Good News! Trends in Teen Sex are Improving

The National Youth Risk Behavior Survey was released recently and it actually showed some positive trends in sexual behavior among teens. The survey monitors health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. The data is representative of 9th through 12th grade students.

The survey collects information every two years on all sorts of topics: alcohol use, tobacco use, dietary behaviors, etc. But I wanted to see what the survey had to say about sexual behaviors specifically. While the results didn't give me warm fuzzies, overall I was encouraged by what appears to be a positive shift in teen sexual behavior over the past 15 years.

Here are some of the results:

• The overall percentage of teens that have ever had intercourse dropped over 7% from 54.1% to 46.8%
• The overall percentage of teens that were currently sexually active dropped nearly 4% from 37.5% to 33.9%

For the full survey visit http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm.

I was encouraged by these statistics, not because it reflects a model of sexual health and responsibility among Amercian teenagers, but rather it shows there might just be an awakening among our youth to an acceptance of the truth. As the baby boomer generation reaps the consequences of the sexual revolution of the 60's and 70's, and as Generation X-er's are faced with the realities of AIDS and other repercussions of sexual promiscuity, a whole new generation of children is seeing the devastation of sexual sin and making choices to prevent those same consequences in their own lives. And this encourages me.

While it still saddens me to see that nearly half of all teenagers have engaged in intercourse, and over one third are currently sexually active, I know that hope for a new sexual revolution is present. More and more men and women are healing from the wounds of sexual addiction and passing along this torch of hope to others. And kids are watching. So, let us be diligent in passing along a legacy of truth, freedom, and purity - one person at a time.

After all, Jesus changed the world with just a handful of regular guys...