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1 in 4 Teens has STD I'm such a "Parent"! August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08
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1 in 4 Teens has STD
Study finds 1 in 4 US teens has a STD By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts. Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both abstinence-only sex education and teens' own sense of invulnerabilty. Because some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for better screening, vaccination and prevention. Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some diseases. Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD... The teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and genital herpes, 2 percent.
The result of not openly discussing sex and its consequences with our teens??? Frightening findings... I would include a picture from one of my old health books, but it would probably be too graphic. It was a picture of genital warts that could make anyone gag. Why they don't show it to teens, I don't know. Informed teens make informed decisions!
6 comments from 6 users
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posted by
Smokey
on Mar 11, 2008 at 04:30 PM
I read an article about this study on CNN today. I always knew they dressed like little tramps but I guess now we have confirmation! hah!
posted by
viciouslindz
on Mar 11, 2008 at 08:56 PM
i agree completely...i'm nursing major in college and i have seen graphic pictures of genital warts and other nasty STD's. Maybe showing teen's what they will actually look like, as graphic as it may be, will get something to click in their head. You can't sugar coat STD's, don't just tell them in high school "it's bad, you'll get warts...it looks nasty", show them actual photos! There is no substitute for seeing actual images of what these virus's can do to you... most permanently. I'm not for abstinence or anything but safe-sex and smart-sex needs to be taught and a lot harder then it's being done now....people are so afraid of offending the students or the students parents that they aren't being taught the whole reality of STD's....we need a change in sexual education totally....(and im not knocking anyone who is for abstinence, thats great, i'm just being a realist) posted by
christibdce
on Mar 12, 2008 at 08:09 AM
I'm absoluetly pro-abstinence, but that doesn't mean I don't want our children educated on the consequences if they DO have sex. Personally, I'd rather have the kids taught that it's better NOT to have sex until a certain time (and here are the consequences) than to have them be taught that it's perfectly okay to have sex (after which, most of them don't remember the consequences in the heat of the moment). I'm not an advocate of ignorance in any situation. It upsets me that the "Abstinence-only" education that is most widely known today is more about keeping kids ignorant than giving them a solid grounding in sexual education and why to make the right choice of abstinence. It's the equivalent of "because I said so," and doing "earmuffs" over their ears...which in most kids' opinions only makes them want to find out why, and not from the right sources. Not all of us who advocate abstinence want our kids to figure everything out for themselves on their wedding night and beyond. I think we should be telling kids that they are worth waiting for, that sex doesn't bring/equal love, what an amazing thing their body is, and what sex and its consequences are all about. posted by
gube
on Mar 12, 2008 at 09:37 AM
I have known girls from very good family's become pregnant. Kid well have sex that's all there is to it. We do our best when raising our kids. When their out of the house away from supervision and their hormones kick in the most will play. This does not make these kids bad kids it makes the normal. Education and understanding is the best way to fight teenage STD's. Condoms, condoms, condoms. posted by
Sparks
on Mar 12, 2008 at 10:41 AM
posted by
ProgressoDasani
on Mar 12, 2008 at 09:45 PM
Funny how the same people that say the condom is ineffective for birth control - thus advocating for the pill, or of "morning-after" aborticides - even though a woman is fertile for only a short period each month (and hence only condom failures occurring coincident with that period even matter) also say that condoms are the defense against VD when that rages full-time, every hour of every month. Gube, do you really think that condoms are so hard to find, expensive, or embarrassing to purchase as to make parental gifting a significant factor in the frequency of their use? Gimme a break - that wasn't true 30 years ago, and it is certainly much less true now. But, like World War I generals, you intend to fight the battle over the same ground, using the same tactics we've used for the last several decades. Soften up the battlefield with sex education and then send additional condom brigades. Hasn't worked before, but like those commanders you merely repeat the call for more of the same and hold your previous failures as proof that the new plan will work. Basically, its a numbers game - the more promiscuity in society, the more VD. While a condom might protect you once or on a dozen occasions, eventually, and fairly soon, it won't. For you "plan" to work, the protection has to be perfect everytime. VD only has to get lucky once.
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