College Sex Publications Increase, Actual Sex Declines

Posted by Kelly on Feb 25, 2008 - 08:30 pm

A trend amongst top tier colleges lately has been to publish sex columns and magazines.  I am included in this group of sex columnists, and I agree that it is not seen as a taboo or risky activity, but a potential resume builder.  Editors from sex magazines are not ashamed of what they write because it atmosphere is more open than it has been in the past.  Despite the growing number of sex-related publications, researchers have found that sexual activity has actually decreased.

The study also found that for male students, the number of sexual partners in the previous year has dropped, from 2.1 in 2000 to 1.6 in 2006. According to a Centers for Disease Control survey, the number of ninth- to 12th-grade students who have had sex dropped almost 10 percent, to fewer than half of respondents, between 1991 and 2005. And a 2001 study found that 39 percent of freshman college women were virgins, and 31 percent of those women still hadn’t had sex by senior year. In 2006, nearly half of Harvard undergrads who responded to a survey reported they had never had intercourse.

One possible reason for this trend is that people are more open about sex- the good and the bad.  Being aware of emotional and physical consequences of sex makes students more able to make informed decisions- possibly a reason for the decline of sexual activity.  By talking about this topic- whether in print, or in person- may boost confidence and good decision making skills.

Photo by Flickr user Kyle Kesselring, used under a creative commons license.