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Keep talking to youth about sex and
its consequences
Sex can be the most difficult subject to discuss when
talking about kids. But recent data demand our attention and require a
response.
In the public square, the heated debate between abstinence advocates and
safe-sex supporters is contentious and controversial. Each side has
studies and statistics and claims a moral worldview. Neither side claims
consensus.
Even in the best of family situations, well-intentioned parents talking
with their teenagers about sex and its consequences can be awkward and
uncomfortable.
Not that we haven't seen recent progress. Teen pregnancy rates in
Indiana and nationally are at record lows. In fact, in the last 10
years, the teen pregnancy rate in Indiana has declined by 20 percent.
This trend is cause for celebration, but it masks a remaining challenge.
During the same period that the teen pregnancy rate has dropped
significantly, the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases
among teenagers has gone up — slightly — but up nonetheless. That's why
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is convinced that by age
25, half of Americans will have had a sexually transmitted disease.
STDs can lead to infertility, chronic
pain and cervical cancer. Mothers can pass the infections to their
babies. Most frightening: STDs can affect the immune system and increase
the risk of contracting HIV. In 2000, about 15,000 new cases of HIV or
AIDS were recorded nationally among adolescents and young adults.
Teens, meanwhile, are less likely to obtain medical care for several
reasons, ranging from a lack of health insurance to embarrassment and
fear, and thus are at much greater risk for the long term and for the
most serious consequences of STDs. Lifetime medical costs incurred by
individuals and the public health system to address STDs acquired by
youth are projected at $6.5 billion.
But if fewer kids are getting pregnant,
why are more kids getting STDs? Surveys of teenagers help explain why.
According to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, mounting
anecdotal evidence shows that many youth categorize oral sex as “safe”
or “safer” or even as “abstinence” because intercourse is not involved.
These young people are unaware that oral sex does not prevent the
transmission of STDs.
Similarly, surveys of American teenagers conducted by the Kaiser Family
Foundation report that about half of youth, ages 15 to 17, say that oral
sex is not sex at all, and another 39 percent consider oral sex to be
safer.
The situation is amplified here in Indiana, where a recent Youth Risk
Behavior Survey conducted by the Indiana State Department of Health
found that sexual behavior among Hoosier teens is higher than the
national average.
According to research from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent
Health, the University of Minnesota and the University of North
Carolina, there are several protective factors that can discourage or
delay sexual activity among adolescents. These include strong bonds
between teens and parents; feelings of connectedness between teens and
school; and opportunities for ongoing conversations with teachers,
health-care providers and other adults.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen
Pregnancy reveals that involvement in service-learning programs
discourages sexual activity. The reason could be as simple as positive
after-school activities reducing opportunities for risky behavior. Or it
could be a bit more complex, with service-learning programs giving
participants self-assurance in dealing with peers and adults, along with
a sense of empowerment from helping others.
More research is needed on the subject of teens and STDs. Most studies
on kids and sex look at pregnancy and birth rates, leaving parents,
health officials, youth workers and policymakers with little empirical
information about sexual behaviors that risk STDs but not conception.
In addition, teens need a better understanding that sexual behaviors
that avoid pregnancy do not necessarily avoid the transmission of
diseases. This understanding will not magically develop on its own. All
of us must be willing to discuss sex and its consequences.
Yes, the topic is difficult. But the damage caused by silence is even
worse.
Bill Stanczykiewicz
4 April 2005
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/234194-4508-021.html
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