New research suggests that teens aren't using oral sex as a substitute for sexual intercourse. Now our challenge is to develop programs addressing the reality of teen sexual behavior rather than speculating over the myth of "technical virginity."

When a 2005 Center for Diseases

Control study of 15 to 19 year olds reported that one in four teen virgins

had engaged in oral sex, public response was intense — to say the least.

Many news outlets reported that teens were engaging in oral sex so that

they could claim that they were still technically virgins, while talk

shows warned of teens casually engaging in oral sex at parties with

multiple partners. Some speculated that the apparent

rise in oral sex among teens was the result of the Clinton political

scandal that put into question whether oral sex was really sex. Others wondered whether teens

chose oral sex over vaginal or anal intercourse in response to a fear

of pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infections.

The teens I work with constantly remind me that teen attitudes towards sex

have changed since I was their age. A class doesn’t go by without

my students responding to something I say with a good-natured eye roll

and an explanation of how folks "do it different now" or "don’t

think that way anymore." My students are teen mothers or pregnant

teens and we discuss sex openly during our women’s health classes.

Even so, I was surprised in 2005 when the CDC’s findings appeared to indicate that teens were engaging in oral sex because

they didn’t define it as sex and as an alternative to sexual intercourse.

My student’s didn’t share that they thought oral sex wasn’t sex

or that is was an alternative to sexual intercourse. Instead,

they spoke of oral sex as part of a sexual relationship or part of sexual

exploration.

But the results of the CDC

study released in 2005 suggested that more than half of those

teens surveyed responded that they were engaging in oral sex.

Although researchers did not ask about the circumstances in which oral

sex was taking place, many people interpreted the data to mean that

teens were engaging in oral sex because they did not view it as sex

and felt that oral sex was a way to remain " technical virgins." In other words, the study claimed

that one in four teens was using oral sex as a substitute for sexual

intercourse. Could it be that teens were responding to abstinence-only curricula by opting for oral sex over intercourse? Or was

it that teens were avoiding sexual intercourse because of lack of access to contraception? Was this apparent teen

oral sex epidemic a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, it turns out that all

the speculation was likely in vain. A new study from the Guttmacher

Institute challenges the facts of and conclusions drawn from that 2005

CDC report. As reported by Amie Newman in Teen Myth Busting:

Study Shows Oral Sex No Substitute For Vaginal Intercourse , the Guttmacher report found that the

conclusion that teens frequently substitute oral sex for sexual intercourse

is flawed – oral and anal sex are significantly more common

among teens who have already had vaginal intercourse than among those

who have not. In other words, teens are more likely to

explore a range of sexual activities as they become sexually active

and are not likely to substitute one activity for another.

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Now that we know that teens

aren’t using oral sex as a substitute for sexual intercourse and that

they are engaging in a variety of sexual activities when they become sexually active, we must use this new data clarifying

teen sexual behavior to address the increase in teen

sexually transmitted infection and re-infection

rates . The

challenge is to work with the reality of teen sexual behavior rather

than speculate over the myth of technical virginity.

For direction

we can look to the example of programs like Sexual Awareness for Everyone

(SAFE), which has had success

in reducing STI re-infection rates among the high-risk teenage women

of color participants

in the program.

A study of the SAFE program

conducted by Andrea Ries Thurman of the University of Texas

Health Sciences Center-San Antonio

and her colleagues followed a group of 14 to 18 year old black and Mexican-American

participants. SAFE offers comprehensive STI counseling and education.

Participants in the study attended small groups that included role-playing sessions,

interactive video sessions, reviews of written material and group discussion

that addressed strategies for prevention like abstinence and monogamy

while explaining the importance of sticking to STI medication regimens

as prescribed.

Graduates of SAFE are less

likely to engage in high risk sexual behavior and have a lower incidence

of recurrent gonorrhea and chlamydia as compared with teen women in

a control group who received only 15 minutes of individual counseling.

The cumulative STI re-infection rate for teen women who participated in SAFE was 24 percent, for the control group this number skyrocketed to 40 percent.

As Emily Douglas wrote in response

to the data that one in four teen women have an STI, all four out of four teen

girls need better sex education

and better sex education requires a deeper understanding of the reality

of teens and their lives. Reproductive justice activists who work

with teens know that pro-knowledge programs built on solid data like

SAFE help to address the real risks teens face when they are sexually active.

Looking back, it is clear that the problem with the 2005 CDC teen oral

sex study wasn’t in the data but with the speculation that followed.

Programs like SAFE and their undeniable success in reducing risk demonstrate

that comprehensive sex education remains the key to empowering teens.

Sex education the Midwest Teen Sex Show style