Here is a random picture of a collection of ninth graders picked up off the net. They look like an ordinary bunch of 14 year olds don't they? If they are then sex is very much a part of their lives and their sex of choice is oral sex. New research by University of California, San Francisco shows that oral sex is far more prevalent amongst this group than vaginal sex.

Awareness of pregnancy, AIDS and other STDs is high amongst this age group and, quite correctly, they assess oral sex as a safer alternative. Not only that, the adolescents believed that oral sex also was less likely to have negative social and emotional consequences, such as a bad reputation, getting into trouble, feeling bad about themselves, feeling guilty, or having a relationship with a partner become worse.

The mean age of those sampled was 14.8 and 20% had already participated in oral sex and further 31% said they intended to within the next six months. Compare this with vaginal sexual activity which were 13% and 26% respectively.

All this is quite normal of course, the one area of concern was that a number of those surveyed believed that there were no risk of STDs associated with oral sex which clearly is not the case. The messages from the study are

1. If you have a 14 year old, its time to take your head out of the sand and accept that sex is part of their immediate world

2. Sex education needs to address issues relating to oral sex as well as vaginal sex.

read more of the study here.