Female Adolescents and Dating
In December 2002 about 250 women ages thirteen to twenty-four were surveyed by 360 Youth, a young adult sales and marketing firm; the survey results were reported in the firm's e-newsletter, Beats Per Minute. One-third of girls ages thirteen to fifteen (33%) believed it was "extremely important" to have a boyfriend, compared with only 4% of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds. Of the young women ages thirteen to twenty-four who were dating, 48% said they looked for someone with whom they could have a serious relationship but they were not thinking of marriage. When asked to rate traits they looked for in a potential partner, respondents ranked personality and intelligence more highly than looks and athletic ability. On a five-point scale, personality (94%), sense of humor (90%), intelligence (77%), and common interests (72%) were ranked either "extremely" or "very" important. Popularity (64%) and athleticism (63%) were ranked "not very important" or "not important at all."
Sex
The Council of Economic Advisors' May 2000 report presented data on the link between regularly dining with parents and the likelihood of teens being sexually active. Among children ages twelve to fourteen, those who regularly ate dinner with a parent were about half as likely to have had sex as other teens their age, and young teens who were close to a parent were less than half as likely to have had sex. These patterns were similar for older teens. About 50% of teens ages fifteen to sixteen who did not regularly eat dinner with a parent had had sex, compared with 32% of teens in this age group who did regularly eat dinner with a parent. Among teens ages seventeen to nineteen, 68% who did not regularly eat dinner with a parent had had sex, compared with 49% who did eat dinner regularly with a parent.
The Teens Today 2003 survey found that 46.3% of teens had engaged in a sexual activity other than kissing, and 38% had had sexual intercourse. The most common motivations among teens for having sex were to strengthen dating relationships and to have fun, but younger teens also said they sometimes had sex in order to feel more grown up. According to The State of Our Nation's Youth, 2004–2005 (Horatio Alger Association, 2004), one in three teens said they struggled with pressure to engage in sexual activity before they felt ready.
Relationships
In 2003 a survey of teens was conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Seventeen magazine, and the results were reported in Research Alert. The survey found that traditional gender roles still defined teen relationships. Three-quarters (76%) of boys and 64% of girls said boys should ask for a first date. About two-thirds of both boys (69%) and girls (66%) said boys generally made the first move sexually. More than half (56%) of boys and 69% of girls said girls should be solely responsible for ensuring that some form of birth control was used. About 67% of boys and 72% of girls said girls were more likely to say "no" to sex.
Marriage and Children
The results of a Teen People poll of one thousand teens between the ages of thirteen and nineteen were reported in the February 1, 2003, issue of the magazine. The majority of teens believed monogamy was important, with girls more likely than boys to think it was "very important" (94% versus 89%) or "extremely important" (77% versus 65%). In general, survey respondents expected to have had an average of five sexual partners in the next ten years, and 92% planned to marry someday. Near-ly two-thirds (63%) of teens believed that ten years in the future they would have to worry about practicing safe sex, but the results varied by age. Younger teens (ages thirteen to fourteen) were more likely to think they would have to worry than older teens (ages seventeen to nineteen)—76% versus 49%. More girls (68%) than boys (61%) planned on having children some day, and 87% of boys said that it would be someone other than themselves who would perform most of the child-rearing chores.
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