March 11, 2008
Study finds 1 in 4 US girls have STD
There was an article published in Yahoo! news on about STD's and American teenage girls. This article pinpoints girls and how they are sexually active, however it does not touch on boys or how they may have an STD. The study blames the girls STD's on the lack of SexEd, if this is such an issue, why isn't something done? I think SexEd should be talked about annually, starting as early as 5th grade until high school to let kids know the dangers of sex and STD's. The study said, 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. How do you think we can better educate kids at a young age? Do you think it is fair girls are pinpointed for having STD's and boys are left out of the picture?
10 comments:
Yeah, education in schools would be nice and may help, but what about parent interaction. Studies have shown that parents usually don't talk to their teen about sex. I believe that if parents communicate their expectations of their children with respect to sex it would be much more effective than a teacher standing in front of a room lecturing. Teachers don't have the right to say "I expect you to stay abstinent until married." They can only educate on the STDs, but parents literally tell their teen what is expected out of them and their sexual conduct!
I think that the major communication problem here lies in how students are introduced to sex education. I believe that all schools in the United States are based upon an abstinence only program. Therefore, students are not given proper information about protection and avenues to take once a young couple discovers they are pregnant.
I think the gender issues in the article stem from the fact that the overall gender stereotype for young girls is that they are virtuous and sexually unactive. Whereas, young boys are portrayed as sexually ravenous to an extent because supposedly they can't help it due to their raging hormones.
Thus, the media has a field day with reporting how many young girls have STD's because it's seen as so out of character for young girls to be having sex in the first place. It's almost as if girls are falling from this virtuous pedestal. I would think that this is why the article didn't cover young boys because it's accepted in society that they will be looking to have sex; thus, they will be more vulnerable to STDs.
I agree that we need better education about sex in our schools. Even looking back to my own experience of learning about sex in school seems as if I learned nothing. I don't think officials are addressing it strongly enough and therefore these girls do not fully know what to expect. Nonetheless, look at today's society and young females. It seems that very young females know more about issues that I had no idea about at the age. What does society have to say for that? Along with teachers I believe parents play an important role on a child's life and their views on sex. If these concerns aren't being mentioned, where do young teens look for answers? Boys needs to know this information as well. I don't think it's right to point just to females. Both male and female teens experience pressure while growing up, which includes the pressure of having sex. This is an important issue that if stronger education is not soon forced, what could the numbers be for teens having an STD in five years? Our education on sex is defiantly to blame.
I think we absolutely need more education. My experience with Sex Ed was that the education was mainly about what happens during puberty, there was hardly any information about the consequences. The abstinence only programs in school simply do not work. Kids need to be aware of the dangers and reprocussions of their actions. Parents also need to play a very active role in keeping their children educated. As for girls being singled out in the survey, well, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. She had to have gotten it somewhere. Placing the responsibility of being educated about sex and sexual health on only one parties shoulders is illogical.
I think that the results from this study are just as Dr. Margaret Blythe says, "overwhelming because you're talking about nearly half of the sexually experienced teens at any one time having evidence of an STD." The implications for having so many young girls with STDs are dangerous when you consider the implications of cervical cancer and sterility. I think however, instead of viewing this study as limiting its attention to just females by ignoring the role of males, we should celebrate over the fact that studies are finally turning their eye towards women. As the first study of its kind on this age group, I think it is good that studies are finally being done on the sexual activity of girls.
My school had a sex education program starting about 6th grade and I know that didn't solve many STD and sexual activity type problems. I think many schools do promote abstinence only programs and use scare tactics to try and persuade teens not to engage in sex. These types of programs are obviously not working and there is a horrible STD problem that is only getting worse.
Many people don't even know they are carrying an STD and many of the more common ones are treatable. If more people would get tested and treated, the statistics may have a fair chance to decrease.
I think that STDs are such a problem for teens because they are still living at home under the supervision of their parents. They don't want parental disapproval for having sex in the first place and therefore, most likely don't get tested because of it.
If there could be a way for teens to have private access to get tested and treated on their own, without a parent to ground them immediately following, maybe the problem wouldn't be as severe as it is now.
As far as boys not being mentioned...it takes two to tango. Girls get it from boys (in most cases) and vice versa. That's ridiculous that they place blame solely on the females, when obviously they didn't do it by themselves.
I feel that parents need to be better educaters of their children on these issues. I feel that way too many parents just rely on the school systems to teach their children everything...but who knows. Boys were left out of the particular article you read, but I don't believe that they are always left out. Usually statistics include both males and females.
This statistic blows my mind. I really wish you could of posted the link to this claim. I can't say that my school had a sex education program perse, but it was a parochial school so abstinence was the rule. However, my science and biology classes were very good about explaining the risks associated with STDs, how to get them, and long-term effects. Ironically, I have been surprised at some of the things I have heard about STDs and transmission from many college students here that have supposedly had sex ed. It seems that many are worried about pregnancy, but not STDs. A classmate from one of my other classes argued with me that condoms are not a very good form of birth control, so why bother using them?...I couldn't believe I heard this! I definitely agree that schools need to step up the sex ed programs with students, but parents need to also be educated and get more involved. Of course, because of the contradicting puritanical nature of most of the US...I am not sure how our current educational system can do much more. I would be very curious to see how other countries, especially Europe (that have a very different attitude towards the nude body and sex) compares to these statistics. I would also be curious to know how closely linked these studies can be tied to economic conditions.
I think that both schools and parents need to take an active role in educating young children about sex. This education needs to continue from pre-teen years into high shcool. Constant reinforcement of this education is important. I agree that parents often rely too much on schools to tackle this issue. I think many parents assume that if they discuss sex with their children they are almost giving their children the “go-ahead”. But as we have found so often children do respect what their parents say. It’s concerning that young kids don’t realize that any sexual activity can put you at risk for STDs. Clearly education is necessary to address these issues.
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