|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 Be an Askable Parent
Does your child feel it's OK to talk with you about
sexuality?
Read
more...
 Continue
to Learn
Anticipate your child's questions by learning the
stage of your child's sexual development. Read
more...
 Build
Bridges
If a child does not learn about sexuality issues
from a parent, the child will learn about sex elsewhere—from friends,
the internet, magazines, television and other sources. Read
more...
 Talking
to Your
Teens about
STIs
Each
year,
1 in
4 sexually
active
teens
will
get
an
STI.
Learn
what
you
can
do
as
a concerned
parent. Read
more...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Talking To Your Teens:
Advice from James
Allen, MD, MPH
|
| |
Parents
often have trouble talking with their adolescent
children about sex. Schools often are constrained
by societal pressures and funding sources to
provide “abstinence only” messages rather than
comprehensive sexual health information. In
contrast, our entertainment media portrays
human sexuality as spontaneous and easy,
without complications of relationships or sexually
transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.
The truth is that sexually transmitted
infections (also called STIs) are an
enormous problem in the United States, especially
for adolescents and young adults.
Each year, one of every four sexually active
teens will get a sexually transmitted infection.
By age 25, half of all youth will have acquired
one or more infections. That's more than
9 million people.
Many of these are silent infections
without clinical symptoms. Despite the absence
of symptoms, long-term damage such as infertility
can occur if infections are not diagnosed and
treated. And many youth (and adults) assume that
they would know if they, or their partner, had
an infection.
The best way to be diagnosed with a sexually
transmitted infection is to be tested for it.
Great strides have been made in recent years
in development of reliable tests.
Most youth assume they are being tested for “all”
STIs when they go to their doctor. In fact, testing
rarely occurs even for the more common infections,
even though healthcare guidelines and medical
associations recommend testing be done routinely.
Communication is an important issue in obtaining
testing. Just as adults are reluctant to discuss
sexual health issues with youth, youth are also
reluctant to discuss this with adults, including
health care providers. Young people need the
necessary information to know how to take care
of their sexual health.
Testing, treatment and communication are all
important in addressing STIs but
they are not sufficient. Knowledge and prevention
are essential.
Of great concern is the politicization of sexual
health information, which makes it difficult
to be certain about the accuracy and context
of messages. Groups that attack the effectiveness
of condoms, for example,
hope this will encourage abstinence. Instead,
it leaves our young people at risk.
The simple fact is that condoms, used correctly
and consistently, provide substantial protection
against STIs, including HIV.
The stigma attached to many diseases such as
cancer a generation ago has disappeared. But
sexual behaviors and STIs remain highly stigmatized
in our country. This stigma inhibits discussion
with parents, partners, and health care providers
and discourages youth from seeking needed health
care.
Social attitudes that reinforce this do
not reduce the frequency of sexual contact, but
they do reduce prevention behaviors and increase
risk.
It is biologically certain that our children
will grow up and become sexually mature. STIs
have been with humans for centuries. Information,
education, supportive social environments, and
sound, well-funded public health programs are
effective at reducing risks of infection. Our
failure to address these issues leaves our youth
vulnerable. We as a nation need to review the
lessons of the past and make protecting our sexual
health a high priority.
|
|
|
|
