With respect to the drinking, I think you're conflating two different statistics, and the numbers aren't all that large. 38% of those between 16 and 24 have had sex with a new partner (but not necessarily their first partner!) without a condom, and of that 38%, about 18% of those (about 7% of the total) have said it was because they were too drunk.

Having 7% of the population have a drunken first night with a new sex partner is unfortunate, but doesn't strike me as an epidemic.

ahh...i see. my bad.

i do think though that the hookup culture (at least from what i see) is heavily based on drinking...and that freaks me out.

What! You're telling me, that at 19....i was in a ~6% minority? Whoah!

But really, i'm not surprised by this graph either. Teens just used to get married at 16/17 back in the day.

Actually...why don't we show this to the people who want to restrict plan B sales to 18+?

From what I've heard from friends who've spent a year there, the UK is also pretty hellbent on drinking. There was a bar for every one of the schools on campus for at least one person. So maybe, with respect to that, 37% is not so bad.

I thought 16 was the age of consent in the UK--am I wrong?

EG:

The title is erroneous. It should say "nearly a third of those surveyed". If you run up the numbers from the graph, you see that those who started at 15 or earlier makes up about 29%.

Ah, I see. I should know better than to be bamboozled by stats.

Thanks, Zed.

having the privilege of losing the virginity whilst going to school in the UK and also being extremely drunk, i've got to say it's pretty typical - although this is purely anecdotal and obviously not statistical, but then again, sexual surveys can be statistically innacurate - that most the gals i knew lost their virginity drunk off their arses.

you can say that sex is always emotionally confusing, but you have to admit that you become better equipped to know who you are, what your preferences are and establish some sense of power in your sexuality in order to have sex that is better informed and more likely to be experienced in a positive way. Hell i'm not saying you can't experience sex positively when you're 14, but when you're younger you are much more likely to make reckless choices for lack of experience -

however, i'm not saying the solution to the percentage of underage drunk girls giving it up is to condemn them - but rather to make it more likely that they will make healthy, self-respecting decisions with education, friendship, etc.

or something. who knows.

One more good reason to beat out the abstinence textbooks with sticks and start teaching proper condom usage.

Good point about the Plan B and 18+, BTW.

I don't see what the beef is, the article is simply highlighting the need for education.

That's the most annoying thing about this site, everything is viewed/skewed from an American persective.

I am UK gal, and yes, the age of consent is 16 here. There is a HUGE binge drinking culture in the UK, much much more than in other parts of Europe. I live in Scotland and not that long ago an 11yr old had a baby. She got pregnant on a one night stand with a 15 year old when drunk. I think the drinking culture is a huge part of Brits mating ritual, and I think young girls feel disempowered to ask their partners to wear condoms, hence the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe. Most of my friends lost their virginity around 14-17, it is incredibly unusual to meet anyone who is a virgin over the age of 17.

Um... How is it "annoying" or, for that matter, "skewed from an American perspective" to say that young people being smashed and having sex is a bit sad??

Sorry, but I'm American. I love sex ans I don't mind a good drink now and then, but I prefer to be sober while sexing. Sober has good side effects: you remember the sex, the guy's name, and (most importantly) to use the condom.

Anyway, this is like the third time this month someone has angrily accused feministing of being Americentric. Which is fine, but the worst accusation leveled against it is that it's somehow unfairly against binge drinking. Gosh.

I agree, EJ. I know we've disagreed about drinking in the past, and I don't see anything wrong with people, even teenagers, having a drink or two to loosen up and relax (depending on personal capacity of course)--I had a couple friends in high school who deliberately had one or two drinks with their boyfriends the night they planned to have sex for the first time, because they knew they would have first-time jitters. But they didn't get smashed to the point of oblivion, and they didn't use drinking as an excuse not to use condoms. Binge drinking is a bad idea in many ways, not using condoms is an even worse one, in my opinion. If that marks me or the site out as American...well, I can think of worse things.

Thanks, EG. :)

The more I think about it, the more I think that "binge" ANYTHING is, by definition, fairly bad for you. Binge smoking causes lung damage, binge drinking hurts your liver, and binge eating has a slew of physical and emotional problems accompanying it.

Generally, I'm an "in moderation" kind of person - which is to say that I think moderation is healthy, but not that I always achieve that goal.

Certainly, being so drunk that you can't figure out the condom rings of serious problems. That's pretty damn drunk, I'd think!

"Um... How is it "annoying" or, for that matter, "skewed from an American perspective" to say that young people being smashed and having sex is a bit sad??"

EJ: I was referring to Jessica's comment - "Honestly, when I see these studies I don’t get what the big deal is. Kids have sex--they always have, they always will. And who cares?"

Much like "ellie", our culture has similar problems (binge drinking) and we are long over the fact that teenagers engage in sexual activities (got over it decades ago), hence my comment on the "American perspective" ... our concerns are entirely different, it's not the activity itself that is of concern, as I think this article was trying to highlight, it's about ensuring that they are equipped with appropriate tools/skills/information to cope with the transition without undue/unnecessary trauma.

When I refer to the "American perpective", I am addressing comments made here in reference to overseas articles/studies/news events etc which are flavoured by the American experience ... which is unique to America. I have tried/failed to explain that our cultures are quite different, ergo our attitudes to sex, contraception, abortion, drinking, religion, public health etc are so very far removed that a little more thought should go into comment.

There seems to be this assumption: looks like, sounds like ... is. Sorry, but it isn't.

Well, the study was at least partly covered by the BBC. I believe that stands for _British_ Broadcasting Company.

So, uh, how is this an American-skewed article, again? :)

In continuation:

As for your gripe that the comments here are "flavoured by the American experience"...

...I'll post the sign warning everyone to leave their cultural life experiences at the door. They can leave them in the Feministing.com coatroom. ;)

Seriously, you seem to be complaining that the posters here are predominantly American. So, dude!, go get some friends and tell them about this ultra-cool site. Then they'll be fewer Americans, percentage-wise.

Until then, don't be surprised if we bring an American perspective to a British study. It's kind of hard to stop being American and start being, say, Indonesian at the drop of a hat.

PS One writer has constantly stated that she feels the whole binge drinking comment is badly motivated. Which is fine when commenting on the American experience, just don't apply it to overseas studies.

Our teenagers (14-21) don't just have a drink or two, more like gallons of the stuff ... they get fucking smashed ... you know, alcohol poisoning. We have younger drinking ages and our teenagers are not discouraged from drinking, we are just trying to educate them to the long-term damage that is caused by "binge drinking" distinct from regular social drinking. By "binge" we mean volume and lots of it.

Re Americentric. The reason we get angry, nobody listens the first 2 dozen times we try to say ... don't speak on our behalf ... Americans cannot be informed, you just knee-jerk. You don't listen when we try to explain we are not like you. Not our history, our laws, our politics, our social conscious ... nothing resembles your experience.

Americans cannot be informed, you just knee-jerk.

An extremely well-informed opinion. Not knee-jerky at all.

Seriously - and I'll say this to all racists I meet online - fuck off. I'm sick of being told that all Americans are stupid, uninformed idiots. Come on here and tell me that I can't be informed because of my culture or color? That makes you a racist by any definition and I have no time to waste on you.

You don't listen when we try to explain we are not like you.

I love this part.

I'll say it slowly.

We.

Don't.

Care.

We came on here to discuss how we each individually feel about sex and binge drinking. The political, economic, and social history of Oz, or whatever fantasy land you hail from doesn't matter to this discussion. It's not about YOU or your country - it's about how each of us feel about sex and drinking. Period.

Oh EJ I give up! "So, uh, how is this an American-skewed article, again? :)"

Jessica's comment was skewed, not the blooming article, which was obviously English & the entire reason for my comment.

"It's not about YOU or your country - it's about how each of us feel about sex and drinking. Period."

Absolute bullshit ... commenting on other countries and attitudes within those countries.

Actually, Mr. Well Informed, the study is not the basis of any one country, as I was trying to point out.

Unless MTV and Durex are solely British.

It's not an American article, because the BBC participated. It's not a British article because of the Americans involved.

It's amazing how people can work together when they stop believe they are so much better than "insert race here".

"Respondents in Wales and south west England tended to lose their virginity earlier, while Londoners and people from Northern Ireland lost it later than the average."

Very American ... of course you discuss the "American perspective" here. But it is quite skewed to evaluate overseas experiences by American ... which happens time and time again, vs is fine. What one can do of course, is contribute ones own experience without "bashing" the article and its relevance to that particular society - eg. "Honestly, when I see these studies I don’t get what the big deal is. Kids have sex--they always have, they always will. And who cares?"

Not True, I don't think the point of view expressed here is at all Americentric (and in case you think of attacking me ad hominem, let me just say I've only lived in the US since the 4th of this month). Jessica's "and who cares?" comment could come from the perspective of someone who doesn't care about studies outside the US; but it could also come from the perspective of someone who doesn't think it's a big deal that kids have sex. Accusations of Americentrism require serious evidence for the former, which you don't produce.

Does anyone here know about drink-'n-sex, or about the age of losing virginity, in countries other than the UK? I know that in Canada the median age is 14.1 for males and 14.5 for females (my source is a governmental website about the age of consent, which among other things explains why Canada's age of consent is 14 and not 16), but that's all. I'm going to sound like a broken record to some of the regulars here, but an international comparison could be very fruitful.