The short answer is no. The rates and ages that young people are having sex have stayed relatively the same over the past few decades. It is, however, a common misbelief that teens have become more sexually active earlier on in life.
So why does this misconception still exist?
One reason could be because technology has allowed young people to better learn and communicate about sex and sex positivity. So it may seem like there are more/younger teens having sex, but in reality it’s just the conversation that has become open to younger folks!
Here are a few resources that show different tendencies of teens having sex through previous generations:
If you have questions about this topic, feel free to contact one of our peer educators. [Link]
Last Updated: April 2020
For this article, one of our volunteers did anonymous interviews with 3 teenagers all about the question: To what extent does culture and society play a role in youth sexuality?
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