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http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/NEWS08/805200372Contrary to popular belief, teens do not appear to commonly engage in oral sex as a way to preserve their virginity, according to the first national study to examine the question.
The analysis of a federal survey of more than 2,200 males and females age 15 to 19, released Monday, found that more than half reported having had oral sex. But those who described themselves as virgins were far less likely to say they had tried it than those who had had intercourse.
"There's a popular perception that teens are engaging in serial oral sex as a strategy to avoid vaginal intercourse," said Rachel Jones of the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, a private research group based in New York, who helped conduct the study. "Our research suggests that's a misperception."
Instead, the study found that teens tend to become sexually active in many ways at about the same time. For example, although only one in four teen virgins had engaged in oral sex, within six months after their first intercourse more than four out of five adolescents reported having oral sex.
The findings will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
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