Lemondrop

Are teens today participating in more risky behavior and same-sex hook-ups? Or just admitting to them?

In a recent study, roughly one in 10 teens reported having same-sex partners, almost twice the number reported 10 years ago. That wouldn't be worrisome at all, obviously, except for the fact that kids who copped to gay and bisexual hook-ups were also more likely to report engaging in risky sexual behavior like skipping protection.

Hey, you crazy teens! It's OK to be gay! It's not OK to not bag it up!

The study, published by the journal Pediatrics, examined over 17,000 NYC adolescents, 9.3 percent of whom said they had engaged in sexual activity with a partner of their own gender or with both genders. (OK, so kids have been having gay sex forever, but this makes them sound like a bunch of swingers. Are all of you kids watching "The Ice Storm" on Netflix Instant?)

The CDC reports that half of the 18 million STIs reported yearly are attributed to the 15-to-24-year-old demographic, which is scary, since a lot of these kids probably think that being young translates to being inexperienced/invincible/disease-free. (IT DOESN'T!)

This poses so many questions for the youth today. Namely: It's great that you kids are embracing your sexuality, but what happened to the safe-sex movement? Aren't you getting condoms crammed down your throats like we were? We feel the same way we did when 30 Seconds From Mars won a VMA this year: scared and confused and in need of a teenager to explain.