MORE TEEN GIRLS TRY SEX, DRUGS

TEENAGE girls are running towards adulthood at an alarming rate, a new
study shows. More Australian girls aged 14 to 17 are experimenting with
sex, drugs and alcohol than in previous years, survey figures showed.

Almost a third of girls aged 14 to 17 said they had had sex, up from 20 per
cent in 1995.

Only half of the girls surveyed said they used a condom every time they had
sex, putting them at risk of becoming pregnant or catching STDs.

About half of girls aged 14 to 17 said they had smoked cigarettes, while 38
per cent admitted having used marijuana. Nine per cent said they used the
drug at least once a week.

The findings of the Dolly Quantum Youth Monitor survey, released yesterday,
also showed 5 per cent of teenage girls aged 17 and under had used designer
drugs, including ecstasy and speed.

The occasional and frequent consumption of alcohol among teenage girls had
increased, with 89 per cent of girls 14 and over saying they drank
under-age, compared with only 65 per cent in 1992.

Teenage girls were more accepting of drug and alcohol use among peers than
earlier this decade, with almost three-quarters saying it was OK for
teenagers to drink alcohol, compared with only 48 per cent in 1992.

Fifty-six per cent of girls aged 14 to 17 said it was OK for people their
age to smoke cigarettes, while 7 per cent said the use of designer drugs by
teens was acceptable.

Teenage girls have more money to spend than ever before, with 14 to
17-year-olds receiving an average of almost $70 a week from pocket money or
part-time jobs, making them a powerful consumer group worth $1.85 billion a
year.

The most popular things girls buy with their own money are CDs, chocolate
bars, ice creams, magazines, clothing, fast food, skincare and cosmetics.

Education campaigns about healthy body image do not seem to be influencing
weight-conscious teenage girls, with being thinner the top response about
when they wanted to change about themselves.

Other things girls said they wanted to change were getting better grades,
being richer, having better skin and being less stressed.

Education was not as important to young women as it was in 1992, with
figures showing teenage girls spent less time on homework each night and
enjoyed attending school less than girls seven years ago.

But more said they thought they would go to university than in the past,
with 55 per cent of teenage girls expecting to do tertiary study, compared
with 49 per cent in 1992.

Australian athletes have replaced Americans as teenage girls' favorite
sporting idols.

Gold medallists Cathy Freeman and Kieren Perkins, and tennis stars Patrick
Rafter and Mark Philippoussis are the top choices, compared with 1995 when
US surfer Kelly Slater and basketball stars Michael Jordan and Shaquille
O'Neal starred.

But American television shows continue to dominate with teenage girls, with
Dawson's Creek, Ally McBeal and Friends the three favorites.

Teenage girls are steadily turning away from traditional religious
institutions and beliefs, with only 31 per cent going to a place of worship
at least once a month, compared with 40 per cent in 1995.

Sixty-four per cent of teenage girls believed the future for young people
in Australia was good, up from only 29 per cent in 1992.

Less than half of the teenage girls surveyed believed their generation
would be better off than their parents' generation.