Study on Teens & Sex Also Reveals Info on Sexual Orientation

The January issue of the journal, Pediatrics and Child Health, just published a study on Canadian teens and sexuality. It found a lot of things. One was that both teens and their mothers overestimated the amount of other kids who were sexually active. Another was that a lot of teens had misinformation about sexually transmitted infections.

The same study also revealed that, "86 per cent of girls said they were attracted to boys only, while 87 per cent of boys said they were attracted to girls only." Doing the math that means that 13 to 14 percent of Canadian kids are attracted to the same gender to some degree.

Some of these teens might be questioning their sexual orientation. Others might be experimenting. Even so, 14 percent is pretty significant.

This is a big number when it stands alone, but it is also a bigger number than is usually associated with the GLBT population. The usual estimates have GLBT people making up 4 to 10 percent of the population.

I wonder if a similar study was done in the States if the numbers would be the same? Do you think it's possible that living in a country like Canada, where gay-marriage is legal, sends a message to teens that it's okay to be gay, and that this might be reflected in the survey findings?

Of course, there's no way to know for sure until someone does a parallel American study. So for now, it's just food for thought.