Teens Having Sex, Getting STDs Due To Lack Of Knowledge
March 17, 2008
Boston (dbTechno) - It was reported last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that one in four teenage girls has an STD. More revelations are coming out now, as it seems that many teenage girls do not have all of the facts about sex and STDs to help them make the right choices.
The results of the CDC report stated that just over one in four teenage girls has an STD, with around 50% of black girls having an STD, and 20% of Mexican-American girls, as well as white girls.
It is clear that now more than ever, teenage girls are having sex. Many have reported and noted concern of the overly-sexual world that we now live in today.
It seems that many of the problems are due to a lack of knowledge on the parts of the teenage girls, and boys.
Many teenage girls and boys have false knowledge on practices regarding sex, as many believe that things such as a plastic bag can help prevent an STD, when in reality it is simply not the case.
The most common STD was HPV, with chlamydia, gonorrhea, and others included.
One very notable way that people are beginning to preach ways to fight STDs, in terms of trying to teach teenage girls, is to give them more power. The more power they feel they have, the more likely they will say no.
It has been virtually proven that abstinence programs in schools simply do not work. Studies have shown that they have failed on occasions. This is why it may be up to the schools to educate teenage boys and girls in different ways, such as being more open with them, and accepting that sexual intercourse is going to happen.
An abstinence-only program will not work if you already have the majority breaking the rules before they are even taught them.
If they have the ability to have the power of true knowledge though, about the facts, what works, what does not work, etc, girls will be in a better position in the end, and the numbers may decline.
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The writer opined:
“It has been virtually proven that abstinence programs in schools simply do not work. ”
Where is this “VIRTUAL PROOF” Can you show that these high numbers of
STD carrying females had ABSTINENCE ONLY education? Is there a higher rate of “abstinence only” education in areas with higher black populations?
What is the “abstinence only” rate compared to eductation in 1990, and what was the STD rates then?
The sampling was appx 800 teens. Is this good national representation?
Half of the subjects had MORE THAN ONE of the diseases, it seems likely these are not young women making wise decisions. You cannot turn on a television, or drive past a billboard without hearing about the risks of unprotected sex. They KNOW - but do NOT CARE. More health facts are not going to fix that.
The only action which will make a difference is the eradication of a pop culture which glorifies pimps and hos and mocks chastity, self respect and self determination. Instead of making these loser rap jerks into wealthy movie stars, society should start spitting on them, rejecting their music, AND their actions. Until that happens, we will continue to have 1 in 4 women chasing after these creeps as a status symbol.
I used to be involved in an abstinence program. They do not simply go in and say, “Please don’t have sex.” It was a multi-day program that taught lots of facts: about the major STDs, condoms, pregnancy, and relationships.
The fact is, sex is risky, whether you use condoms or not. The most common STD among college women — which can lead to cervical cancer — is not even protected against by condoms.
I am happy to see that this report has caused our society to re-evaluate the faulty abstinence programs currently in place in our nation’s schools. What upsets me however is the underlying sentiment that somehow these girls are “victims” of the interests of boys - instead of free-thinking individuals that are just as capable as boys of making bad decisions. I find this offensive statement to be particularly indicative of this sexist double standard: “what girls should do to truly say no”. What this implies is that the only reason why girls are getting STDs is because of the evil boys roving the halls of our nation’s high schools instead of the reality of the situation: our “innocent” girls are just as interested in sex as the evil boys sitting next to them in class. The way to fix this problem will not be through feminist-spun finger pointing and vilification. The way to fix the problem is to accept and embrace sexuality as a natural part of life, and to teach our young people - both boys AND girls - to be responsible, self-confident adults capable of making decisions for themselves.
Kids are gonna f so abstinenece is a joke & protection is the answer!
Preach protection & let ‘em have fun!
Teens don’t have the facts? Give it a rest dude. It should read like “Teens Ignore the Facts.” Abstinence is a joke because liberal educators make it a joke. Being worldly and part of the in group has a price. Indulging in alternate lifestyles has a price. Doing alcohol and drugs has a price. Teaching sex education without sound moral judgment has a price. The price? Over 25% of teens have a STD. Where abstinence and values are taught properly – it works just fine.
Teens really are clueless. Let me tell you they think they know it all. They are also not aware that in some states that it is illegal to have consensual intercourse. Take for instance I ruined my life as a teenager when I had sex @ a young age 16. The girls parent pressed charges and I spent 2 years in prison. I had no clue it was not legal as long as you had the other persons consent. So I think they also need to be taught these circumstances as well.
Dana, its not the role of schools to teachs morals or values, that’s the role of parents. What may be a moral value to someone may not be to others. If you are a irresponsible and ineffective parent, you will raise a less then ideal child. If you’ve taught your child your morals and values, then a “liberal” curriculum of safe sex, methods of birth control, and STD protection should be a moot point.
Additionally, it’s ludacrous what happened to Jay, there’s a special place in h*ll for the parents of that young girl to ruin someone’s life for their poor parenting.
@Jay
they won’t teach that to teenagers, how are they going to convince them into believing US is the land of free
Why aren’t young people encouraged to get married? If they want to begin a sex life it is far better to be respectable and responsible and monogamous about it. There would be a huge slash in STD’s and a bigger slash in unwanted pregnancies. Marriage is frowned upon while telling young people that they should “enjoy” their lives means doing and getting anything they want. Loveless sex is not enjoyable for our youth in the long run and they suffer greatly for it.
Nothing that has been tried has worked because it is a natural yen for people to grow into sexuality and to want companionship. Marriage is the answer. Anyone under age that doesn’t want to be married would then think twice about getting caught in a “shotgun” wedding scenario and would regulate themselves.
very quickly make !
First off, why is there only one person who mentioned that a sample of 800 females is a poor representation of our nation? How can you possibly conclude that 1 in 4 teenagers has an STD by sampling 800? And the study breaks it down by race, so what was the sample size for each race? If they had an even amount of each race then you mean to tell me that by sampling 266 white girls you can conclude 20% of teenage Caucasian girls have an STD. 40% of black girls? Come on.
I do agree that society is playing a role in teenagers lack of morals, and even as a young non-religious male who has never practiced abstinence, I am shocked to see how early kids are starting to get involved in sexual activity. I think this study is blown out of proportion. Our media is skewed. Take this article for example, it doesn’t even mention how large the sample size was, or where it was.
One of the very few natural things we have left in this day and age is our sexuality. Sex is one of the most fundamental and basic components of our nature. Without it, of course, none of us would be here. It seems many of you have forgotten what it was like to be a teenager, dealing with urges and raging hormones along with everything else. Teenagers these days have more to worry about then any other generation in history. With the swirl of media, entertainment, and information constantly buzzing at them every moment of damn near every day, it’s no wonder that teenagers have a hard time paying attention to every detail. Frankly, I’m surprised that the ratio is as low as it is. That means that there are still at least a few good parents out there. Now if we could just get the rest of the parents to take a page or two from the folks who’re supposedly getting it right.
This study seems flawed, but it serves to fire up the conversation that kids need to be brought up right, sexually or otherwise. If you try to drill into the heads of rebellious youth that abstinence is the only way, then they’ll go do exactly the opposite of what you tell them. Whereas, if you approach the conversation as an adult to a person who is soon to be an adult, doing adult things, making adult decisions; then that person is much more likely to pay attention and heed your advice. I mean come on people, how many of you could abstain from sex? I’m willing to bet that if you can, you’re in the vast minority. This is a prime example of a hypocritical “do as I say, not as I do” scenario. I think everyone should wait until they know for sure that this is a person that they love and trust before deciding to have sex with them. That goes for youths and adults. Teens having sex isn’t the issue, teens being promiscuous is what we need to worry about.
Kids these days learn way more from each other, television, and the internet than they’ll ever learn from their parents. The current rule of thumb seems to still be that a guy should sleep with as many women as he can, and a gal should get with a guy and keep him however necessary. It was that way when I was a teenager, and it’ll likely be that way when my grand-kids-grand-kids are teenagers. It was that way when my grand-dad was young…he’d brag about it even to this day. So long as that remains the popular belief, promiscuity will likely remain rampant. If it were up to me, I’d focus on teaching teens that monogamy is the name of the game, and being tested is the coolest damn thing on the planet. You’re not going to get anyone to be abstinent against their will, but you can teach people to be responsible for and conscious of their actions.
Whether 25% of young women have an STD or not, it serves as a scare tactic to frighten youths into avoiding sex. I think it’s time to remove the taboo from sex and get everyone talking about it in an open and healthy way. I’m sorry to say, but due to certain conservative factions of various religious faiths, this country is a long ways away from a healthy attitude towards sex…and it’s a damn shame too. For touting itself as a free nation, it sure has a lot of repressed people.
It may be un-PC to say so, but Lance and others who maintain that boys and girls have an equal interest in sex are simply wrong.
It has been demonstrated by experiments on college campuses: a male is much more likely to accept a sexual proposition from a unknown female than vice versa.
And it works that way in apes, too, so let’s not get all socio-cultural about it.
males are simply far more enthusiastic about having sex than females.
The evolutionary rationale is obvious: the female is stuck with the far greater risk and burden, it is only logical that she is also the more cautious.
Yeah, it really is evil boys roving the halls looking for sex, if that’s how you want to think about it.
Ben
I’m not so sure about the study… This sound like one of those basic intro Psych research problem: increase sale of ice cream “leads” to higher crime rate. Has STD data changed, collection methods, inclusion of “STD,” population (it must varies), etc…
Through this whole story it has been referred to as STD’s (Sexually Transmitted Diseases). I thought it was changed to STI’s now (Sexually Transmitted Infections). I think the people have to look at why the kids are having unprotected sex. Maybe its a bigger issue of Drugs, Alcohol and low self esteem. You have to look at the bigger picture. I believe education is the best method of giving kids and adults alike, the power to make their own decisions.
Knowlege is power. “Just Say No” has always been a stupid cop-out regardless of what government program used it. Kids need to know the facts, straightforward and honest. They also need to be made aware of the bad information floating around their worlds, so that they can make more informed choices.
Teenagers know about STD’s, they make the choice, that’s the thing you people fail to understand. Regardless of what you tell people, and regardless of how you may try to “Scare” them out of it, teenagers will still make the choice.
They choose to have sex, or not to.
They choose to have unprotected or protected sex.
They do it knowing the facts.
Accept it, they make their own choices.
saying no is not alwayz an answer sometimes itz not even an option!!!!!!!!!! yah saying no is a good tactic but trust me itz not that affective! peer pressure has itz wayz of breaking us down and if ur not mentally strong enough it just blowz up in ur face !!!!!!!!!! well anywayz if ur not ready dont do it but if u think ur ready try it out 4 ur self but i warn u u may regret it in the long run!!!!!!!!