Sex? Sexual intercourse? ‘Sneaky link’? US teens weigh in on evolving definitions and habits

High school students are having less sexual intercourse, studies show – but that does not mean they’re having less sex, a study has shown

Meaning of sex depends on who you ask; ‘There are probably a lot of teenagers who are like, ‘No, I’ve never had sexual intercourse, but I’ve had other kinds of sex’

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Demonstrators in favour of LGBTQ rights rally outside the US Supreme Court in Washington. File photo: AFP

Published: 4:00am, 13 May 2023Updated: 6:16am, 13 May 2023

Situationships. “Sneaky links.” The “talking stage”, the flirtatious getting-to-know-you phase, typically done via text, that can lead to a hookup.

High school students are having less sexual intercourse. That is what the studies say. But that does not mean they’re having less sex.

The language of young love and lust, and the actions behind it, are evolving. And the shift is not being adequately captured in national studies, experts say.

For years, studies have shown a decline in the rates of American high school students having sex.

That trend continued, not surprisingly, in the first years of the pandemic, according to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The study found that 30 per cent of teens in 2021 said they had ever had sex, down from 38 per cent in 2019 and a huge drop from three decades ago, when more than half of teens reported having sex.

The Associated Press took the findings to teenagers and experts around the country to ask for their interpretation. Parents: some of the answers may surprise you.