The fortunate among us will not only usher in a new year tonight, we'll also be welcoming a four-day weekend. That could mean a little more time for writing resolutions, but for many, it also means more time for sex.

Researchers and our friends at Trojan report that the Christmas-New Year's period marks an annual spike in sexual activity and conceptions (though I'm guessing it's not just Christians having more sex and getting pregnant).

They list the big contributors to this trend as leisure time, alcohol and partying, and New Year's resolutions to have kids. For those in the last category, we hope 2009 brings you a healthy pregnancy and birth. For those who aren't planning to have children right this minute but who do have some extra holiday helpings of sex, we hope you'll contribute to that jump in condom sales—or use another effective method of contraception.

Happy New Year from all of us at The National Campaign!

Big study came out about today about abstinence and virginity pledges. The headline is that teens who take virginity pledges (sometimes as part of an abstinence-only education program) are no less likely to have sex -- but they are much less likely to use protection when they do.

This nation has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on abstinence-only education, with barely a condom's width of proof that any of it is helping. So what makes this study different from all the others that have also questioned the efficacy of such pledges? For starters, this time they looked at teens who were quite similar to one another in numerous ways (attitudes about sex, religion, birth control, etc. -- also their parents' attitudes), and found that the big difference between those who promised to stay virgins until marriage and those who did not wasn't in the having sex department, it was in the having safe sex department.

Gotta give props to Katie Morgan, the adult-film star and fledgling big screen actor (see her in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno").  She is also the host of HBO's new half-hour special, "Katie Morgan: A Porn Star Revealed," where Katie answers questions delivered via phone, letter, and email. The reviews have been good.

One questioner asks Katie, "A man I've been dating and I aren't sexually exclusive yet, so I want him to use a condom. He says they're not sexy.  What should I do?"

Katie responds, "I would find someone else to be not exclusive with. Because if you're not exclusive, and you're not testing, you should definitely be using condoms."

Some guy off-camera in the studio fires back, "But guys often say they don't like them."

Katie replies in her "if you don't take my advice, you're not getting any" kind of way, "I don't like bananas, but that doesn't mean I don't eat potassium.  You know, you have to protect yourself.  If it's not quite as fun as it might be otherwise, just think of all the child support you're not paying or all the STDs your not catching.  Think of what you are saving in antibiotics.  Just think."

Yes Katie, that's good advice for the holiday season when we've got more time to spend having fun. 

Continuing a tradition from last year, the British Journal of Medicine recently released a list of 6 medical myths that most people (even doctors) believe. In honor of their new tradition I'd like to add a few myths about teen and unplanned pregnancy to the list.  What myths have you heard from your friends and family?  Tell us about them in the comments field below.

6 Myths about Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy for the Holiday Season:

1. It won't happen to me.
   Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, which suggests that having an unplanned pregnancy is a lot more common than many people realize.  More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unplanned and a full 70% of pregnancies to single women in their twenties are unplanned as well.
   
   
2. Parents don't matter.
   Teens consistently say that teens are the most influential when it comes to their decisions about sex.  Other research also indicates that parents play a huge role in the decisions that teens make, and a close relationship between teens and their parents decreases their risk for teen pregnancy.  Worried about talking to your kids about sex, love, and relationships?  The National Campaign has some tips to get you started.
    
3. A baby will make him stay.
   In fact among teen mothers, eight out of ten fathers don't marry the mother of their child.  These absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support, often because they are poor themselves. Children who live apart from their fathers are also five times more likely to be poor than children with both parents at home.
   
   Women who have an unplanned pregnancy and birth are also much less likely to either move in with their partner or get married compared to women who plan their pregnancy and birth.  In fact, less than half of women who have an unplanned birth are married by the time their child is 2 years old (an additional 17% are cohabiting).
    
4. Being in a serious relationship is a good reason to stop using birth control.
   People often get lax about contraception as a relationship gets more serious and feelings become more intimate.  But as the relationship heats up, it's time to be more careful, not less.  Remember, either abstaining from sex or using contraception each and every time you have sex is the best way to avoid an unplanned pregnancy.
      
5. Everybody's doing it.
   In fact, less than half (48%) of all high school student have ever had sex. Don't believe everything you hear. People lie, and exaggerate, and can talk a good game when it comes to sex. In the end, it doesn't matter who's telling the truth or not. The only truth that matters is what's best for you. Yeah, that sounds corny -- but it's true.
    
6. Because you've said "yes" once means you have to say "yes" every time.
   Just because you decided to have sex one time, or with one person, doesn't mean you have to have sex again, or with everyone.  Most teen girls (53%) and one-third of teen boys (33%) say they had mixed feelings about having sex the first time it happened.

Ahhh, 2008... What a year! In this season of "best of" lists and year-end retrospectives, I thought it would be a good time to pause, take a deep breath, and take a look back at some of our favorite videos from the last 365 days.

Why, it seems like just yesterday that we learned Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant, but her baby, Maddie Briann, was born in June. When it came to names, my money was on "Misti Cheyanne." Close, but no cigar.

In May, the entire field of sex education took a great hit when 78-year-old sex educator and sex toy enthusiast Sue Johanson retired from her Oxygen television show, Talk Sex with Sue Johanson. She continues to tour universities, which is lucky for our young adult crowd as evidenced by the student-shot video below:

Seriously, when was the last time you saw a 78-year-old woman demonstrate how to apply a comdom with her mouth?  You will be missed on Sunday nights, Sue.

In November, Barack Obama -- the son of a teen mother -- was elected the nation's 44th president. Here's what President-elect Obama had to say about his historical achievement:

Check out more videos after the jump.