Teen Sex Affecting School Grades and Behavior

There are some good news for the parents that are worried their
teenage children are starting their sex life early and that this will affect their school performance. A breaking new study shows that the teens that are in committed relationships do nor better or worse in school that those who don’t have sex.
But this is not the case with “hook up” teens. The study shows that those who have casual adventures do get lower grades than the ones who abstain.
This was presented at a meeting of the American Sociological Association in Atlanta and it challenged the assumption that the teens that have sex are doing poorly at school.
It’s not the sex itself that determines the grades, but the type of the sexual relationship they have with their partner. the ones in serious relationships are able to find emotional and social support in their partners, so their anxiety and stress level are reduced in life and at school.
Peggy Giordano, a sociologist for the Bowling Green State University that participated in the research says: “This should give some comfort to parents who may be concerned that their teenage son or daughter is dating.” Starting their sexual life early is: “not going to derail their educational trajectories.”
Only last year, half of the high school students admitted they have sexual intercourse and 14 % of them said they have had more than 4 partners, as a federal survey said this summer.Bill McCarthy, a sociologist at the University of California, Davis and Eric Grodsky, sociologist at the University of Minnesota have analyzed surveys and transcripts from schools for the biggest national follow up study on the teens that started in the 1994 – 1995 academic year. They say that things haven’t changed a lot on when teens are starting their sexual life or the attitudes toward this in this last decade.
They have examined the way the teens sexual behavior has affected their learning and controlled the factors that might influence this.
These are some of the findings:
Teens involved in serious relationships do not differ from their abstinent colleagues in terms of their grades average and the way in which they are attached to school or college expectations. They are also not more likely to have troubles at school, to be suspended or absent.
In comparison to virgins, teens who have casual sex are getting lower Grade Point Averages, are caring less about school and have more problems in school. Female teens who have flings get GPAs that are 0.16 points lower th compared to the abstinent teens. Male teens who have casual sex get GPAs that are 0.30 points lower than the one not having sex. Teens that hook up also are at greater risk of geting suspended or expelled and get lower odds of going to college.
The teens who do have sex, with or without a serious relationship, have a higher risk of being truant and dropping out compared to teens that don’t have sex. The study says the dropouts must be interpreted with caution because the numbers are small.
Grodsky said: “Having sex outside of a romantic relationship may exacerbate the stress youths experience, contributing to problems in school.”
The Family Research Council said the a statement that this study confirms the facts that the conservatives have advocated during the years about the negative consequences of the casual sex.
In addition, the council also said it “would not interpret less severe educational impacts on students involved in committed sexual relationships as a green light for comprehensive” sex education.
Julie Albright, sociologist the the University of Southern California disagrees. She said that it is time for the sexual education to “emphasize the importance of relationships and spell out the consequences of casual sex.”
This study shows that all teen sex is bad, Marie Harvey said, a professor for the public health at the Oregon State University. “The type of relationship really matters. When it comes to sexual behavior, it takes two to tango,” she said. She also added that its important to have safe sex in order to prevent teen pregnancy an the sexual transmitted diseases.11