Posted on 01/05/2006 6:54:35 AM PST by Millee
Most sexually active teenage girls know relatively little about sexually transmitted diseases until it is too late, according to new research.
In a survey of 300 adolescent girls in the Pittsburgh area, Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that girls who reported having been diagnosed with an STD knew more about that particular disease than other girls, but did not know more about the other diseases.
The findings are published in the January edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
On average, with the exception of HIV/AIDS, the teens did not know many basic facts about STDs, said Julie Downs, lead author of the study.
"Our schools have decided to focus on AIDS, and that has come at a cost," she said. "Teens just aren't being taught about these other diseases, and so they may come away with a false sense of confidence."
The study's findings are troubling because teenagers who know little about STDs are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and to delay the treatment of STDs, the researchers said.
And the consequences can be severe. Genital herpes, for example, cannot be cured. Genital warts can render a woman more susceptible to cervical cancer, and chlamydia can lead to infertility.
No it is not about abstinence. These two people are full of Sh**. The sex ed in our schools teach mostly about condoms and queer sex. How to be a homo is a top priority in a lot of schools. Abstinence is becoming a priority for conservatives, and by the way it worked fine until birth control pills showed up, but has made little headway in most schools being fought tooth and nail by the liberals. The liberal agenda is to promote sex in children and to especially promote queer sex. These two idiots are obviously liberals or just stupid, hard to tell which sometimes.
Schools need more money.
Yes, to teach abstinence.
Did I reply to one of your postings? Why are you questioning me? If you must know I am over 18.
I am not pretending anything. I don't think that just telling kids to abstain is going to work either. However, I don't think Europe is a good role model for how to treat sex. I know England has a problem with single mothers, and I believe it is Sweeden (maybe Norway) where the rate of marriage is going down. People just live together there, and never get married.
I think we need to have some major societal changes. I think we need to instill more family values. Geez, the music/TV/movies that some parents allow their kids to listen to/watch is unbelievable. There are kids in my daughters 3rd grade class that watch R rated movies. No wonder we have problems with high rates of STDs and teen pregnancies.
We cannot have abstinence only programs and then allow kids to be bombarded with sex messages (like at MTV) all day long.
Parents also need to be around at home more. How can a teen have sex when their parents are at home when they get home from school? I know lots of parents that aren't letting their kids date in high school (except for special occasions). I think that's a good idea. Parents need to make sure their kids have goals, like going to college. Parents need to make sure their kids are involved in things like sports, so they don't have time to think about sex.
Parents need to step up to the plate and really help combat this problem.
In California in 5th grade, they get a little bit of sex-ed (one afternoon) where they tell the kids about puberty (not sex). In 8th grade, they get more. My son is in 6th, so I don't know what they will go over in 8th. I do know they have to show the parents beforehand, and then the parents have a choice to pull the kids out of the class.
So, it's the fault of the parents!
I actually agree with that. But there is no solution unless you want to start snatching kids out of "unhealthy" environments and monitoring family life on a mass scale.
I like those ideas.
My thoughts are that you don't let your 16 year old daughter date.
Where do you get this BS that schools are teaching abstinence only? Let's see your statistics, show me some figures on which schools in what states teach abstinence only. You won't have much luck doing that I suspect. BTW, teaching abstinence works quite well in Uganda. Aids has declined there dramatically since abstinence became part of the life style, despite what some critics try to say. Every other african nation has had increases in Aids and other STDs. Explain that for me please and show me statistics on why aids has declined in Uganda if abstinence isn't the reason.
There was only 1 parent working. There was less divorce, less drugs, less sex. You could turn on the TV and watch wholesome family shows. You could turn on the radio and not worry about your kids hearing the music being played. The dads at that time had a lot of honor and bravery since many of them had fought in WWII. They fought because it was the right thing to do for their country.
I would say that there is more wives being abused today because women have been belittle in recent years. I would bet there are more kids being sexually abused, and certainly more alcoholism.
http://hrw.org/reports/2005/uganda0305/
The abstinence program in Uganda is relatively new and tied to U.S. funds. The progress was made in the past with teaching about condoms, etc.
"The public high schools have extensive sex eductaion, starting in middle schools. STD's, bananas, condoms, homosexuality.. it's all there."
where do you live? Only a small % of schools even bother to teach sex ed. Don't let Rush and Sean's scare-stories fool you. They don't represent the norm.
"60% of college coeds end up with one HPV or another, and they think it's a rite of passage."
Ludicrous. "Rite of passage"? Yeah, right.
"Where do you get this BS that schools are teaching abstinence only? "
The same place you got your "They're only teaching about queer sex and condoms!!" info.
"Let's see your statistics, show me some figures on which schools in what states teach abstinence only. "
When you show me the statistics on which schools are teaching only "queer sex and condoms", I'll attempt to answer your question.
" BTW, teaching abstinence works quite well in Uganda. "
BTW, teaching comprehensive sex education in Europe and Japan has led to lower teenage birth/abortion rates than here.
""I think any school with a health clinic will gladly hand out condoms. I would be interested to know of those that refuse."
Just about 100% of them, unless there's parental consent. Fear of Christian lawsuits drives this, I think."
Dont' think it is wise to teach our youngsters to rely on low bid goverment issued products.
With your clarification your point is well taken.
I guess I am feeling a bit snippy today. Sorry ;0)
Do you think that people don't already know what sex causes? Yet they defy the odds and suffer the consequences anyway. It occurs to me that the consequences are the result of the actions. You can solve the problem by ameliorating the consequences, or you can eliminate the actions.
You have resigned yourself to the impossibility of halting the action, so you focus instead on minimizing the consequences. I would prefer that our society put more emphasis on stopping the problem at its source, by instilling in these teenagers a sense of morality that is not belied by slick commercials, corrupt (or absent) role models, and institutionalized hypocrisy.
Did teenagers in the old days abstain solely out of a sense of morality, or fear of unwed pregnancy? That fear has declined because of contraception and the fading of the stigma against illegimacy. Informing kids about STDs and prevention (including the fact that some STDs have be transmitted even with the use of a condom) would perhaps encourage more teens to abstain or at least delay sexual activity.
"My thoughts are that you don't let your 16 year old daughter date."
OK. That would be the individual parent's decision. I have no problem with that, although the 16 year old might.
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