Holding hands and holding out: only half of high school students engage in sexual activity	Photo by Kylene Vessel

When teens watch their favorite TV shows, chances are there’s sex involved. In 2003, 83 percent of the storylines on the top twenty shows contained sexual content, according to Focus Adolescent Services.

And of those shows, 20 percent featured people having sex.

From movies, to music, to the hallways at school, it is the focus of many conversations says Barb Cizek, a high school counselor from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

High school years involve games, dances, and friends, but they also include the hallways filled with wild rumors about the latest teen scandal.  Myths become fact in ten seconds flat. To make the right decision about engaging in sexual activity make sure you know the real facts. 

Has anyone told you can’t get pregnant the first time you have sex?  Well, guess what, you can. In the interest in blowing this and other myths out of the water, let’s tackle some common myths about sex.

 Everyone in high school is having sex.  

According to The Guttmacher Institute, more than half of the teenagers in the nation are virgins until they are at least seventeen years of age. So yes, there is a large percentage of teenagers engaging in sexual activity, but also the same large percentage that decides not to. 

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 56.5 percent of Michigan, 63.2 percent of Wisconsin, 66.3 percent of Minnesota and 62 percent of Illinois high school students haven’t had sexual intercourse.

I know the people I’m having sex with, so condoms are not necessary.  

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) make using condoms a no-brainer. STDs are diseases that can be spread through having sexual intercourse or oral sex. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in four sexually active teens get an STD every year. Some common STD’s are gonorrhea, Chlamydia, herpes, and AIDS. Many are contracting these STDs because they are hard to detect. People are unknowingly passing these diseases to their partners. CDC figures indicate that 80 percent of infected teens don’t even know they have an STD.  According to the American Academy of Family Physicians STDs can cause minor problems such as swollen glands, unexplained fatigue, sores and warts in the genital areas.

Condoms are the best way to protect against an STD. They are cheap and easily accessible. 

For more information about condoms and other forms of contraceptives, go to WebMD: Sexual Health Information.

 It wasn’t rape because he is my friend or boyfriend. 

 Rape is forced sexual intercourse through physical force, threats or psychological coercion. Psychological coercion is when a substance like alcohol or drugs is used to affect a person’s level of coherence. Whether you are involved with this person or not, it is still rape. 

Just because two people are in a relationship, does not give someone the right or the excuse to rape the other. 

A statistic from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) says 44 percent of all rape victims are under the age of eighteen. 

If you or someone you know has been in this type of situation, contact someone for help. For more information or for hotline numbers go to: Rape Abuse and Incest National Network.

Because we are together, we should have sex. 

 Emily Miethke, a junior at Onalaska High School in Onalaska, Wisconsin, said a friend of hers regrets having sex with her older boyfriend. 

Miethke said, “She felt it had to be done.” 

Her friend wasn’t ready, but thought it was her obligation because they had been together for four months. Being in a relationship doesn’t mean someone is ready to have sex.  If two people feel ready for that next step, they should talk about it to make a decision together, Miethke said.