One in eight having sex by age of 14, report says
LORRAYNE ANTHONY, CP 2005-05-04 02:48:04
TORONTO -- While the average age for losing virginity was 16 1/2 for both sexes, 12 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls surveyed have had sexual relations by the age of 14 or 15, Statistics Canada said yesterday.
And despite a decades-old education push, many young people still shy away from using condoms. Just under four in 10 sexually-active 15- to 24-year-olds didn't use a condom the last time they had sex, a study suggests.
Those who reported having sex with only one person in the past year were less likely to report having used a condom.
"We're not getting through with the condom message," said Jane Wilde, nurse, educator and clinic supervisor at Options for Sexual Health in Prince Rupert, B.C.
She wasn't surprised by the government findings, as they reflect much of what she sees at the clinic.
"Our teen pregnancy rates are dropping but not our STD rates."
Tim Lawrence, an 18-year-old Sir Wilfrid Laurier University student, said the only reason teens think about using condoms is to prevent pregnancy.
"It's kind of assumed that everyone is inexperienced so if they haven't had sex before, or only had sex with one person, then chances are they haven't been connected to an STD," he said, adding that at university, free condoms are readily available but when you are in high school, they must be purchased.
"They're not exactly cheap and if you are active for a whole year, that's a lot of money," he said, noting that condoms are almost always thought of as the guy's responsibility.
Four per cent of the 15- to 24-year-olds reported having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease and twice as many females as males reported being diagnosed with an STD.
Females were more likely than males to have intercourse without a condom, and the odds of females not using condoms were higher for females who started having sex earlier in their teens, the study found.
Almost 60 per cent of those who started having sex by the age of 13 reported not using a condom the last time they had sex.
This compares with 46 per cent of females who began having sex at ages 14-17 and 37 per cent of those who started having sex at ages 20-24.
Young adolescents -- those aged 14 and 15 -- in the eastern provinces (15 per cent) and Quebec (18 per cent) were more likely to have had sexual intercourse than those in Ontario and the western provinces (10 per cent), the study found.
The study on early sexual intercourse was based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, which looked at 3,212 youths aged 14 or 15 in 1998-2001.
Copyright © The London Free Press
TORONTO -- While the average age for losing virginity was 16 1/2 for both sexes, 12 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls surveyed have had sexual relations by the age of 14 or 15, Statistics Canada said yesterday.
And despite a decades-old education push, many young people still shy away from using condoms. Just under four in 10 sexually-active 15- to 24-year-olds didn't use a condom the last time they had sex, a study suggests.
Those who reported having sex with only one person in the past year were less likely to report having used a condom.
"We're not getting through with the condom message," said Jane Wilde, nurse, educator and clinic supervisor at Options for Sexual Health in Prince Rupert, B.C.
She wasn't surprised by the government findings, as they reflect much of what she sees at the clinic.
"Our teen pregnancy rates are dropping but not our STD rates."
Tim Lawrence, an 18-year-old Sir Wilfrid Laurier University student, said the only reason teens think about using condoms is to prevent pregnancy.
"It's kind of assumed that everyone is inexperienced so if they haven't had sex before, or only had sex with one person, then chances are they haven't been connected to an STD," he said, adding that at university, free condoms are readily available but when you are in high school, they must be purchased.
"They're not exactly cheap and if you are active for a whole year, that's a lot of money," he said, noting that condoms are almost always thought of as the guy's responsibility.
Four per cent of the 15- to 24-year-olds reported having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease and twice as many females as males reported being diagnosed with an STD.
Females were more likely than males to have intercourse without a condom, and the odds of females not using condoms were higher for females who started having sex earlier in their teens, the study found.
Almost 60 per cent of those who started having sex by the age of 13 reported not using a condom the last time they had sex.
This compares with 46 per cent of females who began having sex at ages 14-17 and 37 per cent of those who started having sex at ages 20-24.
Young adolescents -- those aged 14 and 15 -- in the eastern provinces (15 per cent) and Quebec (18 per cent) were more likely to have had sexual intercourse than those in Ontario and the western provinces (10 per cent), the study found.
The study on early sexual intercourse was based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, which looked at 3,212 youths aged 14 or 15 in 1998-2001.
Copyright © The London Free Press
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