This is the first installment in a series on teens and sex. Next week will cover “Resources To Help” and “What Parents Can Do.”

Sitting down with your children to have “the talk” can be uncomfortable for even the most seasoned parents.

With STDs occurring among island youth, accounts of students having sex as early as middle school, and the definition of “sex” itself evolving in teen circles, local educators and health officials are renewing their efforts to promote sexual education and health.

“The most important thing a parent can do is talk to their child openly about sexuality, early and frequently, to let the child know the parent’s beliefs, values, concerns and expectations,” said Dr. Sarah Lyle, a local health practitioner. “Parents need to be the resource for the child – otherwise, you let the influence be the media, the internet, their friends.”

Lyle was one of several speakers who fielded questions from Orcas High School students this year, in sessions sponsored by the two-year-old Island Reproductive Health Initiative.

A cooperative effort of Orcas Family Health Center, Orcas Medical Center, Orcas Island Family Medicine, and Orcas Island’s certified Nurse Midwife Melinda Milligan, the initiative allows local teens to receive confidential reproductive health care at minimal or no cost.

Health problems, including sexually transmitted diseases, persist despite these efforts.

“It is well known that STDs are in the high school,” said one Orcas public school teacher, who asked not to be named. “There are regular conversations among students about the diseases going around, and the talks have become significantly more informed on what the effects and causes of an STD can be.”

Susan Leff, an RN and manager of Personal Health at the San Juan County Health Department, says there have been seven cases of chlamydia in the county since the start of this year – up from two cases a year ago – and some involving teens.

“It varies each year,” Leff said. “Seven in four months is definitely much higher than last year. But compared to two or three years ago, it’s about average … There have been some cases on Orcas, but I wouldn’t say it’s an outbreak.”

Teen sex on Orcas

Understanding the sex culture experienced by Orcas Island teens is difficult. The sensitivity of the subject means that many are reticent to discuss it on the record or with candor. Compounding the challenge is the anecdotal nature of much of the information.

But most agree that teen sexual activity is occurring, possibly at earlier ages.

“(Sex) is starting younger. I am not sure how old, I would guess about 12, maybe ninth and 10th grade,” said school board member and father Tony Ghazel, who calls it a “whole village issue: parents, teachers, everybody.”

“We try very hard to make sure that the kids are getting a good educational and social experience on campus,” Ghazel said of the school district’s efforts, although he concedes, “It’s really difficult to know what they do when they’re off campus.”

Another Orcas teacher says local teens are having sex with multiple partners, while a local parent believes high schoolers are trading partners and having “party sex.”  Some students, they say, view certain non-intercourse sex acts as not really “sex,” contributing to a sense of casualness about the activity.

“They are fairly open about it to each other,” said another parent, citing knowledge of sexual activity among students as young as the eighth grade. “I was especially shocked to hear the cavalier way it was all mentioned – no pretense at love or emotion, it was just sport.”

Several Orcas teens who spoke to the Sounder say some of their peers even keep a list of who they want to have sex with next.

Sexual activity, they say, goes along with other illicit pursuits.

“There are some couples who get together just so they can have sex – it’s the goal of the relationship,” said one island teenager. “There is definitely pressure from other kids to have sex … it goes along with the whole drugs and drinking, it seems to all happen at the same time. Most of it starts at parties. It seems like they’re not worried about their future very much, they’re just kind of caring about what’s fun right now …”

“There is a lot of partner switching,” the teen added. “I’m pretty sure most of them use protection –  everyone’s pretty good about [preventing] pregnancies, it’s pretty serious in people’s minds.”

Another high school student says while some kids start having sex in middle school, it is more common to begin in high school – and that drugs and alcohol play a big role.

“You’d have a hard time finding many people at our school who haven’t or don’t ever use drugs or alcohol,” he said. “Most students are looking for a meaningful relationship and are usually really good about STD prevention. I don’t know any couples who are really careless about it. It’s the people who aren’t looking for relationships, which is a smaller amount, who are careless and spread STDs.”

Several teens estimated that between 60-70 percent of the public high school is sexually active, and that 50 percent have tried drugs or alcohol and around 30 percent use substances on a regular basis.

One teenager said sexual activity can start as early as 13, but that it “really depends on the kid.”

“The protection issue is problematic because it seems like there is easy access to getting the necessary things, but yet there are a lot of kids not using protection and therefore getting STDs and getting pregnant,” she said. “They have educated us all pretty darn good in the dangers of everything, and it’s hard for parents to do much. It just depends on the family … parents need to be involved in the kid’s life and more like a friend than a mom or dad, and understand that teenagers make a lot of mistakes, and they have to be forgiving and loving.”

Meredith M. Griffith contributed to this story.