Oral sex and teenagers: a sexual health educator's perspective *.(SIECCAN NEWSLETTER)

On Saturday, February 7, 2004, a two-page article entitled Good Girls Do appeared in the Globe and Mail newspaper. The lead-in to the article read,

 
   School counsellors, researchers and 
   teenagers themselves say that girls as young 
   as 12 and 13 are performing oral sex--not 
   just the class 'bad girls', but students from 
   every walk of life. They don't consider it 
   real sex but an act almost as normal as ache 
   and cafeteria gossip. In today's oversexed 
   culture, reports Sara Wilson, popularity 
   commands a high price. (Wilson, S., Globe 
   and Mail, Feb. 7, 2004, F4-F5) 

The reporter interviewed a number of people who work with teens but the bulk of the article consisted of interviews with young people, primarily 12- to 15-year-old girls in Toronto. Most of the youth who were interviewed attended either private co-ed or women-only schools. The following Tuesday, Feb. 10, Margaret Wente, a columnist for the same newspaper, wrote a column in which she talked about Rainbow Clubs. This, she explained, is when girls line up to do blow jobs on a boy. Because they each wear a different shade of lipstick, he ends up with a colourful penis. This, she said, is happening across North America.

I have no idea if either of these articles was read or had any impact in other parts of Canada but they certainly increased anxiety and created teaching opportunities in my community. My colleagues and 1 got phone calls and speaking requests from alert or alarmed adults--parents, teachers, counsellors to name a few--who wondered what was really going on and what could be done about "it." The topic of teens and oral sex is raised by most groups I have worked with since the article appeared, whether they are child care providers who work with young children or people who work with adults with developmental disabilities. It has been some time since I have encountered a sexual topic that has generated so much passion, anxiety, uncertainty, and "heat."

All this interest has forced me to take a good look at my own knowledge, attitudes, values and feelings. Some of the things I …