CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts.
Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both abstinence-only sex education and teens' own sense of invulnerabilty. Because some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for better screening, vaccination and prevention.
Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some diseases.
Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD.
"This is pretty shocking," said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center's Children's Hospital in New York."To talk about abstinence is not a bad thing," but teen girls — and boys too — need to be informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex, Alderman said.
Believe it or not, the article goes on to blame abstinence ed for this tragic situation. When are we going to admit that the sexual revolution itself has been a dismal failure?When the sexual education of kids was left to parents, there was MUCH less disease, emotional destruction and sexual activity among teens in general. Our teens are having sex, in large part, because we seem to expect them to.
The experts still insist that 'safe' sex education is the answer, despite the fact that condoms have an unacceptably high failure rate in protecting users from STDs - even when used properly.
The best thing for our kids would be to teach them that sex outside of monogamous, heterosexual marriage is immoral. Here's a statement that may sound outrageous: Sex outside of marriage should be stigmatized. Stigma protects...
It might also help if we also didn't pressure them to wait until they are practically middle aged to get married...
