Sex

This Week in Sex: Loud Lovemaking Lands British Woman in Jail

This week, teens get health and sex information on the web, condom demonstrations are allowed in New York City public school health classes, and a British woman serves time for being too loud.

This week, teens get health and sex information on the web, condom demonstrations are allowed in New York City public school health classes, and a British woman serves time for being too loud. Shutterstock

This Week in Sex is a weekly summary of news and research related to sexual behavior, sexuality education, contraception, STIs, and more.

Survey: Most Teens Get Information About Health and Sexuality Online

A survey of nearly 1,200 U.S. teens under 19 in late 2014 and early 2015 found that most young people turn to the Internet for information about health. Overall, 84 percent of teens surveyed said they had looked up health information online at least once, and 58 percent of them said they usually start by searching for a topic on Google.

The most popular topics were fitness and exercise, which 42 percent of teens reported looking up online. In addition, 36 percent of teens looked up information on diet and nutrition. Other commonly searched topics included stress, anxiety, sexually transmitted diseases, puberty, sleep, and depression or other mental health issues. While many students said they sought out the information for school assignments, 45 percent looked it up to take better care of themselves.

Teens appear to have some understanding of where to find higher quality information on the Internet. For example, only 14 percent trust “.com” sites compared to the 37 percent who trust “.edu” sites. Just 10 percent, for that matter, reported that they get “a lot” of health information from social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook. Still, teens did say they encountered negative health information while searching online, including information on how to be anorexic or bulimic; how to buy tobacco products; and how to get or make illegal drugs.

Dr. Jodi Gold, an assistant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study, said, “Teenagers are going to the Internet to cultivate healthier and safer lifestyles.” She added, “This study should reassure parents that their teenagers are using the Internet to learn how to be healthier, but parents need to have offline conversations about sex, sexuality, body image, sexual health, beauty and Photoshop.”

Condom Demonstrations Come to New York City Classrooms

New York City public high school students will now be able to see condom demonstrations in health class. Previously, a rule prohibited teachers from showing young people how to use a condom during class periods. Instead, students had to go to a “resource room,” to obtain sexual health information and condoms. They could also see a demonstration of how to use condoms given by a designated staff person.

A spokesperson for the city’s education department told the Wall Street Journal in an email:

Condom demonstrations have long been part of the high school condom availability programs and have been shown to increase rates of condom use. Allowing condom demonstrations in high school health education class will provide students with medically accurate information that can help them stay healthy.

Keep It Down in There: British Woman Gets Jail Sentence for Loud Sex

Gemma Wale, of Small Heath in Birmingham, England, was given a two-week prison sentence, in part for having sex so loudly that it woke her neighbors.

Based on media reports, Wale seems to have a history of loud behavior that caused her neighbors to complain frequently. In January, a judge placed her under an “antisocial behavior order,” which forbade her from making loud sex noises, playing loud music, shouting, swearing, making banging noises, stomping, and slamming doors.

The Birmingham City Council, which owns Wale’s home, took legal action against Wale when neighbors complained that she continued to make too much noise. In particular, one neighbor noted an early morning incident: “Gemma started screaming and shouting while having sex, which woke us up. This lasted 10 minutes.”

Judge Emma Kelly ruled that Wale had violated the order against her by being too loud during sex, in addition to arguing with her boyfriend, swearing at a neighbor, “banging around the house,” and “running around in the property.” Wale was sentenced to two weeks in prison for each of these offenses, for which she was to serve her terms concurrently.

The judge wrote: “I am satisfied that during the course of the early hours of 29 January 2015, at around 5am, the defendant was guilty of screaming and shouting whilst having sex at a level of noise which caused nuisance or annoyance to (a neighbour).”