I read some startling statistics today. According to a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 14-19 have an STD and 48% of African American girls between the ages of 14-19 have an STD. What does that say about sex in our society?
In an age where sex education is just as accessible as the oversexualized images on television, one would think that given the information many teens would at least be educated enough to make smart decisions about having sex. Clearly, that is not the case.
In an era where parents are urged to talk to their children about sex, how many parents are actually doing this? Parents and educators can no longer think of sex as a taboo subject, because the youth are suffering. Sex sells and is everywhere from magazine shelves to hidden jokes in family sitcoms to the blatantly sexy lyrics in music. Have people given up on talking to their kids? Do parents think "Oh, they're going to do it anyway?" Someone let me know, because those statistics are serious.
Teenagers are being infected with herpes and will have to live with that disease for the rest of their lives, and some do not even know what herpes is, and other STDs for that matter. One Philadelphia Inquirer columnist stated in his column, The sexually uneducated, recalled a conversation he had with a member of the track team he coaches:
"As a track coach and mentor to young men in the same age category as the CDC study, I have seen many misinformed, yet very sexually active teenagers. One young man, who had at least four years of sex under his belt, argued me tooth and nail that herpes was not a permanent condition. He was adamant that there was a pill that could be taken to make it go away for good. I assured him on the spot that he was mistaken and that we could never share a Gatorade."
Teenagers are out there having sex with little knowledge of the serious consequences that they may have to live with. And with no one out there combating the vivid sexual images and culture of society, the statistics will continue to increase. For some reason, everyone thinks they're immune to catching diseases. The superman or superwoman mentality is having serious consequences.
When I was in middle school, I knew of my classmates engaging in oral sex, fondling, and everything else. Yet, these actions were not seen as socially acceptable, nor the norm for middle-school aged children. Today it seems as all the rules are out the window--even elementary kids are experimenting, while parents and adults remain hesitant to tackle these issues head-on.
Lastly, a sexual education that covers STD awareness and contraception measures is not going to cut it. As a country we need to begin to change the conversation we have about sex to inform those coming behind us on the purpose and meaning of sexual intercourse. I'm not saying that we have to go tell every teenager in America that they need to stop having sex--that's not realistic. What I am saying is that they should be well-informed about what sex is, both physically and emotionally, in order to make an informed decision to engage in the act.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Teenagers: Doing it and doing it well?
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2 comments:
I really liked this post. I see too many politicians and school systems wanting to court Planned Parenthood's sex education type of plans for society, and I think these sex ed plans are just not cutting it. They may give info about contraceptives and stds but they do not give very good guidance about the emotional/ relational/ and other non std health risks related to sexual intimacy.
Brian
(my apologies if this is posted twice - I am not sure I sent the first one)
I agree with your general notion that far too many young people are engaging in unsafe sexual activity. It is alarming that African American girls are contracting STIs at rates higher than their white counterparts and there are many factors that play into this disproportionate rate.
However, I would disagree with the notion that sex education is readily accessible. The welfare reform laws passed in 1996 established funding for abstinence-only education and under the Bush administration, we've seen drastic changes in the way this country teaches comprehensive sex ed. It's much harder for kids to receive comprehensive information (which INCLUDES discussion of abstinence among other methods) about ways to protect themselves. So when kids do decide to start having sex, all they've heard is that they should abstain from sex until marriage and not that they should use condoms to protect themselves.
And when the black community already suffers from higher HIV and other sexually transmitted infection rates, this only compounds the problem for us.
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