More than half of America's teenagers 15 to 19 years old have engaged in oral sex -- including one in four who have never had actual intercourse, concluded a report released by the National Center for Health Statistics.
The report, released last week, also found that the majority of these teens are not using protection. Only nine percent reported using a condom the last time they had oral sex.
These statistics are an accurate reflection of the situation at Penn, said Director of Health Education Susan Villari.
Penn's surveys have found that "the majority of students are having unprotected oral sex and that oral sex is not perceived as being sex. It's perceived as sort of intercourse -- it is hooking up, but not having sex per se," she said.
Jeff Crusey, a Wharton senior, said students don't often talk about practicing protected oral sex, much less using protection.
"I personally don't know anybody that does practice safe oral sex," he said. "And I know a lot of people."
Nationally, the findings mean that over 2 million teens -- without engaging in intercourse -- are putting themselves at risk for sexually transmitted infections, said Jennifer Manlove, a senior research associate at Child Trends, a Washington-based organization that released an analysis of the report. Oral sex has been linked to gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, herpes and in some cases, HIV.
"The biggest issue here is a public health issue," Manlove said. The U.S. has one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases among industrialized nations and "if a large proportion of teens are engaging in oral sex unprotected, then that could be contributing to our high rates."
Penn's health education department works to increase awareness of sexual health issues through a Web site, workshops and campaigns. Still, students' behavior shows little concern for sexually transmitted infections, she said.
"I don't know whether they're having the information and choosing not to use it, or whether they don't have the information," Villari said. "The behavior is such that they're not protecting themselves."
Both Manlove and Villari said that the recent nationwide emphasis on abstinence could be one reason why teens might engage in oral sex while avoiding intercourse.
Teens "might see oral sex as an alternative, as a way to prevent pregnancy," Manlove said. "They might see it as a safer sex than sexual intercourse. They might see it as a way to maintain their technical virginity."
Abstinence-based education just encourages people to be abstinent without providing more specific information, Villari said.
The national report included results from the federal government's most comprehensive survey on sexual behavior, the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. This was the first nationally representative survey that included data on oral sex among both male and female teens.
"In the past we've had to rely on small samples of polling data reports and teen reports on what other kids are doing," Manlove said. "There have been so many stories about teens engaging in oral sex, but the fact that so many of the teens had not had sexual intercourse but are engaging in oral sex -- that seems high to me."
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