between 13 and 19 from 20 cities including the metros, revealed that around 8.9% gave a history suggestive of sexually transmitted infection at least once. The average age of first sexual contact for boys was 13.72 years and 14.09 years for girls.“This is alarming considering that it’s more than double the STD/HIV incidence reported for this age group in the Naco (National AIDS Control Organization) annual report of 2011-12,” said Dr Debraj Shome of MediAngels.com, a city-based e-healthcare company funded by the Union department of science and technology, which conducted the survey.“Among those surveyed, over 6.3% boys and over 1.3% girls reported to have had intercourse at least once. The average age at first intercourse in those who had it was 14 years for boys and 16 years for girls,” it added. The National Family Health Survey 3, which came out in 2006, said that young people aged between 15 and 24 commonly engage in premarital sex; more men (15-22%) than women (1-6%).Well-known sexologist Dr M Watsa said the survey’s findings corroborate what others studies have shown. “The STD-affected numbers seem huge. Given India’s population, even 4% is a huge number,” he said.Amita Dhanu of the Family Planning Association of India (FPAI) said sexual experimentation is on the rise among India’s youth. “Younger boys experiment with sex and younger girls want to experiment with premarital sex.Although there are instances of date rapes and molestation, there is also a new trend of girls willing to experiment,” she said, adding that the number of girls coming with complaints that their boyfriends coerced them into having sex has fallen.The area of concern here is the inadequate awareness of STDs and prevention. “Use of contraceptives is almost nil in this age group,” said Dhanu.Dr Rajan Bhonsale, head of the sexual medicine department of BMC-run KEM Hospital, Parel, said today’s lifestyle gives people more privacy and encourages reckless acts. “I have come across cases of high-school boys taking their parents’ phones and calling up prostitutes. There is a growing incidence of HIV among affluent teenagers because they have multiple partners,” said Bhonsale.The latest survey provides a reason for the increase in STDs among teenagers: No proper communication channels to gain sexuality-related information. The survey said around 6.2% adolescents gained information from teachers, another 6% from their mothers. “For the majority, around 57%, media and the internet was the main source of information. Only 4.2% spoke to doctors about it. Sex is perceived as an activity of excitement, but sexual health is never a priority,” said Shome.Experts say it’s time the youth received information from the right channels—parents, teachers and doctors—instead of online pornography. Bhonsale said sex education must be “age appropriate, value based and culture specific” and Dhanu said it should be integrated in the school curriculum. Watsa added that there also is a need to educate parents who could get alarmed that their child is learning something at school that they were not exposed to.Shome said, “Pornography cannot serve as a legitimate knowledge base. The government needs to also recognize that we need more sexual education. If we don’t, then the combination of increased and early sexual experimentation and decreased awareness could result in more underage pregnancies and rise in STDs like AIDS.”