Responsible teens are waiting longer to do it

BY: NY MAG

Modern teens are forgoing smoking weed, drinking alcohol, and — according to a new study from the CDC — they're also waiting longer to have sex. What are they even doing with their lives? (Tumblr.)

The CDC study found that American teens are delaying sex at increasing rates: From 2011 to 2013, 44 percent of female teenagers and 47 percent of male teenagers ages 15 to 19 had had sex, down 14 percent for girls and 22 percent for boys in the last 25 years. The results show that teens are waiting due to religious beliefs, but also due to increased knowledge about the dangers of teen pregnancy and STDs.

The good news is that the majority of teens are using protection the first time they have sex (79 percent of girls and 84 percent of boys), which means they're more likely to continue using contraception into adulthood. Most teens still prefer condoms — they protect against STDs and pregnancy and are much easier to steal from your parents without them noticing — but usage of the morning-after pill has gone up significantly, from 8 percent in 2002 to 23 percent in the years 2011 to 2013, most likely due to its increased availability.

The real question here is, what are the teens doing with all this newfound not-having-sex free time? Probably Snapchatting about their Paper Towns fanfiction.

The Daily Beast

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