SAN ANTONIO (The San Antonio Express-News) -- American teenagers may be having less sexual intercourse, but that doesn't mean they're abstaining from unsafe sex.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, sexual activity among teens has declined 14 percent since 1995. But health experts note that this survey did not ask about oral sex. And that many teens are turning to oral sex in the misguided belief that it's not "real sex."

A recent survey by Ansell Healthcare, manufacturer of LifeStyles condoms, found that one-third of teenage girls said oral sex is not sex. Twenty percent of teens had oral sex by age 15, half by age 17. In some circles, say health officials, oral sex is almost obligatory, like a goodnight kiss.

According to a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, 20 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds believe that oral sex is safe sex. And 36 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds thought so.

"Unprotected oral sex is not safe sex," says Cathy Novak, director of education for the San Antonio AIDS Foundation. "It can lead to sexually transmitted diseases of the mouth and throat."

"These kids feel that oral sex is a way to become sexually active without the ramifications of intercourse," says Carol Carrozza, the company's Ansell Healthcare vice president of global marketing.

Observers blame this misunderstanding on everything from Bill Clinton's oral-sex-isn't-sex defense during the Monica Lewinsky scandal to abstinence-only sex education programs that leave students with more questions than answers.

"It's important to promote abstinence and to help young people delay the onset of sexual activity. But abstinence-only programs limit what they're taught," says Dr. Jan Realini, coordinator of the Metropolitan Health District's Project WORTH (Work on Real Teen Health), adding these programs often emphasize condoms are not foolproof.

For example, she says, these programs often emphasize that condoms are not foolproof. "So if they do choose to be sexually active, there's a feeling that it's hopeless to try and protect themselves. So they're more likely to have unprotected sex."

This increases the risk of STDs such as chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea, HIV and AIDS.

For many young people, the terms "safe sex" and "safer sex" are taken to mean a reduction in the risk of pregnancy, according to Julia Davis, senior program officer with the Kaiser Foundation, a health-care research foundation.

"Kids think of oral sex as being safer because they're not going to get pregnant," she says. "But they're not thinking about the risk to their lives."

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