Success: More Teens Are Abstaining From Sex Than in the 90s

 High school students are having less sex and fewer sexual partners today than in the early 90s.

•  The CDC released a study on Wednesday, citing that in 2007 less than 48 percent of high school students had ever engaged in sexual intercourse, compared to 1991 when over 54 percent of students were no longer virgins. The same study also shows that while African American students saw a decrease in sexual intercourse from 82 percent in 1991 to 66 percent  in 2007, and white students saw a decrease from 50 percent to 44 percent over the past 16 years, Hispanic students saw only a 1 percent decrease (from 53 percent to 52 percent).
  
  There seems to be a correlation between the lack of change in Hispanic student sex rates and HIV/AIDS education. In 1991, 82 percent of Hispanic high school students were educated about HIV/AIDS, and in 2007 that number had only risen to 85 percent. Comparatively, African American high school students’ HIV/AIDS education rose from 84 percent in 1991, to 90 percent in 2007, and white students saw an increase from 83 percent to 91 percent.
  
  Additionally, those students who are having sexual intercourse are having a decreased number of sexual partners then they did in 1991 when19 percent of high school students admitted to having four or more sexual partners, compared to 2007, when that number dropped to 15 percent, according to the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Of those students not practicing abstinence 62 percent said they used a condom during their last sexual encounter, compared to only 46 percent in 1991.¹
  
  
  
  Nation′s High School Students Showing Overall Improvements in Health-Related Behaviors , 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, May 2007¹