00Oct18a Survey about teen's sexuality

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Survey indicates children more sexually active

One in every three third-year high school students has had sex, and comics and videotapes are the main sources of information on sex for teenagers, according to a survey conducted by the Japanese Association for Sex Education (JASE).

JASE has been conducting the survey, the largest of its kind, since 1974 to examine the sexual behavior of children and how they obtain information about sex. "We cannot simply tell teenagers not to have sex just because they are minors," said Yuki Tanomura, a JASE director.

The latest survey, the association's fifth, was conducted from November last year to January this year and covered about 5,500 children from 58 middle and high schools and universities across the nation.

The percentage of sexually active teenagers has been increasing steadily over the past 25 years.

The survey indicated a significant increase in the percentage of high school boys who claim to be sexually active: 26.5 percent of all high school boys and 38.9 percent of third-year high school boys said they had had sex, up 12.1 percentage points and 15 percentage points, respectively, from the previous survey conducted in 1993.

Meanwhile, the percentage of sexually active high school girls is lower than their male counterparts: 23.7 percent of all high school girls and 32.9 percent of third-year high school girls said they had had sex, up eight percentage points and 8.2 percentage points, respectively, from the previous survey.

Of all respondents, 51.5 percent of boys and 47.6 of girls said they always used contraception during sex. Condoms were the most popular means of contraception.

According to the survey, comics and videotapes were presumed to be used as sources of information on contraception.

The proportion of sexually active teens was particularly high among owners of cellular phones and motorcycles and those who had part-time jobs, the survey found.