I'm talking about teenage girls and STDs. A study done at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that one in every four teenage girls has an STD. This ranges from the most common and preached about ones, such as AIDS, to others that seem to be the newest and most frequent threat, such as HPV (although it is not new I think it's talked about more now). HPV can be caused by a virus but can also be transmitted sexually.
I'm a 17 year old girl, I'm sure there are a lot of other teen girls on this site, and we are a part of that statistic whether you have an STD or do not. This number alarms me and makes me wonder "what are we doing wrong?" Is it sex education at school, the parents, the social pressures of being a young girl, or the lack of confidence to just say no to sex?
I think it's a mix between all of them. As children are exposed to sex at an early age, the lack of sex education at school and in the home will result in an even stronger "nothing can happen to me, I'm invisible" mentality when it comes to sex. The high exposure needs to be neutralized with more education. Sex is something very prominent in our society, yet we avoid the topic at school and even in the home. If children aren't taught the potential dangers and the responsibilities that come with sex, then how are they going to know the importance of being responsible when the time comes? I know that many teen girls feel they have to have a certain amount of sexual experience to feel comfortable with their peers and in themselves. Knowing that you're saying no to the consquences that sex can have should be impowering and girls shouldn't be made to feel prude after refusing sex.
With education, responsibility, and confidence I think we could get those numbers to go down.
I read about this yesterday and thought you might agree with some of my views.
1 in 4 Teen Girls Has an STD
Actually sex is being discussed more and more at school and home. Unfortunately they both just say don't do it. Sex has become a meer pasttime now. Don't under-estamite teens, they know the potential dangers from having unprotected sex. They just choose to ignore them. For example you know that you are suppose to wear a seatbelt everytime you ride in a car, and you know what will happen if you are in an accident. But do you always wear one?
It starts from birth. Parents must step it up and inform their children from the beginning. They can't wait until the child is in highschool. Children start thinking about sex in elementary! It is sad but true.
--If you are going to do it, do it the right way.--
I know children talk about sex at a young age but I don't believe they know what can happen when you have sex (well most of them).
The other day I was with a friend and she was babysitting a 9 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. The little girl turns to my friend and goes "I know what you like to do with boys." I was thinking the next think out of her mouth was a hug, go to the movies, I guess I was just hoping she was as naive as I wanted her to be. She said "You like to take off your clothes, then he takes off his clothes, then you lay in the bed and kiss." Even in this very elementary way, she basically had the idea.
I agree that parents should be the number one preachers of safe sex and to teach their children how to be responsible.
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"Most intellects do not believe in God, but they fear us just the same." - Erykah Badu
You can cram sex education into a teens mind and they can repeat it all back to you and still go out there and do it without any protection.When you are a teen you feel like " I am the boss of my own body and I will do as I please." Your parents can tell you to do the right thing, your friends too. But they can not stop you from the infamous magnet: BOYS!!!! They make us do the craziest things at times and we don't know why. They are so freakin cute too.They're romantic with that little tough edge to them. Plus they carry a nice package down below that can "surprise you for an hour or more." Their most infamous saying is " If you love me you would do it without protection. You trust me don't you? It feels better without one. And this is where we suck into their lies.Hey I have been there and done that before. They are our krypton at times . But telling them no and bringing your onw protection for them helps. If that doesn't , then simply say this " If you really loved me , then you would protect your soldier man!"
That's the beauty of free will. You can control people's decisions only so much.
All of the examples you stated above is what I was saying when talking about the pressures of being a young teen. Girls should be strong enough to say no and to not give into the games that boys play (this also pertains to girls!).
They make us do the craziest things at times and we don't know why. They are so freakin cute too.They're romantic with that little tough edge to them. Plus they carry a nice package down below that can "surprise you for an hour or more."
it's a matter of self control. I'm not saying abstinence is the only way but you can't just "give it up" to any guy that gives you attention because they're cute.
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"Most intellects do not believe in God, but they fear us just the same." - Erykah Badu
I had a comment to make to both the author of this post, and, dlbz4, the poster above me. Children DO talk about sex in Elementary school. I did. Although, I was a little different because my babsitter at the time, who was in 5 or 6 grade (dumb, I know), found her father's porn, and had me watch it with her. (So I wasn't exactly normal as far as sex goes, but I was perverted in Elem. and middle school). Parents should absolutely start sex eduacation A.S.A.P.
:To the poster:
I actually just say this during homeroom today on Channel One (news station for teens my school subscribes to) I love it. A girl and I calculated the number of girls in my homeroom who statistically have an STD. (Two of us, by the way). Strange.
Also, my school newspaper (of which I am the editor, and the reason we write about topics like this), often writes articles on safe sex, alternatives to sex, and the Co-Editor and I actually have been writing a 2part series every newspaper called "Love Bugs", where we write about STDs, how to get them, how to prevent them, and websites to go to in order to find out more.
~In order to have a better society, we need to CREATE a better society."
you know, it'd be nice if my school was actually as open as yours is about this (based on the fact that they let you put articles on safe sex and all related in the school paper). the most we actually get is a small unit of sex education in part of our semester-long health class, unless another class we take happens to deal with it somehow (you know how english class goes :)X and senior papers... ). I think it's a good idea for school to do what your school does and address issues like this in a positive manner.
I actually saw the text at the bottom of my government teacher's TV screen when we were doing current events. it would figure my government class is mostly female, and that the county north of us actually has the highest (teen?) STD rate in the country (higher than the national average, I believe) :idk:
so even though I have no idea who you are, thanks for addressing some of these issues at your school :dances: it's nice to see that somebody doesn't shy away from it
www.progressiveu.org/blog/toriavic
I know that children talk about sex amongst themselves but it is not necessarily treated the same way in every school. I've had about four years of "health" class from 6-9 grade. I've probably gotten more information about safe sex from MTV commercials than at school. Like I said in my post, children are exposed to sex more and more at a younger and younger age, this does not mean that they know the effects of sex at such an early age which is why the education aspect is important.
It's awesome that you have that opportunity and that your school is treating sex in such a way. Most schools don't do this because they don't want their children being exposed any more than they already are, which I think is a mistake.
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"Most intellects do not believe in God, but they fear us just the same." - Erykah Badu
I never recieved any sex ed, either. Our school always skipped the subject, and my parents acted as if it didn't exist. I learned everything from my peers, movies, and MTV! It was terrible, and I would never want my kids to learn that way.
F*** Religion. Read more here:
http://www.progressiveu.org/020528-f-religion
I saw a similar story on the news, but I don't buy it. I haven't looked at the story, but it seems to me like there's a problem. Maybe innaccurate sample size or just totally blowing up the data, or maybe just cherry-picking the results. I don't know, but I'm not convinced that this is true.
It actually is true. If you'd like I can find you maybe one page where the stats are :) (the main one I'm thinking of is actually in one of my books that I also cited in a paper. copyright 2003-ish or so, but even then!). Let me know if you'd like me to find them :) (sorry, I'm a smiley face love. haha)
www.progressiveu.org/blog/toriavic
I can't help but be skeptical of any statistics like that. If you want to private message me the sources that your talking about, I'd like to take a look at them, but that doesn't mean that I'll be convinced. A lot of official government approved studies aren't exactly accurate. Another frequent problem is that results often don't match up with the press release. I highly doubt that one in four teen girls currently has an STD, and it is going to take a VERY reputable source to convince me otherwise, but I'm totally open to being convinced.
I felt the same way too when I first read the article because the number just seemed to high to me. But then I thought about the fact that you can get an STD from oral sex (like herpes) and that HPV is easily transmitted also.
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"Most intellects do not believe in God, but they fear us just the same." - Erykah Badu
The statistics are shocking, but you have to think about it like this:
Not all STDs are deadly. All do affect the body in harmfully ways though. Most people just think about the two big one herpes and HIV. But there are many more which different variations. Syphillus is growing and Chamidia (sorry about the spelling) is one of the most common. Many people don't even know that they have a STD until they pass it to the next person.
You would be suprised to know how many people have unprotected sex on a regular basis. I am talking about adults! We suppose to know better. If we are not setting a good example for teens, how do we teach them?
That's a scary statistic. It documents the way our country is moving. Drugs, Sex, and Rock n' Roll.
+mspin
