Crash courses in sex ed 101 might be paying off, according to a study released earlier this month by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study indicated the number of people ages 15 to 24 who had not yet had sex increased from 22 to 28 percent during the last decade.
According to the Associated Press, researchers surveyed about 5,300 people.
George Gibbs, program manager for STD control at the Alachua County Health Department, said he would not write off college campuses as being less promiscuous, but he would consider the college student population more informed than other groups.
In fact, increased education could be one reason for the decrease in sexual activity among the age group, as it causes students to re-evaluate their sex lives, Gibbs said.
In Alachua County, STD and teen pregnancy rates have declined since 2006, Gibbs said.
The ACHD records the number of local STD cases every month, with the help of the Florida Department of Health, the Division of Disease Control and the Bureau of STD files.
From 2009 to 2010, the number of recorded syphilis cases locally decreased by 20 percent. In the same period, the number of chlamydia outbreaks fell by 6 percent.
"At the University of Florida, there are many students who are still sexually active," Gibbs said, "but STDs and other issues are not a major problem here."
Despite previous beliefs about sex lives in college, some students are not surprised by the study's results.
Jessie Ervolino, 21, said she thinks American culture has emphasized chastity more so now than before. Plus, she said, past notions of the college experience have changed.
"That classic, liberal image of college from the 1980s has evolved," she said.
Samantha Evans, sexual health coordinator with GatorWell Health Promotion Services, said she is not sure how statistically significant the study's results are, but she said the increase in sexual abstinence is notable.
The Spring 2010 Health Gators Student Survey, which the organization conducts every two years, revealed that about 29 percent of students reported having no sexual partners in the year prior to the survey, results some people may find surprising, Evans said.
GatorWell Promotions Services conducts educational outreach programs to encourage students to explore their sexual values and increase their knowledge.
In 2009 and 2010, the GatorWell Annual Report showed that more than 250 students took advantage of its services, ranging from free contraceptives to weekly HIV and STD testing.
Evans said UF is ahead of other universities in this respect.
"People are paying attention more to what the possible negative outcomes can be in having unprotected sex," she said. "They are choosing not to put themselves at as much risk as they have maybe done in the past."
