Young People’s Misconceptions About Sex Abound
According to a new study published this week, major gaps exist between what young people believe concerning sex and what their actual behaviors are.
For example, the survey of 1,800 people age 18 to 29, conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy, found that most young people believe that pregnancy should be planned – but half do not use contraception on a regular basis.
In regards to the likelihood of having unprotected sex in the next 3 months, 29 percent of women and 42 percent of men responded that it was slightly likely, while 17 percent of women and 19 percent of men responded that it was highly likely.
Some have already begun to politicize the report, using it as both ammunition for and against programs in our schools that teach young people the virtues of abstinence.
When it came to actual knowledge regarding contraception, 63 percent of young people surveyed responded that they knew little or nothing about birth control pills, and 30 percent responded that they knew little about condoms.
Additionally, myths concerning sex and pregnancy remain high among young people. For example, the myth that wearing 2 condoms (one over the other) provides extra protection against pregnancy was believed by 28 percent of young men surveyed, while the fact is that such use of two condoms at once actually increases the risk for condom failure. 18 percent of young men surveyed also mistakenly believed that having sex while standing up reduced the chance of the female becoming pregnant, when in fact it does not reduce the chance of pregnancy at all.
Forty percent of young people surveyed also responded that they believed that it did not matter whether a person used birth control or not, indicating their belief that women get pregnant when it’s simply their time to conceive.
According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States each year are unplanned.
