Sexual Activity and Education

In 2009, 46.0 percent of high school students reported having had sexual intercourse at least once, while the remaining 54.0 percent were abstinent. Sexual activity increased with grade level: 31.6 percent of 9th grade students reported having had sexual intercourse, compared to 40.9 percent of 10th graders, 53.0 percent 11th graders, and 62.3 percent of 12th graders. No significant difference was observed between males and females with respect to the proportion who reported sexual activity within each grade level. However, males are significantly more likely to report having had sexual intercourse for the first time before age 13 than females.

Contraceptive use also varies significantly by sex. Overall, 68.6 percent of males and 53.9 percent of females reported condom use at last intercourse. Use of a hormonal contraceptive (by self or partner) was less common than condom use and was reported by 18.3 percent of males and 27.4 percent of females. Overall, fewer than 9 percent of adolescents used both a condom and a form of hormonal contraception during last sexual intercourse.

According to data from the National Survey of Family Growth, 96 percent of females and 97 percent of males received some form of formal sex education before the age of 18.¹ This includes information on topics such as how to say no to sex, methods of birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, and/or how to prevent HIV/AIDS. By individual topic, formal sex education on sexually transmitted diseases was the most prevalent (92 percent of males and 93 percent of females), while methods of birth control was the least common (62 percent of males and 70 percent of females).

1 Martinez G, Abma J, Copen C. Educating teenagers about sex in the United States. NCHS data brief, no 44. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2010.

This image is described in the Data section.

This image is described in the Data section.