Almost 70 percent of teenagers have had oral sex by the time they are 17, according to a study released by the National Center for Health Statistics last week.
The study, which is the first to look at sexual behaviors of both men and women to be released by the federal government, found 68 percent of both men and women ages 15 to 17 have had oral sex. By ages 18 to 19, the number of men to have had oral sex rose slightly, but remained similar for females, said Mary Jones, public affairs specialist for the center.
Researchers gathered data from 12,571 in-person interviews with men and women ages 15-44 nationwide between March 2002 and March 2003. Data was collected as part of the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth.
These national statistics are similar at MSU, and are not unusual, said Dennis Martell, Olin Health Center health education coordinator and State News columnist.
"Many students come to MSU already choosing to be sexually active," Martell said.
In a 2004 National College Health Assessment survey, 30 percent of MSU students reported having oral sex one to two times in the past month, while 12.8 percent reported having had oral sex three to four times in that same time period, Martell said.
Although these numbers are not rising, there is a problem with many college students and younger students not regarding oral sex as "real" sex, Martell said.
"A lot of high school kids, even middle school kids, don't even think of oral sex as sex," Martell said.
Another problem with high numbers of students participating in oral sex is that only 1 percent use condoms when having oral sex, he said.
Most people have oral sex because they think there are no possible consequences involved, such as getting pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted infection, or STI. But HIV and other STI's can be contracted during the act, he said.
"We advise people to use a condom when performing oral sex," Martell said.
To economics sophomore Lindsay Moore, the teenage sex statistics are not surprising because he said many of his friends "are very sexually active."
"America is getting more sexually active as time goes by," Moore said.
The percentage of MSU students who use a condom when having vaginal sex is a positive result from the study, Martell said.
In the last year, 76 percent of MSU students reported being sexually active and 56 percent of them reported always using a condom.
The high number of MSU students who use a condom comes from the many programs MSU provides to students that make condoms available, Martell said. This differs from the education given in many Michigan schools, he said.
"Most education only focuses on the negative aspects of sex," Martell said. "That is almost criminal."
There are a number of places and programs around campus that make condoms available, said Nicolle Stec, health educator in charge of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Olin. There are free condoms available on the third floor of the Olin Health Center, through the Condom Connection program in dorms, and through a theater troupe that travels around campus to give presentations on healthy relationships and sexual behavior, Stec said. "We give people the option of protecting themselves," Stec said. "We are tying to educate people to make healthy choices."
