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If you’re hooking up, messing around, dating or have "friends with benefits" because "everyone else is," you may want to re-think that!

The trend among teens is abstinence. Fewer than one-half of high-school students surveyed have had sex. (Source 1)

Teens are showing signs of being more conservative sexually. Six in ten teens (58%) said sexual activity for high school-age teens is not acceptable, even if precautions are taken against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. (Source 2)

The vast majority of teens (87%) surveyed said they do not think it is embarrassing for teens to admit they are virgins. (Source 2)

92% of teens think that being a virgin is a "good thing." (Source 3)

74% of teens say teens who choose to wait to have sex are supported in their decision. (Source 3)

Over one-third of teens agree that one should be at least 18 years old when you lose your virginity. (Source 3)

Teens say they need a strong abstinence message from society. 93% of teens say that it is important for teens to be told to abstain from sex... (Source 2)

63% of teens who have had sexual intercourse said they wish they had waited. More than one-half of teen boys (55%) and nearly three of four teen girls (72%) surveyed said they wish they had waited. (Source 4)

64% of teens said they advise younger siblings and friends who are in high school not to have sex. (Source 4)

86% of teens say young people today face pressure when it comes to sex and relationships. (38% some; 48% a lot). Teen boys feel as much if not more pressure than girls when it comes to sex and relationships. (Source 5)

29% of sexually active 15 to 24-year-olds say that they have "done more" sexually than they had planned while drinking or using drugs. (Source 6)

Up to 18% of youth aged 13 to 19 report that they were drinking at the time of first intercourse. (Source 6)

Teens who use alcohol are seven times more likely to have sex than those who do not, while those who use illicit substances (e.g., drugs) are five times more likely.
(Source 6)

88% of 15 to 24-year-olds say that people their age drink or use drugs before having sex at least "sometimes" - 50% say this happens "a lot."
(Source 6)

65 million Americans are living with an incurable STD. (Source 7)

Each year, 15.3 million new STD infections occur, including over 3 million infections in teens. (Source 8)

1 out of 4 sexually active teens will get an STD this year. (Source 9)

It is estimated that 20% of all Americans age 12 and older are infected with genital herpes. (Source 10)

In one single act of unprotected sex with an infected partner, a teenage woman has a 1% risk of acquiring HIV, a 30% risk of getting genital herpes, and a 50% chance of contracting gonorrhea. (Source 9)

Adolescents and young adults (15-24) are the age groups at the greatest risk for acquiring an STD. Approximately two-thirds of all people who acquire STDs are under 25. (Sources 11 & 12)

Compared to older women, teen girls have a higher rate of chlamydia, a disease that is a common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can lead to infertility. At least 10% of all sexually active teens are infected with this disease. (Source 11)

Among women, gonorrhea rates are highest among teen girls ages 15-19. (Source 11)

STDs may cause pain or sterility, and sometimes even death. (Source 7)

While most STDs can be treated to minimize pain or symptoms, there’s no cure for viral STDs like herpes and HIV. (Source 7)

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is an STD that causes genital warts. It also is the cause of more than 90% of all cervical cancer. Cervical cancer takes the lives of about 5,000 American women yearly, and condoms provide almost no protection against HPV. It is estimated 5.5 million new infections occur each year with at least 20 million people currently infected.

STDs are sexist. They damage women much worse than men. (Source 7)

Sources:
1. Terry, E., & Manlove, J. (2000). Trends in Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Among Teens. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

2. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). The Cautious Generation? Teens Tell Us About Sex, Virginity, and "The Talk". Washington, DC: Author.

3. Virginity and the First Time, SexSmart study of 508 15-17-year-olds conducted 6/2003 by International Communications Research (ICR) for the Kaiser Family Foundation and Seventeen Magazine.

4. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). Not Just Another Thing to Do: Teens Talk About Sex, Regret, and the Influence of Their Parents. Washington, DC: Author.

5. Decision Making, SexSmart study conducted 9/2000 for the Kaiser Family Foundation and Seventeen Magazine.

6. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

7. Tracking the Hidden Epidemics: Trends in STDs in the United States 2000, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2000)

8. American Social Health Association. Sexually Transmitted Disease in America: How Many Cases and at What Cost? Menlo Park, Calif.: Kaiser Family Foundation; 1998.

9. Facts in Brief. Teen Sex and Pregnancy: Sexually Transmitted Diseases, The Alan Guttmacher Institute (2002), Pg. 3.

10. (Fleming, D, et al. Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 in the United States, 1976-1994. N Engl J Med. 1997;337(16): 1105-1111.)

11. Division of STD Prevention. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 1999. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), September 2000.

12. Eng TR, Butler WT, eds. The Hidden Epidemic - Confronting Sexually Transmitted Disease. The Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997.

13. National Institutes of Health. (April 1-3, 1996). Cervical Cancer: NIH Consensus Development Statement, Online, 43(1), 1-30.)