By Angelica Cheyenne and Patricia Franklin
Staff Writers
Disclaimer: please remember that the Bulletin staff are not sexperts, sexual therapists, psychologists or anyone who is educated in that field. We offer research, responses and educated opinions regarding the topic of sex from the perspective of a peer. If you have advanced questions that require an expert’s opinion, please visit the Women’s Resource Center in Small Complex Room 148. However, if you want to solicit advice, email us at [email protected].
Nowadays it isn’t uncommon to hear that children in middle school have become sexually active. Puberty starts to awaken sexual urges in adolescents that aren’t always accompanied with the mental maturity to match. According to the Population Research Institute, the “mean” age of people becoming sexually active is 15 years-old.
“When I was 15 I was dating this older guy, he was a senior and I was a junior in high school,” said L.P. “I thought I was in love and I lost my virginity to him, after a night of hot fiery passion a week later my vagina started burning. I went to the doctor and I found out I had Chlamydia.”
Many adolescents and even adults are not protecting themselves while being intimate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 43 percent of adolescents have not used a condom the last time they had sex. Although sex without a condom can be more appealing by causing some people to orgasm quicker, there are negative outcomes that are associated with unprotected sex.
According to the article “The role of emotional promiscuity in unprotected sex,” published by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, “Data from four studies (total N = 908) indicated that both sexual promiscuity and emotional promiscuity were associated with women’s reports of unprotected sex.” Emotional promiscuity is defined as the tendency to get emotional feelings quickly, often and discriminately, according to the University of British Columbia.
“I had a friend who use to mess around in high school,” said O.M. “I mean this girl slept with just about anybody and didn’t wear condoms and she ended up with herpes and pregnant. She had no idea who the father was.”
Having unprotected sex doesn’t mean you are promiscuous, and often times people who are in monogamous engage in more unprotected sex.
“The first date we had unprotected sex,” said F.P. “We never had protected sex, and we have been together four years. We get tested about once a year.”
Although the result of unprotected sex is obvious, believing your partner is using another form of contraception could possibly prevent you from taking precaution.
“I had a one night stand with this one chick in Vegas,” said M.R. “We met each other in a club and it was my brother’s bachelor party. Nine drinks later her and I were making out on the elevator, we finally made it to her room and had sex. I tried to put a condom on but she kept reassuring me that she had the IUD. Well, nine months later I became a father.”
Sex comes with a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Although sex is easy to have, STD’s are even easier to catch. Be aware of who you are intimate with, and if you chose to have unprotected sex, make sure you know your partners’ sexual history first.
