Study says 1 in 4 teen girls have an STD!

[user79]

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Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 Oh my bad.. Yeah, it changed here with Bush's abstinence only program. Now you can't go to the nurse and get a condom if you can't afford it or get other information, you have to go to your parents or planned parenthood. Its got to be one of the most idiotic policies.

oh my gosh are you SERIOUS????

That is soooo terrible! Sex education is so important, but most important is also to have parents who teach you about safe sex practices and all that at an early age. How on earth can a modern government believe that kids will actually choose abstinence - well at the least the majority?? They don't teach sex ed at schools anymore in the States? Wow, that is ludicrous, no wonder AIDS and other STDs is going up again, especially in younger people.

 

[user79]

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Originally Posted by SparklingWaves As I stated, age appropriate information - teaching that it's their body and that no one should be touching it inappropriately to make them feel scared starts early. Here is just one way of teaching information to empower children and not scare them. That is age appropriate. It is an important part of sex education. Names of body parts, functions, & hygiene is also the basics of sex ed. too. Sex ed. is not just about the physical act of sex and diseases. It is much more complex. I have seen adults as a medical person that were never taught proper hygiene of their genitals and they suffered from it. If anything and in many cases, a child will open the dialog with questions about their body or it's functions. The adult will shut the dialog down and give the message to the child that the topic is taboo. What will any of this information mess up a child's head? Additionally, I don't understand what you are referring to. Please clarify.

I totally agree, sex ed can start as soon as the kid starts asking questions. Like, "mommy, where do babies come from?" I mean it is a totally normal question and kids want to know, it doesn't mean you're going to sit down a 6 year old and whip out a manual on positions, STDs, all infos about HIV and stuff. You start telling them things in little steps. I mean if my potential child were to ask me where babies come from, I'm not going to tell them something stupid like the stork brought them, it's better to just tell them the truth, in little bits and pieces, so they can understand on their own level. I just think sex should not be a taboo subject, it should be talked about openly just as you would talk about other things openly. If the child asks questions, you should try to answer as best as you can as truthfully, that way the child won't associate the subject with being taboo and something they can't talk about with parents.

 

[Beauty Mark]

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I think there are some parents that have an issue in just talking to their children about sex or having anyone else talk to their children about sex. I am not saying all parents.

Some kids do, too. A lot of my friends avoided that conversation or didn't take it to heart the way that they should, because it was so awkward. It's probably a reflection upon their parents' attitudes towards sex, but I do remember the conversation my mother attempted with me when I was 10, and I didn't want to talk about it either.

Besides teens being teens and not learning or wanting to learn, I wonder how many parents would opt out of their child learning about birth control from the school. When I was in school, at least in 5th grade, I believe you had to get special permission to learn about puberty.

 

[Simply Elegant]

I've learned about all the ways you can protect yourself against STDs and unwanted pregnancies etc in school. It's still part of the curriculum too.

My parents gave me so many sex talks and I still remember them and they definitely helped. They started young too giving me age appropriate information which I think is really important. Whether or not kids learn in school, they're still going to learn stuff from other kids so I don't think starting young is a problem.

Get a large enough sample and of course you're going to get these results. Maybe they're not applicable for many places and you don't know who's sponsoring this study so the results could be laid out in a misleading way to support that company.

Even with this said, it's still really sad that so many teens get STDs, even if it's not as high as the numbers stated in the study. Teen pregnancy is less common, at least here though so that's good.

 

[pumpkincat210]

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Originally Posted by SparklingWaves As I stated, age appropriate information - teaching that it's their body and that no one should be touching it inappropriately to make them feel scared starts early. Here is just one way of teaching information to empower children and not scare them. That is age appropriate. It is an important part of sex education. Names of body parts, functions, & hygiene is also the basics of sex ed. too. Sex ed. is not just about the physical act of sex and diseases. It is much more complex. I have seen adults as a medical person that were never taught proper hygiene of their genitals and they suffered from it. If anything and in many cases, a child will open the dialog with questions about their body or it's functions. The adult will shut the dialog down and give the message to the child that the topic is taboo. What will any of this information mess up a child's head? Additionally, I don't understand what you are referring to. Please clarify.

Haha, okay i get where you are coming from now... I was thinking condoms in kindergarten for a second?... Yes my daughter asks about my breasts and why they were there, i had no problem with explaining it to her.
I read somewhere that a girl in college was surprised to find out the breasts were like cow's udders and that milk could come out of them.
That is my little example of someone that wasn't taught much about sex.

 

[pumpkincat210]

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Originally Posted by Simply Elegant Get a large enough sample and of course you're going to get these results.

Regardless, we live in a civilized country that has the knowledge and means of preventing STD's. This is not a third world country, health care is readily available for those who want to experiment, but we are not getting the information to them. It is unnacceptable. Teen pregnancies are also rising as a result.

 

[*Stargazer*]

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Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 Oh my bad.. Yeah, it changed here with Bush's abstinence only program. Now you can't go to the nurse and get a condom if you can't afford it or get other information, you have to go to your parents or planned parenthood. Its got to be one of the most idiotic policies.

Depends on the district. Not all districts teach abstinence only policies. Thank God.

 

[duckduck]

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Originally Posted by *Stargazer* Depends on the district. Not all districts teach abstinence only policies. Thank God.

My understanding is that abstinence only education is not federally required per say, but a school can only receive federal funding for their sex ed program if they teach abstinence and nothing else. I am not sure where schools who teach other sex-ed programs come up with the money, but it cannot be easy for them.
I could rant all day about abstinence only education and about how completely stupid it is that sex ed is now supposed to avoid talking about sex entirely, but I'll just give a short version of the facts. Children brought up in an abstinence only environment are statistically more likely to contract an STD or have an unwanted pregnancy than those who are taught the facts. That's right, not only does it not work, it's damaging. We have to trust our kids and teens are intelligent enough to handle truthful information and are able to make these decisions (and sometimes even mistakes) for themselves.

 

[SparklingWaves]

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Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 Haha, okay i get where you are coming from now... I was thinking condoms in kindergarten for a second?... Yes my daughter asks about my breasts and why they were there, i had no problem with explaining it to her. I read somewhere that a girl in college was surprised to find out the breasts were like cow's udders and that milk could come out of them. That is my little example of someone that wasn't taught much about sex.

I was wondering what you thought I was talking about. Whew!

Back on the teen scene, I was told so much trash from so many sources. It wasn't funny. The sad thing was it came from adults. Still some of those adults don't know what they are talking about on the subject. I am glad that I didn't follow it.

 

[NutMeg]

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Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 Regardless, we live in a civilized country that has the knowledge and means of preventing STD's. This is not a third world country, health care is readily available for those who want to experiment, but we are not getting the information to them. It is unnacceptable. Teen pregnancies are also rising as a result.

To me, that is the key. Not teaching kids about birth control is denying them of the knowledge necessary to make decisions. The way I see it, at a certain point you have to recognize that your kids are growing up and making their own choices. The best you can do is prepare them to make those choices in as responsible a fashion as possible.

 

[Simply Elegant]

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Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 Regardless, we live in a civilized country that has the knowledge and means of preventing STD's. This is not a third world country, health care is readily available for those who want to experiment, but we are not getting the information to them. It is unnacceptable. Teen pregnancies are also rising as a result.

Yes I know, it's horrible. I just think there needs to be more education about it. If parents are too embarassed to teach their kids, schools don't teach it, then they're getting the wrong information and that's part of it. Teen pregnancies are not becoming more common here. I know in the US they've gone up but not here.