Teens Put X Back In Xmas

As if eye-gouging Hot Wheels and the mythical spike in the suicide rate weren't enough, here's another holiday horror: Teens with regular romantic partners are three times more likely to lose their virginity during the holidays than teens who play the field. This data point, culled by a team of University of Mississippi sociologists from information in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, is even less impressive than it sounds: June, not December, is the month where most teens actually do the nasty for the first time. The crux here is that serious relationship types do it under the mistletoe, though the various sources AP quotes for background all give explanations—peer pressure, TV, parental non-supervision, freedom from schoolwork—that have nothing to do with the Christmas season. The obvious explanation—that when you stop believing in Santa you can still believe in love—goes unremarked.