Here are 2 great articles for ALL to read and put to memory.

Crunching the numbers of STDs:

http://www.resourcefoundation.org/Current/S&L/std.shtml

STDs: an Epidemic:

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/epid-std.html

Here is an astounding and very interesting paragraph from that second link:

'Some people believe that if teens can be taught how to use contraception and condoms effectively, that rates of pregnancy and STD infection will be reduced dramatically. But the statistics and common sense tell us otherwise. At Rutgers University, the rates of infection of students with STD varied little with the form of contraception used. For example, 35 to 44% of the sexually active students were infected with one or more STDs whether they used no contraceptive, oral contraceptive, the diaphragm, or condoms. *It is significant to note that condoms, the hero of the "safe sex" message, provided virtually no protection from STDs.*'

Please check out the links.

Both these articles are written by Christian organizations and I find fault with both. They have taken a lot of good facts and twisted them to endorse what they believe - no one should have sex outside of marriage.

First, safeR sex is what is being taught - not safe sex as any good sex educator knows. There is no safe sex - not even monogamy is completely safe because of HPV. (And that was left out in both these articles.)

The reason condoms appear to offer no protection is because condoms only offer protection with vaginal and anal sex. It is rare that a man wears a condom for receiving oral sex and even rarer when giving it. Young men and women are more worried about keeping her virginity intact or preventing pregnancy than preventing disease.

Also it is rare that teens actually understand how to use a condom properly. Used properly they are 97% effective in preventing pregnancy and some STDs - but properly is the important word.

Until using dental dams is at least as common place as using condoms the rate of STD transmission is not going to change unless oral sex suddenly goes out of fashion.

This is partly the fault of abstinence only education. It is pushing young people into unsafe sex practices. Teaching young people to use condoms responsibly AND to understand the risks inherent in unsafe sex practices is what will cause behavioral change. Giving young people information so they can make informed choices is what is most important. All young people are never going to stop having sex. Abstinence only programs will help the young people who really felt unready for sex to listen to themselves, but it does nothing to help the young person who is already sexually active or is bound and determined to be so.

Personally I wish every single teenager would wait until they were in their 20s to get into a serious relationship and become sexual - but realistically I know it isn't going to happen. So I want to arm kids (because I do think of teens as kids) with as much information as possible. The more information they have the smarter the choices they make will be and the safeR they will be.

Susan