The secret is out: College kids like a lot of sex. According to Playboy's most recent college sex poll, that is.
For two weeks this summer, Playboy surveyed more than 5,000 male and female college students from across the country on its Web site for the magazine's October issue on topics ranging from number of sexual partners to masturbation habits.
"I think the media has portrayed this generation as a wild, rampant, orgy-style society," said Playboy associate editor Rocky Rakovic.
Although some of the poll's results seemed to shock some UF students, including the Playboy statistic that revealed 41 percent of those surveyed knew a person who slept with a professor or teacher's assistant, other results were met with little concern.
"I'm overall not surprised by the statistics," said freshman Tyler McCann. "I don't know, I expect people to do these things."
McCann was particularly surprised to hear that nearly half of those who took the poll admitted to having anal sex at least once.
"I think it would have been interesting if more of the questions had been separated by sex," he said.
Other students agreed with McCann's concerns with the sampling methods.
"You're sampling the people who are already on Playboy to begin with, so it's not as random as it could be," said freshman Courtney Enright, pointing to the magazine's statistic that recorded 49 percent of respondents had 'sexted' in their lifetime. "I think that number isn't realistic or maybe we're just really naïve."
'Sexting' is the act of sending sexually explicit text or picture messages via cell phone.
"I couldn't name anyone that's 'sexted' before," said freshman Kim Demkovich. "I think that number's a little high."
Rakovic, a 2004 graduate of Seton Hall University, agreed with poll readers who questioned the validity of the survey's results.
"There is a bit of an honor system going on for sure," he said. "But there's no reason to taint the results."
According to Rakovic, only 20 percent of respondents were female and no qualifying questions based on race, sexual orientation or religion were asked.
Some questions were strictly directed to a specific gender, however.
Women respondents to the poll were asked to answer if they had ever taken a "walk of shame," which refers to a woman walking past a group of strangers after having participated in some form of sexual activity.
Forty-seven percent of female respondents admitted they had.
Even if they didn't believe all of the results, the poll provided a few laughs for readers.
"Yeah, well, 9 percent of people lied," Brett Wager, 22, said as he laughed about the magazine's statistic that reported 9 percent of respondents did not masturbate. "I think some people are trying to be cooler than they really are. I mean, almost 30 percent of people looking at porn in class? I have never seen that," Wager said.
Wager's observation points to an interesting technological trend in Playboy's data. More respondents than ever, according to Rakovic, seem to be participating in new technologically enhanced sex methods.
The magazine's poll reported 25 percent met a sex partner online and 26 percent admitted to using a webcam for sex. Perhaps more shocking to poll readers was the statistic that reported more than one-third admitted to being naked in a picture on someone's cell phone.
"Technology and sex seem to go hand in hand," Rakovic said. "It's a human need that drives us. [People] will find a way to make sex more exciting. It used to be having sex in the back of your car, but soon it will be in the back of your hovercraft."
Rakovic added that the poll's results didn't totally signify a sexually driven generation. Nearly one-fifth of respondents recorded they were virgins, for example.
"One of the results I was most happy to see was with 73 percent saying they've been on a traditional 1950s movie-and-dinner date," he said.
Some results stood out to Rakovic as a validation of the poll's authenticity.
"The results are true. Twenty-six percent of guys don't care how a girl is groomed. Well, that's probably true. Most guys when they see a girl's vagina, whether it's groomed, dyed yellow or a full bush, most guys are just happy to see a vagina," Rakovic said.
The complete results of Playboy's 2009 college sex survey are in the magazine's October edition, which is available now.
