Teenagers are having sex at younger ages and are engaging in "riskier" sexual practices, but many "mask their promiscuity by redefining what sex is: only intercourse counts," the Detroit News reports in an examination of the "conflicting trends" in teenage sexuality. According to the CDC Youth Risk Survey, the number of Michigan high school students who reported ever having engaged in sexual intercourse fell from 54% in 1991 to 45% in 1999 -- a decline many observers have attributed to an increased emphasis on abstinence. However, the survey did not address teens' behavior with regard to anal sex and oral sex, two activities that teens commonly do not categorize as "having sex," the Detroit News reports. "A fair number [of teens] don't think of oral sex or anal sex as sex, which is frightening because (the result is) more interplay with different types of sexual activity between younger and older teens," Lynn Ponton, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco and author of "The Sex Lives of Teenagers," said. She added that most teens do not know that they can acquire sexually transmitted diseases through such contact. The Michigan Department of Community Health in 2000 reported 8,591 cases of chlamydia among youth under age 20, with 599 of those cases occurring in teens ages 14 and younger. Dr. Anju Sawni, an adolescent health specialist at Children's Hospital of Michigan, added that health professionals are seeing a growing trend in STD cases among teens aged 13 and 14.

Influences on Sexual Practices
The Detroit News reports that the influences on teens' sexual behavior are "hard to measure," but most observers agree that teens are inundated with sexual images in the media that may have an influence over their behavior and beliefs. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey released last month found that nearly 75% of 15- to 17-year-olds think that sexual imagery on television influences the behavior of their peers either "somewhat or a lot." However, only 25% of teens responded that their own behavior was influenced by such images. Sawni said that "[d]espite all the influences, studies show that the greatest influence in an adolescent's life is still parents or parental figures." She added that teens who are involved in school or church activities with adult mentors are also less likely to engage in sexual activity at an early age (Manolatos, Detroit News, 6/3).