STD Among Adolescents

“Am I going to die” are the words that tapered out of this fragile seventeen-year-old boy after I asked him if he had any questions about his medication. I froze to the reaction of his question, not sure how to respond or what to say. With my pause began his breakdown, and more questions and tears spewed out of him. He had just found out that he was HIV positive, and was terrified that he would never get to experience the full extent of what life had to offer. He, like most teens, knew about HIV, but did not believe that it would happen to him because he was not gay or a drug user. Also like many adolescents, he assumed that he was invincible when it came to having unsafe sex. Unfortunately, he is just one out of the 12,000 teens that will …show more content…
Comprehensive programs have had better success at lowering STD rates among adolescents by using a realistic approach to show teens the risk involved with sex. While abstinence-only programs use scare tactics such as over-exaggerating sexual material, like how condoms have a 31 percent failure rate or how HIV can be spread through tears and sweat (Schwarz 133-134). Yet the use of medical inaccuracies is legal to use in 38 states even though it can be extremely harmful to adolescents. This is because teens not only distrust the information, but it also causes a false sense of security that they will never catch an STD or become pregnant. Along with states that are allowed to use medically inaccurate information, there are also 18 states that push the use of abstinence-only education even though 13 of those states have shown no change in adolescent sexual behavior (Advocated of Youth). Even if we look at states that use abstinence-only programs, they have higher numbers of STDs than other states that use comprehensive programs. Like in Louisiana, where there are 624.6 per 100,000 cases of chlamydia, and in Texas they are close behind with 498.3 per 100,000 (CDC). Whereas states that use comprehensive programs like Massachusetts, has 349 per 100,000 case of chlamydia (Mass), as well as Vermont that has 294.2 per 100,000 (CDC). Because …show more content…
Supporters of abstinence-only programs are terrified that if we teach adolescents a human biology lesson, along with a tutorial on how to use contraception, the sex rate among adolescents is going to skyrocket. Yet this fear, even though realistic, has been proven wrong with research conducted by some of the best sociologists in the United States. Douglas Kirby was one of these gifted sociologist who dedicated his life to studying the various effects that different sex education programs had on adolescents and determined that “focusing on sexuality along with a discussion of the use of condoms and contraception does not increase sexual activity” (Kirby 171). By teaching them the importance of abstinence along with the use of contraception, adolescents have more motivation to abstain from