Here's another study.. but I'm not so sure...

Here's an interesting article on a "study" they conducted recently regarding sex among teenagers.

Read this with a critical eye, then read my comments afterwards...
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NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Teenagers often suffer emotional consequences from having sex, even when it's "only" oral sex, a study published Monday suggests.

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco found that up to one-half of the sexually active teenagers in their study said they'd ever felt "used," guilty or regretful after having sex.

Though such feelings were less common among teens who'd had only oral sex, about one-third reported some type of negative consequence.

Dr. Sonya S. Brady and Bonnie L. Halpern-Felsher report the findings in the journal Pediatrics.

The study, according to the researchers, suggests that parents should be sure to talk with their kids about the potential negative effects of having oral sex, not only intercourse.

"When parents and teens talk about the consequences of having 'sex,' they may not take the time to define what sex is," Brady and Halpern-Felsher noted in comments to Reuters Health.

"It is important for parents to help teens understand that having oral sex may result in social, emotional and physical health consequences -- just as having vaginal sex may result in these consequences."

In particular, the study found, girls were twice as likely as boys to say they'd ever "felt bad about themselves" after having sex, and three times more likely to say they'd felt used.

Though the study could not look at the reasons for this difference, other studies have noted that there's pressure on girls to at once be sexually attractive yet resist having sex.

"In contrast, boys' sexuality and sexual behavior is generally accepted," Brady and Halpern-Felsher pointed out. "Parents can play an important role in helping to eliminate this double standard by encouraging respect for women and discouraging the use of derogatory sexual terms."

The findings are based on a series of surveys given to 618 students at two public high schools, beginning in ninth grade when they were 14 years old. Of these, 275 reported having oral sex, vaginal sex or both by the spring of tenth grade.

Among the sexually active teens, those who said they'd had only oral sex were generally less likely to report negative consequences, whether physical -- pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections -- or emotional.

However, they were also less likely to report positive effects, such as feeling closer to their partner or feeling good about themselves. Such positive feelings about sex were common, the study found. In fact, the teens more often reported positive effects than negative ones.

This suggests that when parents talk with their kids about sex, it might be a good idea to acknowledge the potential positive outcomes, like emotional intimacy, Brady and Halpern-Felsher note in their report. Parents could then talk about other ways to find those same feelings.
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CARLOS:

First of all "up to one-half of the sexually active teenagers in their study said they'd ever felt "used," guilty or regretful after having sex."

Really? No kidding. Half of all ADULTS would probably claim the same. Not very good rationale for this assumption.

There are emotional consequences to everything. What amazes me is how a study like this is pawned off as "news."

Notice how they almost contradict themselves near the end when they say that the teens more often "reported positive effects than the negative ones."

So which is it?

The article is another one slanted toward making us feel that we are justified in our society for making sexually healthy teenagers into sexually neurotic adults by making them think sex is "dirty and bad."

I love the use of "suggests" and "might be a good idea to acknowledge the potential positive outcomes." Ya think?

I believe the reason I was able to rebound from a particularly scary home life as a kid was because of the girls who "helped" me through those tough times and provided the emotional buffer I needed. Shout out to Jody, Lynn, Andrea, and the rest...

I suggest Alpha Man training for teen boys, where they learn the Secrets of the Alpha Man as part of their mandatory education.

Anyone else with me?

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