AP March 11, 2008.
25% of Young Women Infected: Shocking results from a recent study by the Center for Disease Control show that one out of every four girls ages 14-19 has an STD. That translates into approximately 3 million infected girls – about 40% of all girls who admit to having had sex. The HPV virus was the most common infection.
And you thought pregnancy was the worst thing that could happen with casual sex. Folks, HPV is incurable and is a primary cause of uterine cancer.
I saw that study too and it’s appalling. There are many nasty things that can happen with unprotected sex, casual or otherwise. So many of these things can be prevented if people take the reasonable precautions. While it would be nice if young girls (and boys) would refrain from early sex, which many admit later they regret, I think it is unrealistic to expect everyone to be able to resist their all-too-human nature. For those times, I think we need make sure they know how to protect themselves and their partners from unwanted consequences.
Our local newspaper is running a series on teen pregnancy. Seems to run in families around here. Generation upon generation. If the kids of both sexes won’t listen to what they are being told about risks what else is a parent to do? Remember young people think they are infallable. (sp)
It’s also the leading cause of infertility in women. I just did a teaching project for nursing school last week where I had to teach a group of high schoolers about STD’s & HIV/AIDS. It was scary to realize how much they don’t know! There are a lot of lies being told to our young people by the media (oral sex isn’t really sex…STD’s are curable…casual sex is just a normal way of life…etc.) and these kids are believing it. By the time a young person gets out of college, they have had an average of 5-10 sexual partners, sometimes MANY more! It’s incredibly sad to see the physical, emotional, & spiritual destruction that is happening to people from this dangerous behavior!
(sorry for the extra-long comment…hit a nerve! 😉 )
Our church right now is doing an “Get Real” event aimed at girls to teach them that they are valued and it’s o.k. to be different from the crowd. We have different women speakers. A “Been there done that”, a “waited until I was married”. I think that once girls “do it” they feel they are of no value and it doesn’t matter any more. So sad the church can’t help more here. That is the true and only answer. CHRIST!!