While some of your peers might like you to think that they spend most of their time bed-hopping, the truth is a little different.

Recent research has shown that:

• twenty-five per cent of young women and 30 per cent of young men under age 16 have had sex
• it follows that three in four young women and two in three young men haven't had sex by age 16.

The obvious risks of sex in young adulthood are sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancy. Less obvious are the emotional complications that may come with starting a sex life before you feel really ready for it. There is no rush to start, and if anyone is pressurising you to start having sex before you feel ready, then they are doing this for their own desires and not with your best interests at heart.

You may think that your parents are out of touch with the way of thinking of young people. Whilst morals and values change as human societies evolve, human desires and behaviour rarely do. If you can, talk to your parents openly about sex - they can be a fantastic resource and you may be surprised by how much you have in common and by how much they understand your experience. They once trod their own path along the same journey you are making.