Condom use is down among sexually active teens and young adults. The decline in condom use is due to a combination of medical advancements like long-term birth control options and drugs that prevent sexually transmitted infections, a fading fear of contracting HIV and widely varying levels of sex ed

Fewer young people are having sex, but the teens and young adults who are sexually active aren’t using condoms as regularly, if at all. And people ages 15 to 24 made up half of new chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis cases in 2022.

The downward trend in condom usage is due to a few things: medical advancements like long-term birth control options and drugs that prevent sexually transmitted infections; a fading fear of contracting HIV; and widely varying degrees of sex education in high schools.

Is this the end of condoms? Not exactly. But it does have some public health experts thinking about how to help younger generations have safe sex, be aware of their options — condoms included — and get tested for STIs regularly.

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
      40·
      2 months ago

      No one could have predicted it. It was completely out of left field. Unheard of. I’m saying that this is unprecedented. We couldn’t have known! Lé sigh.

    • MeatPilot@lemmy.worldEnglish
      34·
      2 months ago

      Back when they used to teach Sex Ed. All of us (boys and girls) had to try to put a condom on a banana. The kicker was we were wearing goggles with vaseline smeared on the lens and had thick rubber gloves on.

      This was to simulate trying to put on a condom well under the influence.

      • Valmond@lemmy.world
        17·
        2 months ago

        Just do it with the mouth 👄 😺

        Crazy stuff though to force you to do that, good but crazy.

      • Flocklesscrow@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        2 months ago

        Well that’s not effective training at all. They should have gotten you drunk and simulated a wedding reception.

  • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    108·
    2 months ago

    Unpopular opinion: the complete lack of anyone addressing reduced sensation that comes with condom use when talking to teens is also a contributing factor. I have literally never been able to have an orgasm with a condom on. The first time I had sex, the girl kept asking me if I was gay because I kept losing my erection to the weird glove like sensation on my dick.

    I ended up tackling this problem by being careful and being in a string of committed relationships, but I thought there was something wrong with me until stories on the internet made it clear that I wasn’t the only one.

    So if I was a modern teen, and knew things could mostly be solved with antibiotics, and had death grip from an adolescence on pornography, AND discovered I couldn’t keep it up when wrapped…then I probably wouldn’t use them either.

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
      64·
      2 months ago

      Maybe another myth can be cleared out too, the one of “one size fits all”. Curiously it is totally okay to have smaller condoms, but mot bigger…

      Too small condoms give exactly the effect you’re describing, IMO.

      • Rebels_Droppin@lemmy.world
        23·
        2 months ago

        Absolutely, all store brand condoms are too small for me. My girlfriend ordered me “myone” brand custom condoms and sex was suddenly enjoyable again. Take some measurements fellas and get condoms that fit.

        • Valmond@lemmy.world
          6·
          2 months ago

          The 64 and 69 (mm) from Condomerie in Amsterdam gets my recommendation (if durex xxl and that similar american magnum xxl? are too small) they ship worldwide.

      • JackFrostNCola@lemmy.worldEnglish
        9·
        2 months ago

        This was my exact problem and after like a decade i read something and had the ‘oh shit, they mean width not length in size’, being an ‘modest average’ length i never considered buying the larger sizes.
        I hope someone reads this comments and also actually checks to see if the same oversight is self-sabotaging their enjoyment.

    • ABCDE@lemmy.world
      31·
      2 months ago

      For me it was the opposite, I needed the dulling to go a reasonable amount of time, but that wasn’t addressed either. There are ultra thin condoms, and lubing up before bagging up can help.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      25·
      2 months ago

      Were you trying the good kind or the cheap ones they give out for free at health centers? I started with the free ones and they were terrible. I tried the Trojan sample packs and found that I didn’t even notice the condom any more. One time I actually had to stop and make sure it didn’t break because it literally felt like it wasn’t even there!

      I still have trouble maintaining when I stop to even put the condom on, but that’s a separate issue.

    • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
      17·
      2 months ago

      Sure but do realize you are an outlier. In general teens are More likely to orgasm prematurely and a thin modern condom is a relatively minor sensory barrier and can improve the duration of sexual encounters

      • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        2 months ago

        A lot of teens (and adults)also masturbate to the point that they are desensitized to an insane degree. So they don’t get the full “experience”.

    • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      12·
      2 months ago

      I had the same problem when I was younger. I then ordered a pack of most brands out there to find what worked for me. I landed on Crown. Even then, it’s still not as good. I have since had a vasectomy and only use condoms to keep my toys safe.

      But yeah, none of this is taught to teens. Education in america is a fucking joke.

    • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
      12·
      2 months ago

      I just stopped making PI* the main course of my sexual banquette. There’s much better ways to spend time with a sexy person.

    • eldavi@lemmy.ml
      11·
      2 months ago

      it’s lack of sensation for me since i’m uncircumcised and the 2 layers when i wear a condom guarantees no sensation.

      i suspect that you don’t hear much about this subject because it’s the Achilles heals of condoms where nothing will help it and people don’t engage unless they think they have something that can help.

    • eran_morad@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 months ago

      Similar experience, if less severe. I was able to use rubbers at least some of the time, but they went the hell away as soon as the relationship became serious.

      One thing that helped was making sure the damn thing was the right size. For all you youngins reading.

  • beepnoise@piefed.socialEnglish
    49·
    2 months ago

    I swear between vaccines and this, it’s like we’ve collectively gone backwards.

    I do note this is an article based in US but I do wonder if it applies across the world - in the UK, chlamydia and gonorrhoea has gone up (link) with the bullet point at the end:

    the impact of STIs remains greatest in young people aged 15 to 24 years; GBMSM; and some minority ethnic groups

    For goodness sakes, lads! Put a rubber on it!!

  • Drusas@fedia.io
    39·
    2 months ago

    Same is true of the elderly. There’s been a huge spike in STIs in retirement homes.

      • Drusas@fedia.io
        1·
        1 month ago

        I didn’t even know that was a thing. That should be better advertised, or even better, have awareness of it spread through PCPs.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      2 months ago

      For one thing, modern hiv treatments are sufficient to let people live basically normal lives (and more or less stops one from transmitting to sexual partners.)

      It’s basically now “just” a chronic condition that requires managing, not a death sentence.

      • scoobford@lemmy.zip
        3·
        2 months ago

        Also, you can take PrEP to avoid catching it in the first place.

        Which for the record, you absolutely should do if you’re queer, your partner is queer, or if you engage in high risk behaviors. Asymptomatic HIV is a scary thing.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      12·
      2 months ago

      Antibiotic-resistant strains of chlamydia have been spreading, actually.

    • hopesdead@startrek.website
      11·
      2 months ago

      I would immediately cite anti-LGBTQIA+ sentimentality as the contributing factor. While lots of people understand that homosexuals aren’t the only people who can contract the infection, I’m sure the treatments being aimed primarily at homosexuals as the highest risk group, will make certain people unwilling to believe it is a potential risk.

      It sucks that safe sex isn’t a thing being discussed. However it does feel like anti-abortion laws would be unnecessary if teens had access to sought information. I’m sure with the advent of Internet based pornography, teens are being influenced more by that with no educational tools to say that people in pornography (I am sure not everyone across the industry follows health guidelines but for the “professionals” you’d hope they do) have access to testing and other health related care.

      If we are going to be cynical about this, one reason I suspect sex education is no longer being thought would be to fall inline with twisted alt-right/conservative values about women NEEDING to have children. With lack of information about contraception, teens might believe they can’t be safe. Maybe they actually have access to contraception but aren’t aware. Maybe contraception is being banned. If you have no contraception, then the rate of pregnancy will increase and maybe those anti-abortion lawmakers wish to see more unwanted pregnancies instead of anyone wishing to engage in recreational sex that doesn’t aim for procreation.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
      9·
      2 months ago

      Because HIV isn’t an automatic death sentence anymore, as long as one has access to the drugs available.

      • Emerald@lemmy.world
        6·
        2 months ago

        In the USA, it might be an automatic death sentence to your wallet. Don’t hava insurance? Die on the street. Brought to you by the American Dream

    • ABCDE@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 months ago

      It is mentioned. It doesn’t really affect people anymore though if you can get the medication.

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
    31·
    2 months ago

    If only there were a publicly funded US institution that helps children plan and prepare for sex and parenthood.

    Hmmmmmm…

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
        2·
        2 months ago

        They were actually more opposed to teaching anything other than abstinence when religious conservatives constantly attacked and shut down Planned Parenthood centers. Many voters were misled to think the centers offered abortion directly as well.

  • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
    21·
    2 months ago

    My kids would have to socialize with people in person to need a condom.

    They never leave the house except to go to school and as soon as they’re done, they rush home to “hang out with their friends” online…