Romance rules the scene for teenagers, says report

Two-thirds of Australia’s 16 and 17-year-olds say they’ve been involved in a romantic relationship.

Innocent teen romance is alive and well, with two-thirds of Aust­ralia’s 16 and 17-year-olds saying they’ve been involved in a romantic relationship but only one-third reporting having had sex.

The latest Growing Up in Aust­ralia Longitudinal Study of Australian Children report also finds the vast majority of 14 to 15-year-olds say they are attracted to the opposite sex (93 per cent of boys and 85 per cent of girls), with about 4 per cent of each gender saying they were attracted to the same sex or both boys and girls.

Australian Institute of Family Studies director Anne Hollonds said the research showed that young people were interested in developing romantic relationships but might not become sexual­ly active until later.

“By the age of 16 to 17, 67 per cent of boys and 62 per cent of girls reported having had at least one relationship … (and) the vast majority considered it a committed and exclusive relationship,” Ms Hollonds said. “While most teenagers report­ed not having had sex at the age of 16-17 (68 per cent), 7 per cent of boys and 6 per cent of girls report­ed having sex for the first time at age 14 or ­younger. There were no significant difference­s in the age that boys and girls had sex for the first time.’’

The LSAC study, which began tracking the progress of 10,000 young people in Australia in 2003, found that among the 16 to 17-year-olds who reported having a boyfrien­d or girlfriend, 51 per cent reported regularly staying over at each other’s home.

The study was not all flowers and chocolates, with almost half of all girls aged 16-17 and one-third of boys reporting having ­experienced some form of unwanted­ sexual behaviours in the past 12 months.

Report author Diana Warren said this included being sent sexual­ pictures, overhearing sexual­ly explicit remarks or being touched in a way that embarrassed or upset them.

Overall, boys reported viewing pornography far more than girls.