Ottawa Citizen (01.22.07) - Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Joanne Laucius

Together, the participants thought that 20 percent of teens ages 12-14 would have debuted sexually and that 40 percent of teens ages 15-16 would be sexually active. But just 17 percent and 23 percent of girls and boys, respectively, age 15 and younger reported sexual activity. Participants thought 66 percent of teens ages 17-18 would have had sex. In contrast, by age 17 just 42 percent of boys and 47 percent of girls reported having had sex. Sexually active girls reported an average of 2.4 sex partners and boys 2.7. The mothers endorsed an average of 17.6 years as the appropriate age for sexual debut.

Teens suspect their peers are more sexually active than they really are because their peers are talking about it, said lead author Dr. Jean-Yves Frappier, head of adolescent medicine at Montreal's Saint-Justine University Health Center. "They talk about sex," he said. "That doesn't mean they do it."

Parents may believe teens are sexually hyperactive based on what they see on television, movies, and in newspapers, Frappier said. "The idea is that sex is everywhere. You shouldn't consider your son or daughter as part of the pack, but as who they are."

While three-quarters of teen girls and 61 percent of boys considered abstinence a real option, that does not mean they would choose it or are practicing it, said Frappier. Moreover, almost all the teens did poorly on questions about their STD knowledge.

The full report, "Sex and Sexual Health: A Survey of Canadian Youth and Mothers," was published in Pediatrics and Child Health (2008;13(1):25-30).
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