COLOGNE. Young people are becoming sexually active later than they were ten years ago. The condom is the number one contraceptive “first time”, while pill use is on the decline. For some young people, teachers are even more important contacts than their parents when it comes to sexual matters.
The first results of the ninth wave of the “Youth Sexuality” study by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) are, at least in part, surprising. For the survey, BZgA researchers conducted around 6,000 interviews from early summer to autumn 2019. The main topics were sex education in school, on the internet and at home, first sexual experiences as well as knowledge of contraception and contraceptive behavior.
Contrary to popular belief, young people are sexually active later than they were five years ago. Photo: StarFlames / Pixabay (P. L.)
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Assumptions that young people are becoming sexually active earlier and earlier are apparently not confirmed. On the contrary, between the ages of 14 and 16, significantly fewer girls and boys reported having had sexual experiences than ten years ago, said Heidrun Thaiss, head of the BZgA.
While sexual activities among 14-year-olds were still the exception with an average of four percent, at the age of 17 more than half had sexual intercourse. Young women of German origin would have experienced an average of almost 70 percent of the “first time” at the age of 17. According to the study, it was 37 percent of women of the same age with foreign roots. Among the 17-year-old boys there were 64 and 59 percent, respectively.
When asked about the reasons why they are not yet sexually active, 55 percent of the young people between 14 and 17 stated that they were missing the right person and / or 41 percent that they were too young. At 48 percent, significantly more girls currently think they are too young for the “first time” than in 2014 with 35 percent.
The condom is by far the number one contraceptive for young people the “first time”. 77 percent of 14 to 17 year olds said this. The pill was still used by 30 percent during their first sexual intercourse, but usage has decreased compared to five years ago. In 2014, 45 percent had used the pill the “first time”. A possible cause for the decline in pill use could be that girls in the current survey rate the health compatibility of the pill much worse than they did five years ago.
According to Haidrun Thaiss, the parental home still plays an important role in sex education. “Parents are still important confidants and a central advisory body for their children, also on issues relating to sexuality and contraception,” says the doctor.
Depending on their origin, parents are, to a different extent, caregivers for sexual questions: 70 percent of girls of German origin stated that their mother is an important contact person for sexual questions. In contrast, it was only 43 percent for girls with a migrant background. The situation is similar for boys: 45 percent of boys without a migration background name the father and 37 percent the mother as an important contact person for sex education. For boys with a migrant background, this applied to 27 and 17 percent, respectively.
School is also a central place for sexual education: For both sexes and regardless of cultural origin, teachers for young people are among the most important contact persons for sex education. For boys with a migration background, they are – after the best friend – even the most important contact persons. Almost 70 percent of the young people surveyed state that their knowledge comes primarily from school lessons. According to their own information, almost 56 percent of girls and 62 percent of boys had their knowledge of the body, contraception and sexuality largely from the Internet.
According to the study data, 86 percent of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 used contraception safely the “first time”. Nine percent do not use contraception at all, and another 4 percent use an unsafe method. According to those responsible for the BZgA, the data from the youth sexuality study also showed that almost every fifth young person with a low level of education did not use contraception at all or was unsafe “for the first time”. Contraceptive behavior improves with increasing sexual experience: According to their own statements, only five percent of young people did not use contraception at all when they last had sexual intercourse. (zab, pm)
Study: Training on sexual education in everyday school life is neglected
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