Posted on 06/10/2002 4:35:38 AM PDT by Pern
Isolated incidents of oral sex on campus and talk among middle-school students of the behavior occurring at off-campus parties has alarmed some Fayette County school administrators and parents who plan meetings on the topic.
Physicians, including one who has seen an increase in sexually transmitted diseases among middle school students, and other professionals are promoting frank discussions about oral sex to discourage students from engaging in it. Still, all agree the practice is limited to a small number of students, some of whom do not equate oral sex to intercourse.
Since Beaumont Middle School principal Tom Mowery wrote to parents in December asking them "to be aware of the prevalence of oral sex at off-campus parties at the middle-school level," administrators at one school referred an incident to law enforcement, and administrators at another school, Jessie Clark Middle, called in parents to discuss a situation.
Diane Woods, the district's middle school director, put the topic on the agenda for a future principals meeting. She said she was notified of a report of oral sex occurring between two students on campus at Tates Creek Middle School several weeks ago.
Without releasing specifics, Tates Creek Middle School assistant principal Earl Stivers said the incident was investigated "both by law enforcement and administratively."
Students' remarks have made doctors and parents fear the activity is more widespread.
Dr. Hatim Omar, a University of Kentucky specialist in adolescent medicine, said that just since January, he has treated at least 10 middle school-age students for sexually transmitted diseases they said they had contracted through oral sex. That's up from six cases in 2001 and two each in 1999 and 2000.
Four students, treated for tonsillitis caused by gonorrhea, attributed their conditions to so-called "head parties," Omar said.
Also since January, he has seen students from every middle school in Fayette County who admit that they have engaged in oral sex or attended parties where students have engaged in oral sex.
Parents and administrators are responding. Besides principals addressing the topic, Beaumont PTA president Debbie Boian wants middle school PTA leaders to discuss developing programs at each school to talk to students about risky behavior.
"It's easy to say, 'Oh those kids are just bragging about having oral sex,'" Boian said. "But if there is any truth to it, you should" address the issue.
Nationally, public-health experts report that teen-agers appear to be engaging in high-risk sexual practices without caution and with alarming casualness. Nearly 1 in 10 reports losing his or her virginity before the age of 13, a 15 percent increase since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to several surveys, as many as half of teens ages 13 to 19 say they have had oral sex. Other communities across the country are grappling with the problem and are instituting policies that require more supervision and education.
Lexington pediatrician Tom Pauly said his patients are asking him about oral sex and telling him they think it's safer than vaginal intercourse.
"It's a new issue," said Bryan Station Middle Counselor Lynette Schmiedeknecht. "It's more part of the culture, more talked about. It seems that in talking with the kids, they don't consider oral sex (to be) sex. They just think it's something they do as an adolescent."
Dealing with incidents directly and speaking bluntly with middle school students is key to helping them understand the ramifications of their decisions, parents and doctors said. Damage to reputations and illnesses are two of the dangers.
"We advise them to abstain," Pauly said. "We talk about medical complications and the psychosocial complications of engaging in oral sex at such a young age."
After Jessie Clark Middle students talked about the popularity of oral sex with an assistant principal this spring, principal Steve Carmichael said: "We invited two moms to come in and shared our concerns. It wasn't a conversation as awkward as you might think. We would rather overreact than underreact."
The issue isn't a routine part of sex education classes, officials said.
Mike Kennedy, acting health education coordinator, said that until 1990, the district had a sex education curriculum. But now, site-based councils at each school are responsible for deciding what kind of sex education is dispensed, he said.
Seven middle schools offer programs that teach abstinence only, Kennedy said. Other schools cover sex education in health classes. But Kennedy said he doesn't think oral sex is discussed anywhere as part of the middle school curriculum.
At Beaumont, principal Mowery said the quick intervention -- writing to parents -- was successful. Parents responded to meetings about how to discuss sexual issues with their children. And as the year progressed, counselors and administrators had fewer kids talking about the parties.
Only a small minority of students have actually had oral sex, Mowery thinks.
"Ninety percent of our kids," he said, "make good decisions in every aspect of their lives."
Something for JediGirl to consider.
"Chlamydia is so common in young women that, by age 30, 50% of sexually active women have evidence that they have had chlamydia at some time during their lives."
"Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because three quarters of infected women and half of infected men have no symptoms. The infection is frequently not diagnosed or treated until complications develop."
"Because symptoms of chlamydia are mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem."
Here is the report from the CDC web site.
May 2001
Chlamydia Disease Information
What is chlamydia?
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a bacterium, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Because symptoms of chlamydia are mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem.
How do people get chlamydia?
Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Chlamydia can also be passed from an infected mother to her newborn during vaginal childbirth.
How common is chlamydia?
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the United States. More than 650,000 cases were reported in 1999, and three of every four reported cases occurred in persons under age 25. Under-reporting is substantial because most people with chlamydia are not aware of their infections and do not seek testing. An estimated 3 million Americans are infected with chlamydia each year. Chlamydia is so common in young women that, by age 30, 50% of sexually active women have evidence that they have had chlamydia at some time during their lives.
What are the symptoms of chlamydia?
Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because three quarters of infected women and half of infected men have no symptoms. The infection is frequently not diagnosed or treated until complications develop.
In women, the bacteria initially attack the cervix (opening to the uterus) and the urethra (urine canal). The few women with symptoms might have an abnormal vaginal discharge or a burning sensation when urinating. When the infection spreads from the cervix to the fallopian tubes, some women still have no signs or symptoms; others have lower abdominal pain, low back pain, nausea, fever, pain during intercourse, and bleeding between menstrual periods. Whenever the infection spreads past the cervix into the upper reproductive system, permanent and irreversible damage can occur.
Men with signs or symptoms might have a discharge from the penis and a burning sensation when urinating. Men might also have burning and itching around the opening of the penis or pain and swelling in the testicles, or both.
How soon after exposure do symptoms appear?
If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks of exposure.
How is chlamydia diagnosed?
There are two kinds of laboratory tests to diagnose chlamydia. One involves collecting a specimen from an infected site (cervix or penis) to detect the bacterium directly. Another test that is becoming widely available can accurately detect chlamydia bacteria in a urine sample. A Pap test is not a test for chlamydia; it is a test for abnormal cervical cells.
Who is at risk for chlamydia?
Sexually active men and women can be exposed to chlamydia bacteria during sexual contact with an infected person. The more sex partners a person has, the greater the risk of chlamydia infection. Babies are at risk of acquiring a chlamydial infection from their infected mother.
Sexually active teenagers and young women are especially susceptible to chlamydia bacteria because of the characteristics of the cells that form the lining of the cervical canal.
What is the treatment for chlamydia?
Chlamydia can be easily treated and cured with antibiotics. A single dose of azithromycin or a week of doxycycline (twice daily) are the most commonly used treatments. All sex partners must also be treated.
What complications can result from untreated chlamydia?
If untreated, chlamydia infection can progress to serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences. Like the disease itself, the damage that chlamydia causes is often "silent."
Untreated chlamydia in men typically causes urethral infection. Infection sometimes spreads to the epididymis (a tube that carries sperm from the testis), causing pain, fever, and, potentially, infertility.
In women, the chlamydia bacteria often infect the cells of the cervix. If not treated, the infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes (egg canals) and cause an infection called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This happens in up to 40% of women with untreated chlamydia. PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and tissues surrounding the ovaries. This damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus).
In pregnant women, there is some evidence that chlamydia infections can lead to premature delivery. Babies who are born when their mothers are infected can get chlamydial infections in their eyes and respiratory tracts. Chlamydia is a leading cause of early infant pneumonia and conjunctivitis (pinkeye) in newborns.
Compared to women who do not have chlamydia, women infected with chlamydia may also have higher risk of acquiring HIV infection from an infected partner. Chlamydia can cause proctitis (an infection of the lining of the rectum) in persons having receptive anal intercourse. The bacterium also can be found in the throats of women and men having oral sex with an infected male partner.
How can chlamydia be prevented?
Safe sexual behavior and seeking proper health care can help keep people from becoming infected or re-infected with chlamydia and from experiencing chlamydia complications.
Use condoms correctly every time you have sex.
Persons who engage in sexual behaviors that can place them at risk for STDs should use latex or polyurethane condoms every time they have sex. A condom put on the penis before starting sex and worn until the penis is withdrawn can help protect both the male and the female partner from chlamydia. When a male condom cannot be used appropriately, sex partners should consider using a female condom
Common methods of birth control, like the oral contraceptive pill or the contraceptive shot or implant, do not give women protection from STDs. Women who use these methods should also use condoms every time they have sex to prevent STDs.
Condoms do not provide complete protection from all STDs. Sores and lesions of other STDs on infected men and women may be present in areas not covered by the condom, resulting in transmission of infection to a new person.
Limit the number of sex partners, and do not go back and forth between partners.
Practice sexual abstinence, or limit sexual contact to one uninfected partner.
Get a screening test.
If you are young, sexually active, and do not use condoms correctly every time you have sex, you should be screened for chlamydia at least once a year. It has been shown that screening and treatment of women with chlamydia infection of the cervix reduces the likelihood of PID. All pregnant women should have a screening test for chlamydia.
If you think you are infected, avoid sexual contact, and see a health care provider immediately.
Any genital signs or symptoms such as discharge or burning during urination or an unusual sore or rash should be a signal to stop having sex and to consult a health care provider immediately.
If you are told you are infected, notify all your sex partners immediately.
If you are told you have chlamydia or any other STD and receive drug treatment, you should notify all of your recent sex partners so that they can see a health care provider and be treated. A sex partner needs treatment even if (s)he has no symptoms. This will reduce the risk that your partners will develop serious complications from chlamydia and reduce your risk of becoming re-infected. Do not have sex until both you and your sex partner complete your chlamydia drug treatment.
For more information
DSTD Web address www.cdc.gov/std/
CDC National STD Hotline
(800) 227-8922 or (800) 342-2437
En Espanol (800) 344-7432
TTY for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (800) 243-7889
National HPV and Cervical Cancer
Hotline (919) 361 - 4848
Resource Center www.ashastd.org/hpvccrc/
National Herpes Hotline
(919) 361-8488
CDC NPIN
P.O. Box 6003 Rockville, MD 20849-6003
1-800-458-5231 1-888-282-7681
Fax 1-800-243-7012 TTY
www.cdcnpin.org/
info@cdcnpin.org
American Social Health Association
P. O. Box 13827 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3827
1-800-783-9877
www.ashastd.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
American Social Health Association. Sexually
transmitted diseases in America: How many cases and at what
cost? Research Triangle Park, NC, 1998.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1998 Guidelines for Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. MMWR 1998;47(RR-1).
Division of STD Prevention. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 1999. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), September 2000.
Division of STD Prevention. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 1998. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), September 1999.
Stamm, W.E. In: K. Holmes, P. Mardh, P. Sparling et al (eds). Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 3rd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999, 407-422.
To these girls, sex now. They will want the child later.
However, as much as I hate to admit it--after you acted so nasty--it is true that the Muslims hate us because we're free--and they do live, die, and seek sexual gratification from child prostitution, the abuse of their women ...etc.--and they are not what one might call so moral.
And furthermore, slavery does exist in their theocracies--and they did dance in the streets after Sept. 11--and they do live in the dark ages--and they do believe in torturing and maiming people, chopping off hands and legs, stoning people to death--and so forth.
But somehow, I just can't get used to the teen-age blow-job scene. Can you?
First...it's 'pike', not 'spike'. A short investigation of that word would give you your first clue.
Second...the ritual display of heads by New Guinea cannibals is not unique. Indeed your own miserable ancestors no doubt practised it at some point in your genealogy.
Third...the use of the 'cannibal' metaphor in discussing the moral foundation of socialism in all its many guises is not malapropos. One has to wonder at your unstated agenda in attempting to divert attention from the crisis in the re-education camps.
Perhaps for a time, you should just shutupandlisten.
You just go with the nice lady now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.