Claire Hunt and Hannah Pursley

     In media, high school students are portrayed as being consumed with sex, often encouraging each other using the old stereotype: “Everybody’s doing it.” However, The Hereford Harbinger conducted a survey to test this theory, and learned that this stereotype is far from the truth, as only 29% of Hereford students have admitted to having sex. These findings appear to be a refreshing new insight into Hereford student’s lives, revealing that Hereford students are engaging in less sex than the national average of 50%.

     Perhaps these results are indicative of the fact that most students think that teenagers should wait until they’re 18 or older before engaging in sexual intercourse. 34.6% believe in waiting until they are 18 or older, while 47.6% think it’s okay to have sex in high school. 13.8% believe marriage is the ideal time to begin a sexual relationship.

     Not surprisingly, the percentage of freshmen that have admitted to having sex was the lowest at 12.9%. Sophomores show a slight increase in their sexual activity at 19.2%. As expected, Juniors has a significant increase in sexual activity from the Sophomores at 33%. The senior class exhibited the most promiscuity at 54%, nudging just above the national average.

     While only 29% of students are actually having sex, 44% of students believe 25-50% of students in high school are having sex, 40% believe 50-75% are having sex, and 8.4% believe 75-100% of their classmates are having sex.

     Surprisingly, more students feel comfortable talking to their doctor (67%) than parents (52%) about sex, and only 25% of students said they could talk to their guidance counselor about sex.

     Interestingly, 1400 surveys were distributed to students, yet only about 600 were returned. Some students reported that their homeroom teachers would not distribute and/or collect the surveys, underscoring the staff’s assumption that adults are often more uncomfortable talking about sex than the students