Young people in Ireland have displayed a shift in their attitude toward sexual activity. A survey conducted by the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme showed a dramatic shift in sexual activity amongst teens in Ireland.
The Herald reports that the survey revealed that the 13 percent of 18-25 year olds who reported not having sex in 2003 jumped 2 percent to 15 percent in 2010. The results also showed a difference in male and female attitudes towards sex, as well as an increase in safe sex.
The majority of the girls polled reported that they waited until they were at least 18 years old before they had sex. 28 percent of males, however, admitted to sleeping with someone before reaching 17 -- the age of consent. 17 percent of girls admitted to having sex before they were 17 as well.
Use of contraception during the first time those surveyed had sex proved to be very high. 89 percent of 18-25 year olds and 80 percent of 26-35 year olds used contraception the first time they had sex, compared with 61 percent of 36-45 year olds.
Sex education has proved to have an effect on this generation, with 70 percent saying the instruction was helpful in their adult relationships.
With an increase in sexual education, parents have taken a steady decline in their influence on their children's sexual lives. In 2003, 72 percent of parents played a role in sexual education, while in 2010’s report only 10 percent did.
Professor Hannah McGee of the Royal College of Surgeons was rather pleased with the new findings of this modern young generation. Said McGee, "These are very positive findings, particularly at a time when teenagers and young people are under increased pressure to become sexually active.”
Despite a changed attitude toward contraception, the pregnancy rate among those under 25 years old has not changed. However, 66 percent of women today under 25 who were polled were more likely to regard a pregnancy as a “crisis” than in 2003 when it was only 52 percent.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.timbobdennehy | May 15, 2012, 06:02 PM EDT
they dont have to worry about pregnancy,when more than half of them are gay,they may not of been having penetrative sex,i would say they are all having oral lessons though.
CaptainCon | May 15, 2012, 04:59 AM EDT
Er- this is a survey? As with substance abuse and alcohol use surveys teenagers will go one of two ways with such surveys- they'll either brag that they drink eight pints nightly and have a threesome or will elect for the judicious answers that they wouldn't indulge in anything like that depending on whether they know the survey information is anonymised or likely to lead to trouble. If news organisations are going to present survey results as fact then they should really know something about the known research issues around self-reported surveys of teenagers. This is really dodgy journalism and an article constructed out of a survey without caveats. It is a part of the culture now in journalism pretending that the press-release or self-reported survey results are 'real' and a population wide fact. At the very least it is a lazy piece of conclusion based on what is quite likely to be s small sample extrapolated across the entire teenage cohort in the population and is quite easily confounded by the statistics on teenage pregnancies, STDs and so on. Rubbish.
Murph46 | May 14, 2012, 10:40 PM EDT
JBRAFTREE-A wonder ya have time to post here,good job lad! And of course the Mrs.as well.Pictures? Ya divil!
JBRAFTREE | May 14, 2012, 09:01 PM EDT
Murph, I was singlehandedly responsible for two sets of two-headed twins.
Murph46 | May 14, 2012, 04:03 PM EDT
Well JBRAFTREE-We all know about YOUR kind!
JBRAFTREE | May 14, 2012, 03:06 PM EDT
Good on them!! Didn't work well for me though.
ciaradexy | May 14, 2012, 12:36 PM EDT
Kids are valuing themselves more. Nothing to do with religion.
Murph46 | May 14, 2012, 11:57 AM EDT
Beginning of the -Unsexual Revolution!
hermitTalker | May 14, 2012, 11:51 AM EDT
Praise The Lord. May the numbers increase for those who choose chastity and that the shift would iclude not using pills and barriers for sex in favour of chastity. It will bring better marriages, less disease and much more mature citizens. I see some of the comments on different sites and hear reports of excessive use of alcohol in Ireland and the UK, now the Perth citizens are giving the immigrants from Ireland a bad name. That does not mix well with petrol or rajing body juices. The end result is filling graveyards and hospital beds and costing the health services a lot of badly needed cash. Did I mention ruined lives?
SeamusMor | May 14, 2012, 11:26 AM EDT
Abstinence prevents STD's like AIDS. It's better to be dying for it than dying from it!
JimmieM | May 14, 2012, 09:34 AM EDT
Well it is one smart thing that can be done to give yourself some more control over how your life will go.