By Cari Wira Dineen, Women’s Health

New research shows that adults are the ones who are getting careless about condoms. We share the health and pleasure benefits of using protection.

In terms of safe sex, are you smarter than a 12th grader? Maybe not. Groundbreaking new research on sexual health from Indiana University found that condom use is routine for teens, but not for adults.

While female teenagers use condoms nearly 60 percent of the time, women ages 25 to 34 use this kind of protection for a mere 24 percent of their sexual encounters, according to the study, which was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. And even though condoms don’t offer 100 percent protection against sexually transmitted infections, they’re your best bet for helping prevent the spread of chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, HPV, and herpes. “You need to have zero tolerance for anyone who is unwilling to use a condom,” says urologist Jennifer Berman, M.D., an expert in female sexual medicine, who points out that one in five adults has an STD and that many of these diseases, such as gonorrhea, are on the rise.

Plus, they’re cheap, easy to use, and hormone-free, and they don’t require a prescription.

And contrary to popular belief, condoms don’t have to stand in the way of good sex. “Some people think condoms detract from the flow of the experience or take away from their partner’s pleasure, or their own,” says Kantor. But the study also found that adults who use condoms during sex are just as likely to rate the experience positively in terms of arousal, pleasure, and orgasm as when there’s no love glove.

That’s actually true and not true. You could easily find many a variety of opinions on this. But whether you believe it or not, just do yourself a favor and practice safe sex!