Researchers have said that a U. S. study finds some parents think their children have no interest in sex, but they see their children's peers as highly sexual.

Study author Dr. Sinikka Elliott, an assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, says in a statement, "Parents I interviewed had very hard time thinking about their own teen children as sexually desiring subjects. At the same time, parents view their teens' peers as highly sexual, even sexually predatory."

Parents often resort to teenage sexual stereotypes, parents of boys say they fear sons may be lured to sex by girls, while parents of girls fear their daughters will be taken advantage of by boys, Elliott has said.

Elliott further adds, "By using sexual stereotypes to absolve their children of responsibility for sexual activity, the parents effectively reinforce those same stereotypes."

These stereotypes that employ peer pressure, coercion or even entrapment also taint teen heterosexual relationships.

According to Elliott, "Although parents assume their kids are heterosexual, they don't make heterosexual relationships sound very appealing." (With Inputs from Agencies)