teens making outIf you've got a teen boy at home, you know the drill. Your bathroom door is always locked. You haven't seen a single copy of your Victoria's Secret catalog since he hit 11. And his sheets tend to crunch when you're pushing them into the washer. Congratulations! The grossest thing about teen boys is a good sign!

While you're picking up socks off his bedroom floor with a pair of tongs, you'll be happy to know that your son's intimate relationship with his hand means he's got a handle (no pun intended) on his sexuality. And that makes him twice as likely as his more squeamish peers to actually use a condom when he moves from solo sex to a real, live girl. A study of teen boys who masturbate found 86 percent ended up using condoms when they had sex. Compare that to just 44 percent of boys who don't masturbate, and suddenly it's worth having to refill your Jergens once a week, isn't it?

I don't have a teenage son, but with friends who do, I've heard it all. And I've heard them complain. A lot. They want their bathroom back. They want to wash one set of sheets without having to pull out the super-duty stain remover. I can't say I blame them!

But I have to say I don't feel much sympathy. They're parents. It comes with the territory. The Kinsey Institute estimates 73.8 percent of teenage boys jerk off (about 48.1 percent of girls jill off -- it's not JUST a boy thing). Hello, Mom and Dad, if your kid's doing it, it means they're normal. Exceedingly. Strikingly. NORMAL!

And if you can embrace that, you're encouraging them to embrace their own sexuality too. To feel that what they're doing is just part of life. And if feeling good is part of life, then it follows that they wouldn't feel embarrassed about pulling out a condom when the time comes. It's just part of the process, right?

Do you have a teenage boy? Is this study right on target in your opinion?


Image via MadeUnderground/Flickr