In magazines, movies, music, books and TV, the message seems to be that all teens are or should be having sex. Research shows that the real majority of teens are choosing abstinence.
- More than half of teenagers in 9th – 12th grade are not engaged in sexual intercourse.
Abstinence-Until-Marriage programs teach the physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and social benefits of abstaining from sexual activity.
The majority of teens have not had sexual intercourse.
- In 2007, 52% of teens had not had sexual intercourse.
Unfortunately, 15% of those who had sexual intercourse reported having sex with 4 or more partners. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdf/yrbs07_us_summary_trend_all.pdf
“Protection” is the term often applied to condom use. This can be misleading because condoms only reduce the risk of infection. They do not protect 100% of the time from any STD or unintended pregnancy.
- Abstaining from sexual activity is risk elimination. Abstinence education teaches teens to avoid ever being exposed to potential harm.
- Risk reduction is the term that describes an intervention that reduces one’s risk of a bad health outcome. A condom used during sexual intercourse or smoking filtered cigarettes, are risk reduction methods.
- While teens make up only 10% of the population, they contract 25% of all STDs. It is an epidemic among adolescents and young adults. There are currently over 25 sexually transmitted diseases.
- Two-thirds of all STDs occur in individuals less than 25 years old.
- Individuals with sexually transmitted diseases are often unaware that they are infected. Approximately 90% of individuals with Genital Herpes are not aware they are infected. Up to 85% of females with Chlamydia have no recognizable symptoms.
In the United States 1 in 4 girls ages 14 to 19 has been infected with at least one STD.
www.cdc.gov (Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2006)
- How effective are condoms in reducing the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease?
Even with correct and consistent condom use, you only reduce your risk of contracting Chlamydia by 50% when having sex with an infected partner. Is 50% good enough for you?
Genital Herpes and HPV are skin based and may be present in areas around the genitals. Herpes, HPV and HIV are viral infections. They may be treated however not cured.
For additional information visit http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/latex.htm
Condoms do not make sex safe enough for people who truly wish to avoid getting an STD and suffering the possible lifelong consequences of such an infection.
HPV (Human Papillomavirus): Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection. The virus infects the skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 40 HPV types that can infect the genital areas. Four types are known to cause cervical cancer You cannot see HPV. Most people who become infected with HPV do not even know they have it.
An APV can now protect females from the four types of HPV that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts. The vaccine is recommended for 11 and 12 year-old girls. It is also recommended for girls and women age 13 through 26 who have not yet been vaccinated or completed the vaccine series. For more information regarding the vaccine visit http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/default.htm.
Genital Herpes: Genital Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2). Most genital herpes is caused by HSV-2. Most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection. When signs do occur, they typically appear as one or more blisters on or around the genitals or rectum. The blisters break, leaving tender ulcers (sores) that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they occur. Typically, another outbreak can appear weeks or months after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first outbreak.
Transmission can occur from an infected partner who does not have a visible sore and may not know that he or she is infected.
Nationwide, at least 45 million people ages 12 and older, or 1 out of 5 adolescents and adults, have had genital HSV infection.
Chlamydia: Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of Chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected man.
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States.
In 2006, 1,030,911 chlamydial infections were reported to CDC from 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Under-reporting is substantial because most people with Chlamydia are not aware of their infections and do not seek testing. Women are frequently re-infected if their sex partners are not treated.
Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that can grow and multiply easily in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix (opening to the womb), uterus (womb), and fallopian tubes (egg canals) in women, and in the urethra (urine canal) in women and men. The bacterium can also grow in the mouth, throat, eyes, and anus.
CDC estimates that more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year.
In women, gonorrhea is a common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). About one million women each year in the United States develop PID. The symptoms may be quite mild or can be very severe and can include abdominal pain and fever.
Syphilis: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. It has often been called “the great imitator” because so many of the signs and symptoms are indistinguishable from those of other diseases.
Syphilis is passed from person to person through direct contact with a syphilis sore. Sores occur mainly on the external genitals, vagina, anus, or in the rectum. Sores also can occur on the lips and in the mouth.
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus): HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, and leads to complicated health problems and death. There is no known cure. People who are infected with STDs are two to five times more likely than uninfected individuals to acquire HIV if they are exposed to the virus through sexual contact.
Visit http://www.cdc.gov/std/ for more information about STDs.
- Many teens consider oral sex to be much safer than intercourse.
Is oral sex, sex?
- Middle school girls look at oral sex as a bargain – they don’t get pregnant, they think they won’t get diseases, they are still virgins, and they are in control since it’s something girls do to boys.
Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute’s, Family Planning Perspectives
- A recent study indicates that more than half of U.S. teens have given or received oral sex. Journal of Adolescent Health
- As with sexual intercourse, teens can contract painful, life-long STDs from oral sex. HIV, herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea and HPV can all be spread though oral sex.
